Hello,
I am looking for IPUMS datasets on mortality that also contain information on if the deceased individual was married, and if so, the gender of the spouse.
Data from 2019 NHIS Linked Mortality File (LMF), which links records of eligible deceased NHIS survey participants from 1986-2018 to records in the National Death Index (up to December 31, 2019), is available through IPUMS NHIS. The mortality variables page lists the variables from the file that are provided. You can find detailed notes about this public use data as well as the restricted file in the IPUMS NHIS user note on the LMF.
Once you’ve added the mortality variables you’re interested in, you can also add variables that report the participant’s marital status (MARSTCUR), their sex (SEX), and their reported sexual orientation (SEXORIEN, available from 2013-onwards). To obtain information on their partner’s sex, you can use the attach characteristics tool (available after adding samples and variables to your data cart, and clicking VIEW CART on the top right of the webpage). This tool allows you to attach one of the variables in your data cart as a characteristic of a person’s mother, father, or spouse. For example, using the variable SEX, it can make a new variable that report’s the participant’s spouse’s sex in a new variable called sex_sp. All persons in the extract who reside in a household with their spouse would receive a value for this new variable. Persons without a spouse present in the household would receive a missing value. The tool uses the constructed IPUMS family interrelationship pointer variable SPLOC, which accounts for same-sex and cohabiting couples. For more information, please see the IPUMS NHIS user note on family interrelationship variables. The note goes into detail about editing procedures for same-sex couples in the underlying data. In particular, analyses of same-sex couples in 2004 through the second quarter of 2007 using these data are discouraged. Analyses of same-sex couples prior to 1997 should note the limited documentation available about any potential editing.
Note that any variables that are not drawn from the National Death Index refer to data collected when the participant was interviewed for the NHIS survey and not at the time of death. This data will not report whether a person got divorced or married between the date of their NHIS interview and the date of their National Death Index record. Aside from the NHIS, you can also obtain data on respondents to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) linked to the National Death Index through the National Center for Health Statistics linkage information page.
Thank you!