The family relationship variable famrel is only available 1988 onward in ASEC CPS on IPUMS. However in NBER and Unicon ASEC CPS extracts this variable is available for earlier years. Is there a different variable available for 1977-2015 that has the same information as famrel or is there a way to construct a similar variable to famrel from available variables on IPUMS for 1977-1987?
The IPUMS CPS team is looking into expanding FAMREL to cover the years you have inquired about. In the meantime, you can access the unharmonized version of this variable for the years of interest by including UH_FAMREL_A2 in your data extract.
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How long do you think it will take to expand famrel to cover the years I have inquired about?
At this point, I do not know of a firm timeline for the work to expand FAMREL in IPUMS CPS. I recommend using the unharmonized version of the variable for these years.
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Thank you very much! I really appreciate your help!
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I just wanted to check if FAMREL has been harmonized to expand the year?
FAMREL has not yet been harmonized for earlier years. You can find a list of revisions to the IPUMS CPS data here: https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/revisions
Is there a timeline for harmonizing FAMREL?
No, this is pretty low priority at the moment. As @KariWilliams mentioned, this data is available through the unharmonized variable UH_FAMREL_A2. This can be added to your extract just like the harmonized variables.
Oh I see. I am using the unharmonized variable and harmonize it my self. So IPUMS would not do anything different than just harmonize the unharmonized variable? I just thought that you are doing something in addition to that?
No, that’s basically it. If the harmonization is straightforward (e.g. just recoding), your harmonization should be the same as what IPUMS would do.
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Great thanks!