I found many methods to merge and match data of CPS. I wonder if the data I download from IPUMS is already merged or matched by household. Or it’s still original data which I need to merge and match by myself.
Each record in the IPUMS-CPS data is a person, however in most samples persons are able to be organized into households. This makes it possible to study household characteristics. On the IPUMS-CPS website variables are grouped by either the household or person level. If you select household level variables, the variables will download already merged with person level variables. Here is a FAQ about how IPUMS data is “rectangularized”.