Parental nativity in the CPS (and other surveys)

Since I am not a trained demographer, I use DataFerrett to extract a lot of data from CPS and other surveys. I am trying to get information on parental nativity (i.e., whether an individual’s parents were foreign-born or native-born).

I know the variables MBPL, FBPL, and NATIVITY exist in the CPS, but for whatever reason they do not show up in DataFerrett. Any ideas?

I can not speak to the availability of data on DataFerrett, but these variables are easily accessible using the IPUMS-CPS data selection interface under Person->Ethnicity/Nativity.

You need to register for access, which includes questions regarding affiliation and the intended use of the data, but the data is freely available to everyone.

There are also a number of tutorials and an informative FAQ page to help familiarize you with the IPUMS-CPS data extract system.