The codebook generated with my extract states, “NONHHCHILD was collected at the time of the ATUS interview, 2-5 months after the final CPS interview.” However, when I look under the “Questionnaire Text” tab, each year states, “No questionnaire text is available for this sample.” I’m wondering: how was the NONHHCHILD variable generated? Were respondents specifically asked if they had children residing outside of their household? If so, what was the wording of this questionnaire item? If not, how was this information determined?
As a follow-up: it seems likely that this measure is derived from the “NHHCHILD” items found in the ATUS codebooks, which contain the wording, “Do you have any children under 18 who do not live with you?” Is this the case?
The ATUS Questionnaire (pg. 11) has a fairly descriptive explanation of the process for gathering this information from respondents. Basically, respondents were asked whether they have any children under the age of 18 not living with them in their household. If the respondent answers “yes” to this question, the child is then added to the household roster and identified as a non-household child.