Used in isolation, however, these data have some significant limitations. These documents record the name and characteristics of each individual counted by the census, organized into households. In much of Europe and North America, investigators can access individual-level data based on original census manuscripts ( Szołtysek & Gruber 2016). Historical census data are indispensable for studying long-run change, since they provide the only record of the lives of millions of people over the past two centuries. A new generation of large-scale shared data infrastructure now in preparation will ameliorate weaknesses of current linkage methods. The new data sources have led to a proliferation of record linkage methodology, and some widespread approaches inadvertently introduce errors that can lead to false inferences. Other studies exploit natural experiments to gauge the impact of policy interventions such as social welfare programs and educational reforms. Several analysts are exploring the effects of early-life socioeconomic conditions, environmental exposures, or natural disasters on family, health and economic outcomes in later life. Investigators are examining economic and geographic mobility across multiple generations, but also engaging many new topics.
In recent decades, the quantity of historical census record linkage has exploded, owing largely to the advent of new machine-readable data created by genealogical organizations.
For the past 80 years, social scientists have been linking historical censuses across time to study economic and geographic mobility.
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