Dear who may know the answer,
I have been trying to extract the information regarding parent’s education for age 18-19 young adults.
Currently, I think I can only know whether a young adult is the child of the household or not, but I cannot do it backward to find who are his/her parents.
Can anyone propose a way to do this?
Really appreciate it!!!
IPUMS CPS contains several variables for linking children with their parents. These include MOMLOC and POPLOC (these are IPUMS created variables), and PELNMOM and PELNDAD (these are self-reported). In most cases these two sets of variables give the same person, but occasionally they differ. I suggest you read the variable descriptions to decide which is most appropriate for your analysis.
The easiest way to include the education of an individual’s parents in your data file is to use the attach characteristics feature when submitting your extract request. Just make sure to include EDUC in your extract. This uses the MOMLOC and POPLOC - if you decide to use the PELN* variables, you will need to attach characteristics manually (see code at bottom of the IPUMS USA family interrelationships page for examples of how to do this).
One important caveat: all of these methods will only give the parent’s education for those who live with their parents. For people who do not live with their parents, there is no information on parental education in the CPS.
Thanks so much for your help. Your response solves my questions perfectly.
Really appreciate it!