Two Demographic Surveys: Survey of Income and Program Participation SIPP Current Population Survey CPS

1. 1 Two Demographic Surveys: Survey of Income and Program Participation(SIPP) ~ Current Population Survey(CPS) Jason Fields Jason.M.Fields@Census.Gov Using Secondary Data for Analysis of Marriage and Family ICPSR Summer Program Workshop July 24 25, 2008

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3. 3 SIPP Basics National panel survey - sample size between about 11,000 to 36,700 interviewed households The duration of each panel from 2½ yrs to 4 yrs The SIPP sample is a multistage-stratified sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population The survey uses a 4-month recall period The sample is divided into 4 rotation groups for monthly interviewing Interviews are conducted by personal visit and by decentralized telephone

4. 4 Survey of Income and Program Participation - Some History In 1984 the first ‘panel’ of the Survey of Income and Program Participation was developed and fielded. The SIPP was designed as a tool for measuring family and individual transitions into and out of assistance programs. The data available could not answer the questions of the period – What are the federal transfer programs doing for a family? Are people/families chronic receivers or do they enter and exit programs? “Cross-sectional” data such as that from the CPS are not able to answer these questions about program dynamics. A new “Longitudinal” survey was developed.

5. 5 Households are sampled and the respondents in these households are interviewed at 4 month intervals (waves) for the life of the panel (3-4 years). At each interview detailed household, family and economic information is collected for the previous four months (reference period). The SIPP ‘core’ information is used to measure poverty, program receipt, and other labor force and family characteristics. As in the CPS the core information in the SIPP is supplemented with Topical Modules.

6. 6 2007 Reference Period Waves and Rotations

7. 7 What does SIPP offer Longitudinal monthly data for 3-4 year periods. Interviews with all adult household members Detailed information on labor force, income, programs, assets and wealth, health insurance, and topical content Covariates that change monthly or wavely Large enough sample to look at rare program usage

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9. 9 SIPP Topical Content In addition to the monthly or wavely data collected in the SIPP ‘core’ there is a variety of topical content included less frequently Some modules are annual, some historical – asked once early in the panel, and some may occur less than annually or only once Asked of the respondents in the interviewed household at the wave the supplement is fielded

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12. 12 Topical module that addresses children’s well being and daily activities. Topics covered include: Living arrangements Child care experiences (less detail than Child Care Topical Module) Daily interactions with parents Academic experiences Parents’ educational expectations

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14. 14 Topical module that addresses trends in maternity leave and maternal employment. Topics covered include: Mother’s employment history before, during, and after pregnancy. Maternity leave benefits (paid, unpaid, or disability) Asked of women between 15 to 64. Separate fertility history module asked of adult women—first and last birth, number of births. Adult men are asked number of births.

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19. 19 Topical module that addresses the marital history of adults. Asked in wave 2. Topics covered include: Ever married adult men and women are asked about their marital history. Collects: Number of times married. Dates of up to 3 marriages, and whether/how they ended.

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21. 21 Topical module that asks Household members their relationship to all other household members. Asked in wave 2. Includes detail such as: Type of parent/child relationship (bio, step, adopted) Type of sibling relationship (bio, half, step, adopted) Grandparent/grandchild Uncle/aunt and nephew/niece Father/mother-in-law and brother/sister-in-law

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24. 24 CPS

25. 25 Current Population Survey – Some History The 1930’s – The Great Depression – Record levels of unemployment….? How bad was it? Policy makers knew that it was bad, but had no data to base policy on. Trends: Was it getting better or worse, were the policies working? By the early 1940’s, a Monthly National Labor Force Survey was initiated jointly with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau. This was the foundation for the CPS, still run jointly with the Census Bureau and BLS.

26. 26 Organizing Principles of CPS The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for more than 50 years. 4-8-4 sampling scheme. A household is interviewed for 4 successive months, then not interviewed for 8 months, then returned to the sample for 4 months after that. Includes a number of “supplements” on subjects of interest to researchers and policy makers.

