In sprule, has “Rule 11 is used to identify spouse/partner” etc. replaced the previous “Married, Spouse Present” etc.? I can’t seem to find the latter definition anymore. I thought I was able to pull it up 3 years ago.
The codes relating to “Married, spouse present”, etc. can be found in the MARST variable, which identifies self-identified marital status as reported to the US Census. (Note that in IPUMS CPS ‘Married, Spouse present’ and ‘Married, Spouse absent’ are directly reported in the questionnaire. In IPUMS USA, we assign “spouse present” or “spouse absent” based on whether or not we identify a spouse in SPLOC.) SPRULE is a variable that identifies the method used, by IPUMS, to link probable/potential spouse links as shown in SPLOC. SPRULE prioritizes spouse links within a household based on the relationship shown via RELATE. Other than links between a householder and an unmarried partner, a person must be “married” according to MARST (==1 or 2) in order to have a non-zero value for SPLOC.
I hope this helps. Let us know if you have any additional questions.