In the basic CPS files, I have not been able to identify the variables for a) whether an individual “wants a job” and b) whether a person has searched for work in the past 12 months. I would like to be able to construct estimates of three populations: those who want work in a given month, those who are marginally attached, and those who are discouraged workers.
Can you tell me if I am simply missing where this information is available in IPUMS-CPS? Thank you!
The variable WANTJOB will help you identify respondents not in the labor force that wanted a job, either full- or part-time. Additionally, the following variables can help your determine those looking for work in the previous year:
NWLOOKWK reports the number of weeks that civilian adults who did not work during the preceding calendar year spent looking for work or on layoff.
NWLOOKWK2 reports the number of weeks, in intervals, that the respondent spent looking for work in the previous year.
In general, all work related variables for the ASEC can be found here.
Hi Michelle, I have the same question, but I need to be able to use the CPS microdata and not the ASEC microdata to calculate discouraged workers and those marginally attached to the labor force. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes state-level labor underutilization data (e.g. U-5 and U-6 q.v. Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization for States) as an annual average quarterly. (For example, (1) calendar year 2021, (2) 2021 Q2 to 2022 Q1, (3) 2021 Q3 to 2022 Q2, etc.), and I want to match their numbers using IPUMS-CPS. I can’t use ASEC because those are only annual numbers, and I can’t find the right variables with CPS. Clearly, BLS publishes the data quarterly, so the data must be available. Am I missing the right monthly variables? If it isn’t in IPUMS-CPS, do you know why it isn’t?
We corresponded about this directly over email, but I also wanted to post a public response so others could reference it in the future. The attached table shows you how you can calculate these measures using IPUMS CPS.