2020 ASECWTCVD and family-level analysis?

CPS
1

Hi IPUMS team,

I am trying to estimate the number of families with the youngest child under 3 and below the federal poverty level by state, using the combined 3 years of ASEC data (2018 - 2020). To adjust the weights to account for the combined 3 years of data, I plan to follow the method used in this forum post (Merging Jan-Dec IPUMS CPS files: How to set up weights correctly?). However, we do not have the equivalent of ASECWTCVD for the family weight (ASECFWT) in 2020. Is there a guidance for how to account for the effect of the 2020 pandemic in the weighted family-level analysis? I was not able to find the information in Rothbaum and Bee, 2021 (https://cps.ipums.org/cps/resources/other_docs/sehsd-wp2020-10.pdf).

Thank you,

Yuko

2

I apologize for the delayed response on our end. The ASEC codebook details that “the weight on the family record is the March supplement weight of the householder or reference person”. Therefore, if you have the pandemic-adjusted weight of the reference person (the person for whom PERNUM = 1), you can use this as the family weight for all individuals within the unit. If possible, I would also recommend reaching out to Rothbaum and Bee and seeing if they created any family weights themselves.

Hope that’s helpful!