Hello,
I was trying to use the IPUMS CPS data to analyze several years (2003-2019) of CPS ASEC data at a time. When I use the CPS ASEC data directly from Census’ website, I’m used to using a variable called “FWSVAL” that measures “Wages and salaries family income”. However, I can’t find an equivalent to this among the IPUMS variables - i’m only able to find individual wage/salary income, or total family income, but the latter is from all sources, not just wages/salary.
Does IPUMS have an equivalent variable to FWSVAL for the CPS ASEC? Thanks!
IPUMS CPS does not provide an equivalent variable that reports family wage and salary income. However, we provide the unharmonized (original Census Bureau) variables that report family wage and salary income: UH_FMIWAG_A1, UH_FMIWAG_A2, and UH_FMIWAG_A3.
Note that IPUMS and the Census Bureau define families differently, so using the unharmonized family income variable along with any IPUMS variables that rely on our own family definitions will result in inconsistent definition of families. You can read more about the difference between the IPUMS and Census Bureau definitions of families in the description of the FAMUNIT variable (which includes links to variables that will help you identify families using the Census Bureau definitions).
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