User Manual CPS Census Data

Julian Samora Research Institute

 

                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              Manual by  Gia Elise Barboza


Status Report

The main objective of an ongoing sub-contractual agreement (hereafter "the contract") between the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University ("MSU") is to extract, organize, analyze and depict Current Population Survey data ("CPS data")from 1990 to 2000 in order to highlight the condition of Latino children and families. Using as a model the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Online project, MSU is to create graphs and maps, as appropriate, to bring out the differences in trends and patterns between Latinos and the Non-Hispanic White population1.

Parts I and II of this manual describe the nature of CPS data.

The first major part of the project involves the main work with the CPS data. Part II of this status report describes how the "Hispanic component" of the CPS data was extracted into SPSS machine readable format for the nine variables listed below:

1.      Teen Birth rates

2.      Percent of teens who are high school dropouts

3.      Percent of teens not attending school

4.      Percent of children living with parents

5.      Percent of children living in poverty

6.      percent of families headed by a single parent

7.      All children under 18

8.      Median Income of families, percent of female headed families receiving alimony, percent of children in extreme poverty, percent of children under 6 in poverty2

9.      Percent of children under age 6 living with working parents, percent of children 6-12 living with working parents, and percent of children under age 13 living in low income with working parents

Part III describes how graphs were prepared in Excel showing the yearly trends and differences for Hispanics and Non-Hispanics for each of the above variables both by region (Northeast, Midwest, South and West) as well as by state (Texas, California, Florida, New York and Illinois).

Part I

Overview of CPS Data

Summary:

The Current Population Survey is a nationwide sample survey of about 50,000 households conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Bureau of the Census. At present, there are 754 CPS sampling areas in the United States, with coverage in every State and the District of Columbia.

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 50,000 to 60,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for more than 50 years. The CPS is the primary source of information on the labor force characteristics of the U.S. population. Respondents are interviewed to obtain information about the employment status of each member of the household 15 years of age and older. The sample provides estimates for the nation as a whole and serves as part of model-based estimates for individual states and other geographic areas.

Labor force variables from the CPS include employment, unemployment, earnings, hours of work. Demographic variables include age, gender, race, marital status, educational attainment, occupation, industry, and class of worker. Supplemental questions to produce estimates on a variety of topics including school enrollment, income, previous work experience, health, employee benefits, and work schedules are also often added to the regular CPS questionnaire.

The CPS core survey is the primary source of information on the employment characteristics of the civilian noninstitutional population, 16 years old and older, including estimates of unemployment released every month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In addition to the core survey, monthly CPS supplements provide additional demographic and social data. The March demographic supplement and the October school enrollment supplement provide information used to estimate the status and well-being of children. Every year, the October supplement to the CPS asks questions on school enrollment by grade and other school characteristics about each member of the household ages 3 and older. Data on years of school completed are derived from two questions on the March supplement to the CPS. The March and October supplements have been administered every year since 1947.

In 1994, the questionnaire for the CPS was redesigned, and the computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) method was implemented. In addition, the 1990 Census-based population controls, with adjustments for the estimated population undercount, were also introduced. For more information regarding the CPS, its sampling structure, and estimation methodology, see: Explanatory notes and estimates of error. Employment and Earnings,44 (1), 225-242. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Universe:

Civilian non-institutional population of the United States living in housing units and males in the Armed Forces living in civilian housing on military bases or in households not on military bases.

Sampling:

A national probability sample is used in selecting housing units with about 50,000 to 60,000 households being interviewed each month. A given household is interviewed for four consecutive months, not interviewed for eight months, and then interviewed for four more consecutive months, after which it permanently leaves the sample.

Sampling Weights

 

Weights are used to assign greater relative importance to some sampled units than to others in the survey. The monthly surveys have several weights, including:

 

Ø      Household Weight - the March supplement weight of the householder. This weight should be used to tabulate estimates of households.

Ø      Family Weight - weight on the family record is the March supplement weight of the householder or reference person. This weight on the primary family record should be used to tabulate the number of families.

Ø      Final Weight - used in tabulating monthly labor force items. This weight should be used when producing estimates from the basic CPS data. It should not be used to tabulate March supplement data.

