Is the universe for DWRESP correct? There it lists the universe for being in the supplement as anyone who was displaced from a job in the past 5 years, but based on the Census documentation, the universe is workers who were displaces from a job within the past 3 years.
Can someone clarify if I am misunderstanding this? What is the difference in DWRSEP and DWLOSTJOB?
You are correct that this is an error in the documentation. The comparability tab for DWRESP gives the correct information.
The relationships between DWRESP, DWSTAT, and DWLOSTJOB are complex and differ by year. The conceptual difference is that DWLOSTJOB is a question asked from the respondent about whether they have lost a job in recent years, while DWRESP is a flag variable which tells whether a respondent is eligible for the supplement or not based on responses to earlier questions, and then whether they were actually interviewed or not for the supplement. For years prior to 1996, these coincide almost perfectly, but starting in 1996 they diverge. The IPUMS CPS team is looking into clarifying and updating the documentation about these variables.