Current Population Survey
Age Age classification is based on the age of the person at his/her last birthday. The adult universe (i.e., population of marriageable age) is comprised of persons 15 years and over for CPS labor force data.
Allocation Flag Each edited item has a corresponding allocation flag indicating the nature of the edit. See the attachment on allocation flags for more information. The second character of the item name is always "X".
Armed Forces Demographic information for Armed Forces members (enumerated in off-base housing or on-base with their families) is included on the CPS data files. No labor force information is collected of Armed Forces members in any month. In March, supplemental data on income are included for Armed Forces members. This is the only month that non-demographic information is included for Armed Forces members.
Civilian Labor Force (See Labor Force.)
Class of Worker This refers to the broad classification of the person's employer. These broad classifications for current jobs are:
Domain The domain for an item is a list or range of its possible values. Note that all unedited items have possible values of -1 (blank), -2 (don't know), and -3 (refused). Since all items have these possible values, they are not shown as valid entries for each item.
Duration of Unemployment Duration of unemployment represents the length of time (through the current survey week) during which persons classified as unemployed are continuously looking for work. For persons on layoff, duration of unemployment represents the number of full weeks since the termination of their most recent employment. A period of two weeks or more during which a person is employed or ceased looking for work is considered to break the continuity of the present period of seeking work.
Earners, Number of The file includes all persons 15 years old and over in the household with $1 or more in wages and salaries, or $1 or more of a loss in net income from farm or nonfarm self-employment during the preceding year.
Edited item An edited item is allocated or imputed by the processing system. In most cases this means allocating a value where the unedited item contains a value of blank, "don't know", or "refused". The second character of the item name is always "E".
An edited version of an item exists only if that item is processed through the edits. If the edits never deal with a particular item, then that item only has an unedited version.
Since the instrument enforces skip patterns and consistency between many items, the edits are left mainly with the job of allocating missing values. Also, since an interviewer is allowed to "back up" in the interview, there may be "off-path" items filled in the unedited data. The edits also blank these off-path items if an edited version of the items exists.
Education (See Level of School Completed.)
Employed (See Labor Force.)
Family A family is a group of two persons or more (one of whom is the householder) residing together and related by birth, marriage, or adoption. All such persons (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family. Beginning with the 1980 CPS, unrelated subfamilies (referred to in the past as secondary families) are no longer included in the count of families, nor are the members of unrelated subfamilies included in the count of family members.
Family Household A family household is a household maintained by a family (as defined above), and may include among the household members any unrelated persons (unrelated subfamily members and/or secondary individuals) who may be residing there. The number of family households is equal to the number of families. The count of family household members differs from the count of family members, however, in that the family household members include all persons living in the household, whereas family members include only the householder and his/her relatives. (See the definition of Family).
Family Weight This weight is used only for tallying family characteristics. In March, the weight on the family record is the March supplement weight of the householder or reference person.
Final Weight Used in tabulating labor force items in all months, including March. The final weight is controlled to independent estimates for:
This weight should not be used when tabulating March supplement data.
Full-Time Worker Persons on full-time schedules include persons working 35 hours or more, persons who worked 1-34 hours for noneconomic reasons (e.g., illness) and usually work full-time, and persons "with a job but not at work" who usually work full-time.
Group Quarters Group quarters are noninstitutional living arrangements for groups not living in conventional housing units or groups living in housing units containing nine or more persons unrelated to the person in charge.
Head Versus Householder Beginning with the March 1980 CPS, the Bureau of the Census discontinued the use of the terms "head of household" and "head of family." Instead, the terms "householder" and "family householder" are used.
Highest Grade of School Attended (See Level of School Completed.)
Hispanic Origin Persons of Hispanic origin in this file are determined on the basis of a question that asked for self-identification of the person's origin or descent. Respondents are asked to select their origin (or the origin of some other household member) from a "flash card" listing ethnic origins. Persons of Hispanic origin, in particular, are those who indicated that their origin was Mexican-American, Chicano, Mexican, Mexicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Hispanic.
Hours of Work Hours of work statistics relate to the actual number of hours worked during the survey week. For example, a person who normally works 40 hours a week but who is off on the Veterans Day holiday is reported as working 32 hours even though he is paid for the holiday.
For persons working in more than one job, the figures related to the number of hours worked in all jobs during the week. However, all the hours are credited to the major job.