Ø      Earnings Weight - each person record in month-in-sample 4 & 8 contains an earnings weight for current earnings

Ø      The March Supplement Weight is the weight on all person records and is used to produce "supplement" estimates; that is, income, work experience, migration, and family characteristic estimates.

 

Annual Demographic Survey (March CPS)

The Annual Demographic Survey or March CPS supplement is the primary source of detailed information on income and work experience in the United States. The March CPS provides a detailed analysis of money income, poverty status, and labor supply in the previous year, making it a common source for studies on changes in earnings patterns and the effects of social insurance programs. Note also that additional Hispanic sample units are added to the basic CPS sample in March each year, though I am not sure how long this has been done. The March CPS is available back at least to 1964 and perhaps even earlier.

Part II

Using the CPS

File Structure:

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is delivered as a hierarchical raw datafile with three levels: Household, Person, and Family. The structure looks like this:

Household 1 variables

Family 1 variables

Person 1 variables

Person 2 variables

Person 3 variables

Household 2 variables

Family 1 variables

Person 1 variables

Person 2 variables

Family 2 variables

Person 1 variables

Person 2 variables

Person 3 variables

Household 3 variables

Family 1 variables

Person 1 variables

Household 4 variables

etc.

There can be a variable number of families living in one household and, of course, a variable number of persons in one family. For this data to be used in a statistical program, it needs to be "flattened", which means to take away the hierarchical nature of the data and create a datafile where the unit of analysis is the person. The structure should look like this:

Household 1 variables Family 1 variables Person 1 variables

Household 1 variables Family 1 variables Person 2 variables

Household 1 variables Family 1 variables Person 3 variables

Household 2 variables Family 1 variables Person 1 variables

Household 2 variables Family 1 variables Person 2 variables

Household 2 variables Family 2 variables Person 1 variables

Household 2 variables Family 2 variables Person 2 variables

Household 2 variables Family 2 variables Person 3 variables

Household 3 variables Family 1 variables Person 1 variables

Household 4 variables etc.

There is one necessary ingredient for writing a program to flatten a hierarchical datafile: a record type variable. This is a variable which is in the same column of every line of hierarchical data, which tells you if it is a household record, family record, or person record. In the case of the 2000 CPS, this variable is in column 1 of every record, where 1 = Household, 2 = Family, and 3 = Person.

Click here to view the SPSS program used to import the raw data from the text file into SPSS.

Variable Locations:

Variable locations (where given variables are located on a given record) change periodically in the CPS, so in you are reading many years, you will need to consult several codebooks.

March CPS: Roughly speaking, it stays pretty much the same between 1968-1975, 1976-1987, and 1988-1997. Exceptions are 1980 and 1983, which are in rectangular form, meaning that you will need to consult these codebooks. Also available for 1964-1988 are the Mare/Winship Uniform March Files, which give a consistent file format over this whole period. However, these files are occasionally missing some variables which are available in the original datasets.

Verifying Data Accuracy:

Once the data were imported into SPSS, several checks were performed to ensure the accuracy of the imported data. For example, according the the Census Bureau, the March 2000 CPS supplement data file was 219,005,191 (220 MEGS) in size, contained over 600 Variables and had 256,747 records (64,944 Household Records, 58,093 Family Records and 133,710 Person Records)3.

CPS March Supplement1

File

Size
(in Bytes)

Compression Type (Size in Bytes)

Record
Count

 

DOS/Windows

GNU gzip

Standard Unix

 

2000 Data Dictionary2

158,534

 

 

 

 

 

2000 Data File7

219,005,191

19,177,534

19,177,442

20,644,074

256,7478

 

1999 Data Dictionary2

158,495

 

 

 

 

 

1999 Data File6

217,792,204

18,504,791

18,504,700

19,656,184

255,0263

 

1998 Data Dictionary - Household4

33,173

 

64,659

 

1998 Data Dictionary - Family4

18,494

 

56,768

 

1998 Data Dictionary - Person4

104,971

 

131,617

 

1998 Data File5 6

216,099,576

17,959,133

17,959,042

19,197,018

253,044

 

1The March Supplement consists of three interleaf records.
2The layout for each record type is contained in one data dictionary this year.
3Consists of 65,377 Household records, 57,325 Family records, and 132,324 Person records.
4All three data dictionaries are needed to define the items for the supplement.
5Updated data files were placed on this server on 03/02/1999.
6File names were changed on 10/27/1999 to avoid confusion with file names for CPS Basic Monthly files.
7This file containing the Health Insurance items was placed on this server on Friday, September 29, 2000.
8Consists of 64,944 Household records, 58,093 Family records, and 133,710 Person records.

