Hi, Yesterday you responded to a question I posted about the ATUS “earnweek” variable. Thank you very much. I have a follow-up question, if you don’t mind. For a worker who works two or more jobs each week (say a morning job and an afternoon job everyday of the week), does the “earnweek” variable capture earnings from all those current jobs?
Thank you very much.
The survey methodology for the ATUS variable EARNWEEK, follows the methodology described in IPUMS CPS EARNWEEK. Namely, The figure given in EARNWEEK is the higher of the values derived from the following two sources: (1) the respondent’s answer to the question, “How much do you usually earn per week at this job before deductions?”; or (2) for workers paid by the hour (and coded as “2” in PAIDHOUR), the reported number of hours the respondent usually worked at the job, multiplied by the hourly wage rate given in HOURWAGE. So, it depends on how the respondent answered these questions. If they work a morning job and an evening job and are paid by the hour then the earnings from both of these jobs are likely recorded in EARNWEEK. If the respondent isn’t paid by the hour and only reported earnings from one job, then the value for EARNWEEK will not include both jobs. Surveys like the CPS try their best to accurately record information, but at the end of the day accuracy relies on respondents themselves.