Hello, I’m hoping to get more information about cases where RELATED = 1270. This is the detailed household relationship variable, and a value of 1270 is labeled as “non-inmate 1990” in my data extract (ACS 2018-2022, restricted to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). In this extract, all people with RELATED = 1270 do not have an associated household type (HHTYPE=0, meaning not applicable). Are these individuals who are living in group quarters, e.g., dormitories? I notice that about 40% of people in this group are 18-22 years old, making me think many are college students.
The value label on the code for RELATED value 1270, “Non-inmate 1990 (includes military, students, employees, boarders),” includes a typo. The label should be “Non-inmate (1990 includes military, students, employees, boarders).” I will alert the IPUMS USA team to this typo so they can correct it. You can see in some RELATED codes, such as 1260 or 1270, there is a parenthetical statement in the label that provides more detail for specific samples, like 1990. This is because the original value label in that sample included this detail, so we retain it for users. The additional detail does not necessarily apply to any other samples.
In the ACS, individuals with RELATED=1270 are group quarters members who are non-inmates. You are correct that this category includes college students. All individuals with RELATED=1270 live in group quarters. More specifically, they live in non-institutional group quarters, which include places like college dormitories. You can see this by tabulating the variable GQ for those with RELATED=1270; they all have GQ=4, “other group quarters” (as opposed to institutional group quarters). However, this category can include individuals who are not college students and who do not live in college dormitories. From the Census Bureau, non-institutional quarters also could be “military quarters, and other noninstitutional group quarters such as emergency and transitional shelters for people experiencing homelessness and group homes.” If you are interested in identifying college students, you could combine information from RELATED, GQ, EMPSTATD (which identifies those in the military), SCHOOL, and GRADEATT. See also GQTYPE, which reports the type of group quarters a person resides in, albeit not in much detail in the ACS data.
Thank you for the quick, clear, and comprehensive response - exactly the information I was looking for!