# Parents only

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/parents-only/1247>\
**Category:** USA\
**Created:** [March 25, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/parents-only/1247 "2016-03-25T18:24:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TKaz84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TKaz84](https://forum.ipums.org/u/TKaz84)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/parents-only/1247/1 "2016-03-25T18:24:00Z")

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I am trying to use iPUMS to get an idea of how many parents are living in an area (with some income and education variables attached). How would I do this?

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Moreland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@Tim\_Moreland](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Tim_Moreland)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/parents-only/1247/2 "2016-03-25T21:14:00Z")

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To identify parents in an IPUMS-USA sample, you could use the [YNGCH](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/YNGCH#description_section) variable, which reports the age of the youngest child living in the same household. Persons with no children present in the household have a YNGCH value of 99. You could also restrict your definition of parents to persons with children under a certain age (e.g. 18 years or younger). Then, anyone with a YNGCH value of that age or less would meet your criterion for being a parent.

Hope this helps.
