Is there a way to find birth order of each individual in the IPUMS data? Which variables would I use to determine this?
And, if this is possible…How would I determine spouse/partner’s birth order?
Thanks
IPUMS datasets generally record household rosters at a specific point in time, with family interrelationships identified within each sampled household. With few exceptions, the data only report on information about coresident household members (birth order is not recorded). While it is possible to make inferences on the birth order of children in cases where all of the children reside in the same household by observing the AGE of children who share the same value of MOMLOC and/or POPLOC (i.e., they have the same mother and/or father), the data is generally unsuitable for this task.
The main limitation is that this requires all siblings to be present within the sampled household. Siblings who previously moved out of the household, who have previously died, or those who have not yet been born will not appear in the data. We provide a user guide about these family interrelationship links with more details about how these links were created. You may be able to fill in some of the gaps using the variable CHBORN (children ever born; available in 1900-1910, 1940-1990). The Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Fertility and Marriage Supplement may also be helpful.
Regarding the birth order of spouses, I’m assuming that you’re asking about each spouse’s birth order in terms of their siblings (e.g., the spouse is the oldest sibling) rather than the age of each spouse relative to their partner (e.g., the husband being older than his wife). Determining the birth order of adult spouses is much more challenging since they likely no longer reside with their siblings. One potential method you may consider to obtain this information indirectly is leveraging the linked decennial census records in the IPUMS Multigenerational Longitudinal Panel (MPL).The MLP allows users to obtain crosswalks and data files linking deidentified persons across the 1850-1950 censuses. For example, you may link spouses in 1950 to their 1920 census records. This allows you to observe the family composition of each linked spouse from the period when they resided in the same household as their siblings (using the same method outlined for children above).
This method has a few shortcomings: 1950 is the most recent sample that is linked, the MLP only links records when it can confidently confirm that these are the same individuals, and, similarly to the method identifying the birth order to children, the snapshot that a decennial census family composition provides will miss siblings that may have previously died, siblings that have not yet been born, as well as any siblings who previously moved out of the household.
Who do I write a letter to requesting it be included in future data collection as a self-identified option: First-Born/Eldest, Middle, Last-Born/Youngest, or Only? I can’t be the only one interested in this variable’s correlations! I mean, if random questions like “Father’s Birth Place” are included…
The most direct method would be to submit a public comment to a Census Bureau federal notice regarding data collection. You can find these by searching for documents with the heading “Agency Information Collection Activities”.