Household A household consists of all the persons who occupy a house, an apartment, or other group of rooms, or a room, which constitutes a housing unit. A group of rooms or a single room is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied as separate living quarters; that is, when the occupants do not live and eat with any other person in the structure, and when there is direct access from the outside or through a common hall. The count of households excludes persons living in group quarters, such as rooming houses, military barracks, and institutions. Inmates of institutions (mental hospitals, rest homes, correctional institutions, etc.) are not included in the survey.
Household Weight The household weight is used for tallying household characteristics. In March, the household weight is the March Supplement weight of the householder.
Householder The householder refers to the person (or one of the persons) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented (maintained) or, if there is no such person, any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders, or paid employees. If the house is owned or rented jointly by a married couple, the householder may be either the husband or the wife. The person designated as the householder is the "reference person" to whom the relationship of all other household members, if any, is recorded.
Householder With No Other Relatives in Household A householder who has no relatives living in the household. This is the entry for a person living alone. Another example is the designated householder of an apartment shared by two or more unrelated individuals.
Householder With Other Relatives (Including Spouse) in Household The person designated as householder if he/she has one or more relatives (including spouse) living in the household.
Industry, Occupation, and Class of Worker (I&O) Current Job (basic data) For the employed, current job is the job held in the reference week (the week before the survey). Persons with two or more jobs are classified in the job at which they worked the most hours during the reference week. The unemployed are classified according to their latest full-time job lasting two or more weeks or by the job (either full-time or part-time). The I & O questions are also asked of persons not in the labor force who are in the fourth and eighth months in sample and who have worked in the last five years.
Job Seekers All unemployed persons who made specific efforts to find a job sometime during the 4-week period preceding the survey week.
Longitudinal Weight Used for gross flows analysis. Only found on adult records matched from month to month.
PEMLR (Major Labor Force Recode) This classification is available for each civilian 15 years old and over according to his/her responses to the monthly (basic) labor force items.
Labor Force Persons are classified as in the labor force if they are employed, unemployed, or in the Armed Forces during the survey week.
The "civilian labor force" includes all civilians classified as employed or unemployed. The file includes labor force data for civilians age 15 and over. However, the official definition of the civilian labor force is age 16 and over.
1. Employed
Employed persons comprise (1) all civilians who, during the survey week, do any work at all as paid employees or in their own business or profession, or on their own farm, or who work 15 hours or more as unpaid workers on a farm in a business operated by a member of the family; and (2) all those who have jobs but who are not working because of illness, bad weather, vacation, or labor-management dispute, or because they are taking time off for personal reasons, whether or not they are seeking other jobs.
These persons would have a Monthly Labor Force Recode (MLR) of 1 or 2 respectively in characters 180-181 of the person record which designates "at work" and "with a job, but not at work." Each employed person is counted only once. Those persons who held more than one job are counted in the job at which they worked the greatest number of hours during the survey week. If they worked an equal number of hours at more than one job, they are counted at the job they held the longest.
2. Unemployed
Unemployed persons are those civilians who, during the survey week, have no employment but are available for work, and (1) have engaged in any specific job seeking activity within the past 4 weeks such as registering at a public or private employment office, meeting with prospective employers, checking with friends or relatives, placing or answering advertisements, writing letters of application, or being on a union or professional register; (2) are waiting to be called back to a job from which they had been laid off; or (3) are waiting to report to a new wage or salary job within 30 days. These persons would have an MLR code of 3 or 4 in characters 180-181 of the person record. The unemployed includes job leavers, job losers, new job entrants, and job reentrants.
a. Job Leavers
Persons who quit or otherwise terminate their employment voluntarily and immediately begin looking for work.
b. Job Losers
Persons whose employment ends involuntarily, who immediately begin looking for work, and those persons who are already on layoff.
c. New Job Entrants
Persons who never worked at a full-time job lasting two weeks or longer.
d. Job Reentrants
Persons who previously worked at a full-time job lasting two weeks or longer but are out of the labor force prior to beginning to look for work.
Finally, it should be noted that the unemployment rate represents the number of persons unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor force 16 years old and over.
This measure can also be computed for groups within the labor force classified by sex, age, marital status, race, etc. The job loser, job leaver, reentrant, and new entrant rates are each calculated as a percent of the civilian labor force 16 years old and over; the sum of the rates for the four groups thus equals the total unemployment rate.
