I would like to know how many Maine households over 65 only have social security as a source of income.
How would I do that.
The best data source for this is probably IPUMS USA. The first detail is to refine what you mean by “households over 65.” Do you mean households where the household head (RELATE==1) is over 65? Or do you have some other definition in mind? The AGE variable can identify individuals over the age of 65. Finally, the INCSS variable reports how much pre-tax income (if any) the respondent received from Social Security pensions, survivors benefits, or permanent disability insurance, as well as U.S. government Railroad Retirement insurance payments, during the previous year.
You can perform this analysis using the online analysis tool or by using the microdata downloadable from the IPUMS USA data extract system. In both cases, since you are counting households, you’ll want to limit your data to only one person per household by filtering by PERNUM==1. Finally, if you are interested in identifying households who only earn income through social security, you’ll also need to filter based on other income sources, such as INCEARN==0 and INCBUS==0, etc.
Thanks Jeff,
I’ll give that a shot.
Richard Taylor
Communications and Research Manager
353 Water Street
Augusta, Maine 04330-4633
207-626-4644