 

Record Selection Criteria

 

This is a complicated process that involves carefully scrutinizing the Data Dictionary associated with the individual March Supplement and Monthly files. It is important to understand the file structure and the various Household and Family Configurations that are associated with each file.

 

The March CPS (a.k.a. "Annual Demographic File") has hierarchical file structure containing three types of records

 

Ø      Household record

Ø      Family record

Ø      Person record

 

1.      Household Record:

 

The Household record contains data specific to each household· A Household consists of all persons who occupy a house, apartment, or room/group of rooms which constitutes a housing unit. Room/group of rooms counted when occupied as separate living quarters, i.e. occupants do not live and eat with any other person in structure. It  also includes state, city, etc in which household is located

 

The Census Bureau defines a Household as a unit containing one or more people

Ø      Everyone living in a household unit makes up a "household"

Ø      For the purpose of examining family and household composition, two types of households are defined. These are:

o       Family

o       Non-Family

Ø      To select the Total Households use:

o       HHDFMX = 1 or 49

Ø      To select only Family Households use:

o       HHDFMX = 1

Ø      To select Non-Family Households use:

o       HHDFMX = 49

 

        2. Family record

 

The Family record contains data specific to each family/subfamily. A Family is a group of two or more persons residing together and related by birth, marriage, or adoption.  A related subfamily is a married couple with or without children or one parent with one or more own single children under 18 years old, living in a household and related to, but not including, the householder or spouse. An unrelated subfamily is a family that does not include the householder & relatives of the householder. May include guests, roomers, boarders, or resident employees. The family record also includes variables pertaining to family size, family income, etc.

 

"The Census bureau has developed two different conceptual "Universes" of Families. These are

Ø      Family Households: where there are members of the household related to the householder

Ø      Family "Groups": a count of family units, regardless of whether the householder is in that "family." Sub Classifications of Family Groups are:

Ø      Married Couple Families

Ø      Male Householder - No Spouse Present

Ø      Female Householder - No Spouse Present

 

The selection criteria for the types of families is:

 

Total Families

Married Couple Families

Female HH, no spouse

Male HH, no spouse

A_FAMREL = 0,1

A_FAMTYPE = 1

HHREL = 1

FKIND = 1

FKIND = 2

APFREL = 5

FKIND = 3

APFREL = 5

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Female Headed Families is different. Use the following to select female-headed families:

A_FAMREL = 0,1

A_FAMTYPE = 1

A_SEX = 2

 

 

3. Person record

Ø      The Person record contains data specific to each person. One record exists for each person in the family/subfamily

Note: there are several recoded variables in the following selection criteria that are not variables associated with the original text file database.

·         The variable A_REORGN has been recoded into separate Hispanic and non-Hispanic categories for purposes of easy comparison. In order to return only those records pertaining to non-Hispanics, the variable hispanic should be set equal to 1. In order to return only those records pertaining to Hispanics, the variable hispanic should be set equal to 0. See the individual SYNTAX files for more on this.

·         FKIND was recoded into another variable called famgrp (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

·         MARSUPWT was recomputed to reflect the implied 2 decimal places that is assumed. The variable that is recomputed is called FINWGHT.

·         The variable WRK_STAT was recoded into the variable WORKING.

·         The variables csp_yn, alm_yn were recoded into another variable entitled cs_alm, see the SYNTAX file for further documentation

1. Teen Birth Rates:

This variable is not a part of the March Current Population Supplement Data or Monthly Files and as such could not be included in the project.

