# In the USA PUMS file is there pointer variable to give members of a household the person number of the head?

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/in-the-usa-pums-file-is-there-pointer-variable-to-give-members-of-a-household-the-person-number-of-the-head/2049>\
**Category:** USA\
**Created:** [December 1, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/in-the-usa-pums-file-is-there-pointer-variable-to-give-members-of-a-household-the-person-number-of-the-head/2049 "2017-12-01T23:11:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nycgeographer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@nycgeographer](https://forum.ipums.org/u/nycgeographer)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/in-the-usa-pums-file-is-there-pointer-variable-to-give-members-of-a-household-the-person-number-of-the-head/2049/1 "2017-12-01T23:11:00Z")

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I am examining the characteristics of children in a household based on the characteristics of the head of the household (RELATE = 1).

Is there an existing variable or is there a way in SPSS or SAS to assign members of a household the person number of the head in the same way that MOMLOC, POPLOC, and SPLOC do? MOMLOC and POPLOC do not allow me to capture any non-related children that may be in the household.

Thanks

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**Author:** ![JeffBloem](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/jeffbloem/32/40_2.png) [@JeffBloem](https://forum.ipums.org/u/JeffBloem)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/in-the-usa-pums-file-is-there-pointer-variable-to-give-members-of-a-household-the-person-number-of-the-head/2049/2 "2017-12-04T21:01:00Z")

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I think what you are trying to do can be done by using the “[Attach Characteristics](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/faq#ques38)” tool in IPUMS USA. Essentially, this tool allows you to create a new variable on the record line of, in your case, children. This new variable would identify a specific characteristics of the household head, say age, on each individual within a household.

I hope this helps.

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**Author:** ![nycgeographer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@nycgeographer](https://forum.ipums.org/u/nycgeographer)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/in-the-usa-pums-file-is-there-pointer-variable-to-give-members-of-a-household-the-person-number-of-the-head/2049/3 "2017-12-05T15:56:00Z")

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Thanks!