Over a million of the 14 million total between the three years report 0 wage/salary income but report personal income, working in the labo force, and report an occupation title.
Thanks
Although I am not able to definitively answer your question about whether you should use personal or wage/salary income, I can provide a few details that may be helpful to you as you make this choice. First, note that the INCTOT variable is defined as the sum of a number of different income sources, including INCWAGE (defined here). Therefore, one factor of this choice depends on if you are interested in wages/salary only or other sources of income as well. Second, note that the occupation and labor force information are not always totally consistent with the income information. The income figures in your selected samples provide annual income values for individuals. The LABFORCE variable provides labor force status of an individual within the previous week. Finally, the OCC variable identifies an individual’s most recent job, if they are without a job.