2. Percent of Teens that are High School Dropouts and Percent of Teens Not Attending School

Status Dropout Rates of Individuals Between the ages of 16 and 24

"Status Dropout" rate is defined as the proportion of students aged 16- 244 who have neither completed high school nor entered college and are not enrolled at a school at the given point in time. The data has been interpreted to reflect the status dropout rate as opposed to the individual variables. The data source is the October Monthly CPS Survey file. For data verification purposes, please see: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/quarterly/winter/elementary/e_section3.html#sec2.

Source: October Monthly CPS Survey Files from 1995-1999

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/School Enrollment/Hispanics/trends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/statusdropouts.sps

You must have both the numbers of individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 as well as the numbers of “status dropouts”. To obtain the numbers of individual's between the ages of 16 and 24, run the ages16to24 SYNTAX file located in /Notre Dame Project/Syntax Files.

Variable Used to Ascertain Status Dropouts are as follows:
Ø      For the number of status dropouts

peeduca < 39 & prpertyp = 2 & peschenr = 2 & prorigin > 7 & perace = 1

Ø      For the total number of individuals between 16 and 24

peage >= 16 & peage <= 24 & prorigin > 7 & perace = 1

 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

PTAGE

@124

ALL

Age Top Coded at 90

16-19

PEEDUCA

@137-138

ALL

Highest Level of School Completed

<=39

PRORIGIN

@141-142

ALL

Origin or Descent

<=7

PRPERTYP

@161-162

ALL

Type of Person Recode

Adult Civ = 2

GESTCEN

@91-92

ALL

Census State Code

UNIVERSE

GEREG

@89-90

ALL

Region

UNIVERSE

PESCHENR

@575-576

ALL

School Enrollment

No

PWSSWGT

@613-622

ALL

Final Weight

 

Note: The weight variable must be recoded. The recoded variable is pwsswgt/10000. There are four implied decimal places in the raw text file that the Census Bureau puts out. The SPSS file that is included on the CD has already been recoded to reflect this. The recoded variable is called finwght.

3. Percent of Children Living With Parents

Definition: the percent of persons under age 18 not living in a married-couple family.

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Presence of Parents/parenttrends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/presenceparents.sps

Variable Used to Ascertain the Percentage of Children Living With Parents are as follows:

Parent, hispanic, MARSUPWT

With the following ranges:

parent > 0 & hispanic=0.

CROSSTABS

/TABLES=hg_reg BY parent

/FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

/CELLS= COUNT ROW.

 

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

 

See: http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/ads/1995/sutables.htm

 

 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

A_REORGN

@27-28

ALL

Origin or Descent

<=7

HG_ST60

@40-41

ALL HH

FIPS State Code

UNIVERSE

HG_REG

@39

ALL HH

Region

UNIVERSE

PARENT

@39

Family Members Under 18

Presence of Parent

2,3

4, Percent of Families With Children Headed by a Single Parent

Definition: the percentage of all families with “own children” under age 18 living in the household, who are headed by a person—male or female—without a spouse present in the home. “Own children” are never-married children under 18 who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption.

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Presence of Parents/familytrends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/famkinds.SPS

Variable Used to Ascertain the Percentage of Children Living With Parents are as follows:
a_famrel, a_famtyp, fownu18, A_REORGN, A_RACE, FKIND, HG_REG, HG_ST60, MARSUPWT
With the following ranges:
(a_famrel = 0 | a_famrel = 1) & a_famtyp = 1 &  fownu18 > 0 & hispanic = 1.

Note: FKIND was recoded into another variable called famgrp (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

 

CROSSTABS

  /TABLES= hispanic BY famgrp  BY hg_reg

  /FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

  /CELLS= COUNT TOTAL .

 

Variable Information

Num/Den

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection

For the number of Children living with single parent

A_PFREL

@33

ALL

Primary Family Relationship

=5

 

FOWUNU18 

@27

ALL FAMILIES

Own Children Under 18

 UNIVERSE

 

A_REORGN

@27

ALL

Origin or Descent

<=7

For the number of families with children

A_FAMREL   

@32

ALL

Family Relationship

0, 1

 

A_FAMTYPE

@31

ALL

Family Type

=1

 

FOWUNU18 

78

ALL FAMILIES

Own Children Under 18

UNIVERSE

 

5. Percent of Children Under 18 Living in Poverty

Definition: the percent of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes below the U.S. Poverty threshold.