27. 27 Current Population Survey – Design Household addresses are sampled (not people). The ‘core’ information used to measure unemployment, poverty, and other labor force characteristics were supplemented in the late 1940s with additional topical questions. Some of the supplements occur yearly and some less often

28. 28 Current Population Survey (CPS) Supplements 2008-2012 Survey Years

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30. 30 CPS Universe To be eligible to participate in the CPS, individuals must be 15 years of age or over and not in the Armed Forces. People in institutions, such as prisons, long-term care hospitals, and nursing homes are ineligible to be interviewed in the CPS.

31. 31 CPS Supplements of Interest Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement Provides supplemental data on work experiences, income, non-cash benefits, and migration. Information on nine non-cash income sources. Child support (paid and received) Information on training and assistance received under welfare reform programs (e.g. job training, child care services) Supplement takes place, yearly, in March. Provides national poverty and health insurance estimates.

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34. 34 CPS Supplements of Interest School Enrollment Supplement Data on school enrollment for person 3 years old and over. Information includes: Current grade attending (includes nursery school and kindergarten Attending a public or private schooL Attending college full or part-time Year last attended a regular school Year graduated from high school Supplement takes place in October every year.

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36. 36 CPS Supplements of Interest Fertility Supplement Asked of all female civilian household members 15-44 years of age. Data on number of live births and the date of the last child born. Supplement takes place every other year in June.

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38. 38 Current Population Survey – Growth During the 1960’s the survey was expanded, both in content and in sample size. The survey is now seen by many users as a social survey, but it’s real purpose remains the generation of monthly labor force data and economic indicators data. Currently upwards of 70,000 households per month are surveyed depending on the supplement included – many recurring supplements and reports have been created on many topics. This is the only large nationally representative monthly data collection available from the Census Bureau.

39. 39 Using CPS to examine family dynamics Large amount of demographic data on households Several supplements that allow further examination of family dynamics Large sample to estimate the characteristics of even very small populations (e.g. cohabitors, single fathers) New questions on basic CPS as of January 2007 http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps08/twps08.pdf

40. 40 CPS vs. SIPP CPS Cross-sectional survey Sample continually refreshed Provides historical comparisons SIPP Longitudinal survey design Tracks the same person over time Detailed data on family and economic dynamics

41. 41 Survey of Income and Program Participation - in comparison While the SIPP data is more complex due to the amount of data collected it provides much more detail, and the ability to measure change. The CPS, a cross-sectional survey can not (usually) reflect these dynamics. For example – If the poverty rate remained at 10 percent for two years… The CPS would say that the rate was constant for those two years, giving cross-sectional characteristics about the population in poverty and those receiving assistance. The SIPP could add that it was different people making up that 10 percent and that most of the population in poverty received aid in short spells, but a small group was receiving assistance for the entire period. Additionally, adding information about job spells, family changes, and changes in other household characteristics. At this point the SIPP is the most detailed source of information about the family economy and dynamics and one of the best sources for looking at family, labor force, and program dynamics.

42. 42 Can’t forget the other big survey - the ACS

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46. 46 Let’s talk SIPP about data.

47. 47 SIPP DATA STRUCTURE

48. 48 Questionnaires While traditional questionnaire booklets are no longer produced – question text and instrument information are available for SIPP on the internet. SIPP http://www.census.gov/sipp/content.html

49. 49 Open Web for Item Info

50. 50 Hierarchical Data – more than one way The Census Bureau employs a two-stage sample design to select the SIPP sample. The two stages are (1) selection of primary sampling units (PSUs) and (2) selection of address units within sample PSUs. These make up the ‘Structure’ which people belong to following their wave 1 interview. In wave 1 – ONE address per structure Later waves can have multiple interviewed addresses tied back to the same initial structure.

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52. 52 Hierarchical Data – more than one way Within a wave there are structure (sample unit) level pieces of information - ties back to the original sampled address There are household level pieces of information - Tenure of residence – receipt of energy assistance or free/reduced meals. Person level pieces of information - Demographics etc, labor force, some assets and wealth, etc. Coverage units - TANF, Health Insurance, WIC, etc (where flags are set indicating which other household members this information applies to) Job / Business level - Where a person may have accumulated multiple records for more than one job or program.

