I’m trying to use the variable “Labforce” in the full count census sample from 1870, when restricting the sample to spouses of the household head, age 20-50. However, all of the observations are missing. This is not the case for other years, such as 1860 or 1880, and the description of “Labforce” indicates that it is available for all samples in 1870.
Is it possible that I am missing a description of the data that explains this lack of data?
Thank you!
I just downloaded the 1870 full count file and was not able to replicate your observation. In particular, when I restrict the sample to only spouses of the household head (RELATE==2) between the age of 20-50, I find only valid cases of LABFORCE. I suspect that some sort of glitch in your download or decompression process is causing this observation. Note that the full count file is quite large and will take a bit of time to (a) download and (b) decompress—e.g., unzip—the compressed data file. This page includes links to a number of video tutorials that show the exact steps necessary for downloading and decompressing IPUMS data.
Dear Jeff,
Many thanks for your prompt reply.
Best,
Moshe