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Low Income/trends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/lowincome.SPS

Variables Used to Low Income Levels of Children Under 18 are as follows:

A_AGE , A_REORGN , HG_ST60 , HG_REG , PERLIS , A_RACE, MARSUPWT

With the following ranges:

(A_AGE >= 0 and A_AGE <= 17) and (A_REORGN <= 7) and (PERLIS = 1 or PERLIS = 2 or PERLIS = 3 or PERLIS = 4)

 

CROSSTABS

/TABLES=hg_reg BY perlis

/FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

/CELLS= COUNT ROW .

Special Note: to compute statistics for the poverty levels of married couples with own children under 18 you must use different selection criteria, see below.

A_FAMREL = 0,1

A_MARITL = 1,2

POVLL Extreme <.5 , Below Poverty <.100

FOWNU18 1-9

 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

A_AGE

@15-16

ALL

Age Top Coded at 90

0-17

PERLIS

@468

ALL

Low Income Level of Persons

=1 Below Low Income

A_REORGN

@27-28

ALL

Origin or Descent

<=7

HG_ST60

@40-41

ALL HH

Census State Code

UNIVERSE

HG_REG

@39

ALL HH

Region

UNIVERSE

MARSUPWT

@66-73

 

March Supplement Final Weight

 

6. Population of Hispanic Children Under 18

Definition: the total resident population under age 18, including dependents of Armed Forces personnel

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Child Population/trends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/childpopulation.SPS

Variables Used to Select the Population of Children Under 18 are as follows:

A_AGE , A_REORGN , HG_ST60 , HG_REG, MARSUPWT

With the following ranges:

A_AGE < 18 and (A_REORGN <= 7)


 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

A_AGE

@15-16

ALL

Age Top Coded at 90

0-17

A_REORGN

@27-28

ALL

Origin or Descent

<=7

HG_ST60

@40-41

ALL HOUSEHOLDS

Census State Code

ALL

HG_REG

@39

ALL HOUSEHOLDS

Region

ALL

MARSUPWT

@66-73

 

March Supplement Final Weight

 

 

CROSSTABS

/TABLES=hg_reg BY hispanic

/FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

/CELLS= COUNT ROW.

 

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

7. Median Income of Families

Definition: the median annual income for families with “related children” under age 18 living in the household. “Related children” include the householder’s (head of the household) children by birth, marriage, or adoption; as well as other persons under age 18 (such as nieces or nephews) who are related to the householder and living in the household.

 

There are several categories of Median Income for families, including

Ø      Median Income of Family Groups

Ø      Median Income of Family Households

Ø      Median Income of Male Headed Households with No Spouse Present

Ø      Median Income of Female Headed Households with No Spouse Present

The Excel file where the above variables are located is: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Median Income

Ø      Then, click on the appropriate folder, depending on which of the Family Types you want to view

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/medincome.SPS

Variables Used to Select for Median Income of Family Groups are as follows:

A_FAMREL, A_FAMTYP,  FTOTVAL, A_RACE, HG_ST60 , HG_REG, A_REORGN, MARSUPWT 

With the following ranges:

(A_FAMREL = 0 or A_FAMREL = 1) and (A_FAMTYP = 1| A_FAMTYP = 3 | A_FAMTYP = 4 ) and (FTOTVAL > 1) & hispanic =1.

 

EXAMINE

  VARIABLES=ftotval BY hg_st60

  /PLOT NONE

  /STATISTICS DESCRIPTIVES

  /CINTERVAL 95

  /MISSING LISTWISE

  /NOTOTAL.

 

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

 

Note: this selects the median income for Family Groups not Family Households. To select records based on family groups, the change selection criteria for A_FAMTYPE to 1 in addition to the other variables. See Below.