53. 53 What do you get from public use… First – the files from the FTP site are already set up as person month level files but have different reporting levels embedded. D THSSI 6 22 T HH: Total Household Supplemental Security Income Recode Aggregated total household Supplemental Security Income for this month. (ISS code = 3 or 4) U All persons D EJOBCNTR 2 800 T LF: Number of jobs held during the reference period U All persons 15+ at the end of the reference period who had at least one job for an employer or another work arrangement during the reference period. EPOPSTAT = 1

54. 54 -- D EJBHRS1 2 899 T JB: Usual hours worked per week at this job How many hours per week did ... usually work at all activities at this job? U All persons 15+ at the end of the reference period who had a job during the reference period. EPOPSTAT = 1 and EPDJBTHN = 1 and (EJOBCNTR > 0 or ECFLAG = 1) D EJBHRS2 2 975 T JB: Usual hours worked per week at this job How many hours per week did ... usually work at all activities at this job? U All persons 15+ at the end of the reference period who had two or more jobs during the reference period. (Excludes contingent workers.) EPOPSTAT = 1 and EPDJBTHN = 1 and EJOBCNTR > 1 and ECFLAG not equal to 1

55. 55 Key Demographic Concepts in SIPP Relationship to householder item – wavely/monthly Marital status – wavely/monthly Parents and children – wavely/monthly Changes in household composition – monthly

56. 56 Relationship to reference person D ERRP 2 578 T PE: Household relationship U All persons V 1 .Reference person with related persons in household V 2 .Reference Person without related persons in household V 3 .Spouse of reference person V 4 .Child of reference person V 5 .Grandchild of reference person V 6 .Parent of reference person V 7 .Brother/sister of reference person V 8 .Other relative of reference person V 9 .Foster child of reference person V 10 .Unmarried partner of reference person V 11 .Housemate/roommate V 12 .Roomer/boarder V 13 .Other non-relative of reference person

57. 57 Relationship matrix wave 2 D ERELAT01 2 721 T RL: The 1st person in the hh is this person's [blank]. RELATE1 The 1st person in the household is this person's [blank]. U All persons in the household regardless of age; the reference person (or householder) will usually be answering the questions for the entire household. V -1 .Not in universe V 01 .Spouse V 02 .Unmarried partner V 10 .Biological parent V 11 .Stepparent V 12 .Step and adoptive parent V 13 .Adoptive parent V 14 .Foster parent V 15 .Other parent V 20 .Biological child V 21 .Stepchild V 22 .Step and adopted child V 23 .Adopted child V 24 .Foster child V 25 .Other child V 30 .Biological brother/sister V 31 .Half brother/sister V 32 .Step brother/sister V 33 .Adopted brother/sister V 34 .Other brother/sister V 40 .Grandparent V 41 .Grandchild V 42 .Uncle/aunt V 43 .Nephew/niece V 50 .Father/mother-in-law V 51 .Daughter/son-in-law V 52 .Brother/sister-in-law V 55 .Other relative V 61 .Roommate/housemate V 62 .Roomer/boarder V 63 .Paid employee V 65 .Other non-relative V 99 .Self

58. 58 Marital Status Basic marital status is recorded once per wave, though could show monthly change off-seam due to household composition changes. - This is a bit of a catch as you look at timing and sequencing of events. Ideally you would carefully look at lags and clumping of transitions (seam bias). - Seasonal pattern - caution. Marital history data from wave 2 gives detailed information for adults - Including times married, - dates of marriage, separation and divorce for up to three marriages. - Importantly – collects information for all men and women 15 and older who are ever married at the time of the interview.

59. 59 Parents and Children For all SIPP respondents – the presence of both a mother and father are recorded. - This information is recorded at the interview – therefore wavely, but as household composition can change monthly so can this information. Type of relationship between each child and their mother/father are recorded (Bio, Step, Adopted). Foster children are considered non-relatives and do not get the pointers unless they actually identify a relationship other than foster child – especially likely in kin foster care arrangements.

60. 60 Data Ferrett Example with Kids.

61. 61 Changing Household CompositionLongitudinal Data

62. 62 Open SIPP SAS code – brief walk through

63. 63 Some SIPP Pitfalls Attrition – Know who you have in your sample Seam Bias – Check the month-to-month transition distributions Statistical Significance – Use the source and accuracy sections, replicate weights, and design effects properly Weighting – It’s not just for estimating or comparing to national totals – Normalize Longitudinal comparisons and censoring

64. 64 Let’s talk about CPS data.