3. Not in Labor Force
All civilians 15 years old and over who are not classified as employed or unemployed. These persons are further classified by major activity: retired, unable to work because of long-term physical or mental illness, and other. The "other" group includes, for the most part, students and persons keeping house. Persons who report doing unpaid work in a family farm or business for less than 15 hours are also classified as not in the labor force.
For persons not in the labor force, data on previous work experience, intentions to seek work again, desire for a job at the time of interview, and reasons for not looking for work are asked only in those households that are in the fourth and eighth months of the sample, i.e., the "outgoing" groups, those which had been in the sample for three previous months and would not be in for the subsequent month.
Persons classified as NILF have an MLR code of 5-7 in characters 180-181 of the person record.
Layoff A person who is unemployed but expects to be called back to a specific job. If he/she expects to be called back within 30 days, it is considered a temporary layoff; otherwise, it is an indefinite layoff.
Level of School Completed/Degree Received These data changed beginning with the January 1992 file. A new question, "What is the highest level of school ... has completed or the highest degree ... has received?" replaced the old "Highest grade attended" and "Year completed" questions. The new question provides more accurate data on the degree status of college students. Educational attainment applies only to progress in "regular" school. Such schools include graded public, private, and parochial elementary and high schools (both junior and senior high), colleges, universities, and professional schools, whether day schools or night schools. Thus, regular schooling is that which may advance a person toward an elementary school certificate or high school diploma, or a college, university, or professional school degree. Schooling in other than regular schools is counted only if the credits obtained are regarded as transferable to a school in the regular school system.
Looking for Work A person who is trying to get work or trying to establish a business or profession.
Marital Status The marital status classification identifies four major categories: single (never married), married, widowed, and divorced. These terms refer to the marital status at the time of enumeration.
The category "married" is further divided into "married, civilian spouse present," "married, Armed Force spouse present," "married, spouse absent," "married, Armed Force spouse absent," and "separated." A person is classified as "married, spouse present" if the husband or wife is reported as a member of the household even though he or she may be temporarily absent on business or on vacation, visiting, in a hospital, etc., at the time of the enumeration. Persons reported as "separated" included those with legal separations, those living apart with intentions of obtaining a divorce, and other persons permanently or temporarily estranged from their spouses because of marital discord.
For the purpose of this file, the group "other marital status" includes "widowed and divorced," "separated," and "other married, spouse absent."
Month-In-Sample The term is defined as the number of times a unit is interviewed. Each unit is interviewed eight times during the life of the sample.
Never Worked A person who has never held a full-time civilian job lasting two consecutive weeks or more.
Nonfamily Householder A nonfamily householder (formerly called a primary individual) is a person maintaining a household while living alone or with nonrelatives only.
Nonworker A person who does not do any work in the calendar year preceding the survey.
Nonrelative of Householder With No Own Relatives in Household A nonrelative of the householder who has no relative(s) of his own in the household. This category includes such nonrelatives as a foster child, a ward, a lodger, a servant, or a hired hand, who has no relatives of his own living with him in the household.
Nonrelative of Householder With Own Relatives (Including Spouse)in Household Any household member who is not related to the householder but has relatives of his own in the household; for example, a lodger, his spouse, and their son.
Other Relative of Householder Any relative of the householder other than his spouse or child; for example, father, mother, grandson, daughter-in-law, etc.
Out Variable An instrument-created item that stores the results of another item.
Own Child A child related by birth, marriage, or adoption to the family householder.
Part-Time, Economic Reasons The item includes slack work, material shortages, repairs to plant or equipment, start or termination of job during the week, and inability to find full-time work. (See also Full-Time Worker.)
Part-Time, Other Reasons The item includes labor dispute, bad weather, own illness, vacation, demands of home housework, school, no desire for full-time work, and full-time worker only during peak season.
Part-Time Work Persons who work between 1 and 34 hours are designated as working "part-time" in the current job held during the reference week. For the March supplement, a person is classified as having worked part-time during the preceding calendar year if he worked less than 35 hours per week in a majority of the weeks in which he worked during the year. Conversely, he is classified as having worked full-time if he worked 35 hours or more per week during a majority of the weeks in which he worked.
Part-Year Work Part-year work is classified as less than 50 weeks' work.
