How to distinguish "Out of LF due to School" in CPS

CPS
1

Hi,

I am working on the labor force participation and am trying to consistently identify individuals who are not in the labor force specifically because they are enrolled in school.

My colleagues and I have found that the method for identifying this group changes across CPS versions:

  • Pre-1989: The variable EMPSTAT provides a direct category for this group.

  • Post-1994: We can successfully use a combination of NILFACT and EMPSTAT to isolate them.

  • 1989-1993: This is the period in question. The EMPSTAT variable does not seem to include a distinct “school” code during these years, and NILFACT is not available as well. As an alternative, we tried using school enrollment status alone, but the resulting population estimates differ significantly from the totals in the pre-1989 and post-1994 periods.

Our Question:
Is there a recommended method or a combination of variables within the CPS for the years 1989-1993 to accurately identify persons not in the labor force specifically due to school attendance, making this group comparable to the definitions used in earlier and later periods?

Any guidance, documentation, or suggestions on how to bridge this data gap would be helpful.

Thank you for your time and expertise!

2

The unharmonized source variables UH_MAJACTX_B1 and UH_MAJACT_B2 report the respondent’s main activity in the previous week in the BMS data from 1989-1993. UH_MAJACT_A3 is the corresponding variable in the ASEC. Since a respondent could have provided school as their main activity and still report being employed, I recommend using these in combination with EMPSTAT to identify those who reported being in school and were coded as not in the labor force.

Note that a survey redesign in 1994 included significant changes to procedure for determining labor force status. As described in the EMPSTAT comparability tab, the main activity ice-breaker question prior to 1994 was dependent on the subject’s age and sex. Due to evidence that this encouraged underreporting of part-time work by women, these procedures were edited so that the main activity would be similarly ascertained for all adults.

I will share a note with my colleagues to look into adding these unharmonized variables to EMPSTAT to help make these details more accessible in the future.