 

Example: hispanic =1 and (A_FAMREL = 0 or A_FAMREL = 1) and (A_FAMTYP = 1) and (FTOTVAL > 1)


 

 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Conceptual Limitation

Description

Selection Criteria

 

A_FAMREL       

@32

ALL

Family Relationship

0 and 1

 

A_FAMTYP

@31

ALL

Family Type

=1, 3 or 4

 

A_REORGN  

@23

ALL

Origin or Descent

<=7

 

FTOTVAL

@205-212

ALL FAMILIES

Total Family Income

> 0

 

HG_ST60  

@40-41

ALL HH

Census State Code

UNIVERSE

 

HG_REG

@39

ALL HH

Region

UNIVERSE

 

MARSUPWT   

@66-73

 

Final March Supplement Weight

 

 

 

To select for Male Headed Households with no spouse present use the following variables

 

FTOTVAL, A_RACE, HG_ST60 , HG_REG, A_REORGN

With the following ranges:

fkind = 2 & ftotval > 2 & a_pfrel = 5 & hispanic = 0

Note: To select for female headed families with no spouse present, replace fkind=2 with fkind=3

See: http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hispanic/p20-535/sumtab01.txt

 

8. Percent of Female Headed Families Receiving Alimony

Definition: the percentage of families headed by an unmarried woman (living with one or more of her own children under age 18) receiving either child support or alimony payments during the previous calendar year.

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Alimony or Child Support/trends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/alimony.SPS

Variables Used to Select the percentage of families receiving either child support or alimony are as follows:

csp_yn, alm_yn, fkind, P_STAT, a_pfrel, A_RACE, HG_ST60 , HG_REG, A_REORGN, MARSUPWT

With the following ranges:
csp_yn=1, alm_yn=1, fkind = 3 &  a_pfrel = 5 &  hispanic = 1
Note: the variables csp_yn, alm_yn were recoded into another variable entitled cs_alm, see the SYNTAX file for further documentation

CROSSTABS

  /TABLES=hg_reg  BY csalm

  /FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

  /CELLS= COUNT ROW .

 

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

Note: csp_yn and , alm_yn were recoded into another variable called csalm (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

 

 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

 

ALM_YN      

@420

P_STAT=1 or 2

Alimony Payments Received

=1

 

CSP_YN

@414

P_STAT=1 or 2

Child Support Payments Received

=1

 

P_STAT

@26

ALL

Status of Person Identifier

1,2

 

A_FAMTYPE  

@31

ALL

Family Type

=1

 

A_FAMREL  

@32

ALL

Family Relationship

0,1

 

A_SEX  

@20

ALL

Sex of Respondent

UNIVERSE

 

MARSUPWT   

@66-73

 

Final March Supplement Weight

 

 

 

9. Percent of Children In Extreme Poverty (income below 50% of poverty level):

Definition: is the percentage of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes below 50 percent of the U.S. poverty threshold, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Families In Poverty/extremeunder6.xls

/Excel Files/Regional Data/Families In Poverty/extremeunder18.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/extremepoverty.SPS

Variables used to select the percentage of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes below 50 percent are as follows:
POVLL, a_famrel, a_maritl, fownu6. A_RACE, HG_ST60 , HG_REG, A_REORGN, MARSUPWT
With the following ranges:
hispanic = 1 & (a_famrel = 0 | a_famrel = 1) & (a_maritl = 1 | a_maritl = 2) & fownu6 > 0

Note: To select for children under 18 change the variable fownu6 to fownu18.

Note: the variable POVLL was recoded into PVGRP100, see SYNTAX file for further documentation

 

CROSSTABS

/TABLES=hispanic BY PVGRP100 BY hg_reg

/FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

/CELLS= COUNT TOTAL .

 

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

 

A_PFREL     

@33

ALL

Primary Family Relationship

5 **

 

HHDREL

@34

ALL

Detailed Household Summary

1 **

 

POVLL

@38-39

If FTYPE = 3 then value comes from primary family

Ratio of Family Income to Low Income

=1, 2, 3

 

A_REORGN  

@27-28

 

Origin or Descent

<=7

 

FTYPE

@10

ALL FAMILIES

Family Type

1,2,3

 

HG_ST60  

@40-41

ALL HH

Census State Code

UNIVERSE

 

HG_REG

@39

ALL HH

Regions

UNIVERSE

 

MARSUPWT   

@66-73

 

Final March Supplement Weight

 

 


Note: The variables change depending on the Type of Family Unit you are trying to ascertain.

