IPUMS CPS includes variables from the Disability Supplement conducted in May 2012, July 2019, and July 2021 (under Person > Disability Supplement). But there are several variables missing, and I’m wondering why IPUMS excluded these.
One set of missing variables is about workplace accommodations:
PESD8 or SDIS8, “Have you ever requested any change in your current workplace to help you do your job better?”
PESD9 and PESD10 (SDIS9-10), follow-on questions from PESD8
A second set of missing variables is about work at home, flexibility of work hours, and temporary jobs (PESD12 through PESD18).
See codebooks here: IPUMS CPS
The Disability Supplement variables available via IPUMS appear to be those that were asked only of individuals who reported a disability as coded in DIFFANY. The variables missing from IPUMS appear to be those that were asked of all employed persons, both those who report a disability and those who do not.
Can anyone shed some light on the reasons for excluding these variables from IPUMS CPS? Thanks.
Data harmonization is a very labor-intensive process, and the IPUMS CPS team has to prioritize which variables to harmonize. This is especially true for CPS supplements, which are often fielded irregularly and change a lot from year to year. Oftentimes, certain variables are only asked in one or two versions of the supplement. In these cases, harmonization does not add much value and is not prioritized. Although we would like to offer all variables, unfortunately it is not feasible currently.
That said, IPUMS CPS offers many unharmonized variables for basic monthly and ASEC samples, which makes available additional variables from the original data that have not yet been harmonized. Currently we do not offer unharmonized variables for non-ASEC supplements.
If you need to use those variables in your analysis, you can download the original CPS microdata from NBER, and merge those variables onto your IPUMS extract using the procedure described in this blog post.
Given the topics you listed, you might also be interested in looking at what is available from the Work Schedules Supplement.
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Very helpful, Matthew, thanks.