Population Coverage Population coverage includes the civilian population of the United States plus approximately 820,000 members of the Armed Forces in the United States living off post or with their families on post but excludes all other members of the Armed Forces. This file excludes inmates of institutions. The labor force and work experience data are not collected for Armed Forces members.
Processing Recode An item calculated by the processing system from a combination of other items in the database. The second character of the item name is always "R".
Race The population is divided into three groups on the basis of race: White, Black, and Other races. The last category includes Indians, Japanese, Chinese, and any other race except White and Black. In most of the published tables, "Other Races" are shown in total population.
Reentrants Persons who previously worked at a full-time job lasting two weeks or longer but who are out of the labor force prior to beginning to look for work.
Related Children Related children in a family include own children and all other children in the household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. For each type of family unit identified in the CPS, the count of own children under 18 years old is limited to single (never married) children; however, "own children under 25" and "own children of any age," include all children regardless of marital status. The totals include never-married children living away from home in college dormitories.
Related Subfamily A related subfamily is a married couple with or without children, or one parent with one or more own single (never married) children under 18 years old, living in a household and related to, but not including, the householder or spouse. The most common example of a related subfamily is a young married couple sharing the home of the husband's or wife's parents. The number of related subfamilies is not included in the number of families.
School A person who spent most of his time during the survey week attending any kind of public or private school, including trade or vocational schools in which students receive no compensation in money or kind.
Secondary Individual A secondary individual is a person in a household or group quarters such as a guest, roomer, boarder, or resident employee (excluding nonfamily households and inmates of institutions) who is not related to any other person in the household or group quarters.
Self-Employed Self-employed persons are those who work for profit or fees in their own business, profession or trade, or operate a farm.
Stretches of Unemployment A continuous stretch is one that is not interrupted by the person getting a job or leaving the labor market to go to school, to keep house, etc. A period of two weeks or more during which a person is employed or ceased looking for work is considered to break the continuity of the period of seeking work.
Unable to Work A person is classified as unable to work because of long-term physical or mental illness, lasting six months or longer.
Unedited item An item that is produced by the CAPI instrument, either collected during the interview or created by the CAPI instrument. The second character of the item name is always "U".
Unemployed (See Labor Force.)
Unpaid Family Workers Unpaid family workers are persons working without pay for 15 hours a week or more on a farm or in a business operated by a member of the household to whom they are related by birth or marriage.
Unrelated Individuals Unrelated individuals are persons of any age (other than inmates of institutions) who are not living with any relatives. An unrelated individual may be (1) a nonfamily householder living alone or with nonrelatives only, (2) a roomer, boarder, or resident employee with no relatives in the household, or (3) a group quarters member who has no relatives living with him/her. Thus, a widow who occupies her house alone or with one or more other persons not related to her, a roomer not related to anyone else in the housing unit, a maid living as a member of her employer's household but with no relatives in the household, and a resident staff member in a hospital living apart from any relatives are all examples of unrelated individuals.
Unrelated Subfamily An unrelated subfamily is a family that does not include among its members the householder and relatives of the householder. Members of unrelated subfamilies may include persons such as guests, roomers, boarders, or resident employees and their relatives living in a household. The number of unrelated subfamily members is included in the number of household members but is not included in the count of family members.
Persons living with relatives in group quarters were formerly considered as members of families. However, the number of such unrelated subfamilies became so small (37,000 in 1967) that beginning with the data for 1968 (and beginning with the census data for 1960) the Bureau of the Census includes persons in these unrelated subfamilies in the count of secondary individuals.
Veteran Status If a male served at any time during the four major wars of this century, the code for the most recent wartime service is entered. The following codes are used:
0 Children under 15
1 Vietnam era
2 Korean
3 WWI
4 WWII
5 Other Service
6 Nonveteran
Wage and Salary Workers Wage and salary workers receive wages, salary, commission, tips, or pay in kind from a private employer or from a governmental unit. Also included are persons who are self-employed in an incorporated business.
Workers (See Labor Force--Employed.)
Work Experience Includes those persons who during the preceding calendar year did any work for pay or profit or worked without pay on a family-operated farm or business at any time during the year, on a part-time or full-time basis.
Year-Round Full-Time Worker A year-round full-time worker is one who usually worked 35 hours or more per week for 50 weeks or more during the preceding calendar year.
Source: Microdata Access Branch, Administrative and Customer Services Division