            For married Couples use HHDREL = 1 and FTYPE =1

            For Female/Male Householder use A_PFREL = 5 and FTYPE = 1, 2

FTYPE=3 is a related subfamily

10. Percent of Children In Poverty (income below 100% of poverty level):

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Families In Poverty/povertytrends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/poverty.SPS

The variables for the percent of children in Poverty are the same as above. The only difference is in the variable POVLL, where 1, 2 or 3 represents the children who live in poverty-stricken families whereas 1 represents those families in extreme poverty.

11. Educational Attainment persons

Definition: the highest level of education completed by persons ranging from less than 9th grade to advanced degree.

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Educational Attainment/trends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/educational.SPS

Variables Used to ascertain educational attainment are as follows:
A_hga, A_RACE, HG_ST60 , HG_REG, A_REORGN, MARSUPWT
With the following ranges:
a_age GE 25 & hispanic = 0

CROSSTABS

  /TABLES=hispanic BY educgrp By hg_reg

  /FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

  /CELLS= COUNT ROW.

 

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

Note: A_hga was recoded into another variable called educgrp (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

 

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

A_HGA

@22-23

 

Educational Attainment

<=39

A_REORGN  

@27-28

 

Origin or Descent

<=7

HG_ST60  

@40-41

 

Census State Code

UNIVERSE

HG_REG     

@39

 

Region

UNIVERSE

MARSUPWT   

@66-73

 

March Supplement Weight

 

It is also possible to select those records pertaining to the educational level of married couples. To do so, use the following variables.

Variable Information

Variable

Position

Limitations

Description

Selection Criteria

A_HGA

@22-23

 

Educational Attainment

<=39

A_REORGN  

@27-28

 

Origin or Descent

<=7

A_MARITL  

@17

 

Marital Status

1,2

HG_ST60  

@40-41

 

Census State Code

UNIVERSE

HG_REG     

@39

 

Region

UNIVERSE

A_SEX  

@20

 

Sex of Respondent

1,2

MARSUPWT   

@66-73

 

March Supplement Weight

 

12. Children Under 6 Living With Parents Who Work Full Time

Definition: The percent of children under 6 living In families without two parents who work full time

The Excel file where this data is located in: /Excel Files/Regional Data/Working Parents/trends.xls

To run the data in SPSS, use the SYNTAX FILE located in: /Syntax Files/workstatus.SPS

Variables Used to ascertain educational attainment are as follows:
a_wkstat, A_RACE, HG_ST60 , HG_REG, A_REORGN, MARSUPWT, a_famrel, a_maritl, fownu6
With the following ranges: hispanic=1 & a_wkstat > 0 & (a_famrel = 0 | a_famrel = 1) & (a_maritl = 1 | a_maritl = 2) & fownu6 > 0.
a_age GE 25 & hispanic = 0

Note: A_REORGN and A_RACE were recoded into another variable called hispanic (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

Note: a_wkstat was recoded into another variable called WORKING (See SYNTAX file for further documentation)

 

CROSSTABS

  /TABLES=hispanic BY educgrp By hg_reg

  /FORMAT= AVALUE TABLES

  /CELLS= COUNT ROW.

 

 

 

1The contract refers ambiguously to the "general population" and to "Non-Hispanics" but, following the model of Annie E. Casey, we have compared the Hispanic population (regardless of race) with non-Hispanic whites for the purpose of charting graphs and trends.

2The original contract stated "percent of children under 5 in poverty", however, since there is an appropriate variable pertaining to poverty with a universe under 6, I created a slight modification here.

3For more information on the size and record lengths of the various files, see ...... website

4 The contract specifies ages 16-19 but the ages 16-24 where used instead. The reason is that data to verify the results could only be found for those ages. To change the ages, simply select A_AGE <20 & A_AGE >15 instead of what is specified in this section of the manual.