I have downloaded the CPS data 1988-2015 (March alone: March 1988, March 1989, …, March 2015) for (1) the data that is available monthly and (2) the March supplaments. The CPSID and CPSIDP variables are not included with my download.
Has anyone else ever encountered downloads where the individual identifiers were not provided?
If so, any suggestions to fix the issue?
CPSID and CPSIDP are not currently available for ASEC samples, because linking the Basic samples to the ASEC supplement responses is complicated by the fact that the ASEC includes an oversample of households from adjacent months. IPUMS-CPS is currently working on a variable called MARBASECID to facilitate linking the March Basic samples to their corresponding ASEC sample. See this answer for more information about MARBASECID.
For the years 2005-2014, it is still possible to link households across ASEC samples using HRHHID and HRHHID2. Prior to 2005, you should use HRHHID and HUHHNUM. To identify persons, you should also include LINENO, AGE, and SEX along with the household identifiers. Note that AGE can increase by one year.
Keep in mind that your match rate will be under fifty-percent for any given two-year period. First, only half of the sample is eligible to appear in both years of any two consecutive years. Second, households and persons can drop out of the survey (e.g. relocate, refuse to participate, etc.).
Hope this helps.