65. 65 CPS Data Characteristics The data are collected primarily from a single household respondent – usually by phone. Monthly data from CPS include the basic household composition, demographics, and labor force information. Most data family researchers use come from the March Supplement (now called Annual Social and Economic Supplement). Internally organized as person – family – household level data elements. Public use files merge these to the person level – subfamily information is added for related subfamilies.

66. 66 Relationship to reference person D A-EXPRRP 2 13 (01:14) Expanded relationship code V 01 .Reference person with relatives V 02 .Reference person without V .relatives V 03 .Husband V 04 .Wife V 05 .Own child V 07 .Grandchild V 08 .Parent V 09 .Brother/sister V 10 .Other relative V 11 .Foster child V 12 .Nonrelative with relatives V 13 .Partner/roommate V 14 .Nonrelative without relatives

67. 67 Relationship to reference person D PERRP 2 742 (1:18) Expanded relationship categories U All persons V 01 .Reference person w/rels. V 02 .Reference person w/o rels. V 03 .Spouse V 04 .Child V 05 .Grandchild V 06 .Parent V 07 .Brother/sister V 08 .Other rel. of ref. person V 09 .Foster child V 10 .Nonrel. of ref. person w/rels. V 11 .Not used V 12 .Nonrel. of ref. person w/o V . rels. V 13 .Unmarried partner w/rels. V 14 .Unmarried partner w/o rels. V 15 .Housemate/roommate w/rels. V 16 .Housemate/roommate w/o rels. V 17 .Roomer/boarder w/rels. V 18 .Roomer/boarder w/o rels.

68. 68 Household and Family Status D HHDFMX 2 37 (01:51) Detailed household and family status In household: V In primary family: V 01 .Householder V 02 .Spouse of householder V Child of householder: V Under 18, single (never married): V 03 .Reference person of subfamily V 04 .Not in a subfamily V Under 18, ever-married: V 05 .Reference person of subfamily V 06 .Spouse of subfamily reference V .person V 07 .Not in a subfamily V 18 years and over, single (never V married): V 08 .Head of a subfamily V 09 .Not in a subfamily V 18 years and over, ever-married: V 10 .Reference person of subfamily V 11 .Spouse of subfamily reference V .person V 12 .Not in a subfamily V 13-22 .Not used V Grandchild of householder: V Under 18, single (never married): V 23 .Reference person of subfamily V 24 .Child of a subfamily V 25 .Not in a subfamily V Under 18, ever-married: V 26 .Reference person of subfamily V 27 .Spouse of subfamily reference V .person V 28 .Not used V 29 .Not in a subfamily V 18 years and over, single (never V married): V 30 .Reference person of a subfamily V 31 .Not in a subfamily V 18 years and over, ever-married: V 32 .Reference person of subfamily V 33 .Spouse of subfamily reference V .person V 34 .Not in a subfamily V Other relative of householder: V Under 18, single (never married): V 35 .Reference person of subfamily V 36 .Child of subfamily reference V .person V 37 .Not in a subfamily V Under 18, ever married: V 38 .Reference person of subfamily V 39 .Spouse of subfamily reference V .person V 40 .Not in a subfamily V 18 years and over, single (never V married): V 41 .Reference person of a subfamily V 42 .Not in a subfamily

69. 69 CPS Families Family - A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family. Family group - A family group is any two or more people (not necessarily including a householder) residing together, and related by birth, marriage, or adoption. The count of family groups includes family households, related subfamilies, and unrelated subfamilies. Family household - A family household is a household maintained by a householder who is in a family. http://www.census.gov/population/www/cps/cpsdef.html

70. 70 New 2007 CPS Relationship Information Two new indicators introduced in 2007 on the Current Population Survey improved data collection among unmarried partner couples and their children. First, questions were added to the survey that directly linked unmarried partners living together in the same household. Before 2007, unmarried partner couples in the CPS were detected through a question asking how each person was related to the householder. The addition of a new direct question yielded improved data in 2007. Specifically, unmarried household members were linked to their specific unmarried partners present in the household, thus improving the estimation of unmarried couple family groups nationwide. Second, a new indicator was added that linked children to a second parent present in their households. Prior to 2007, children who were living with two unmarried parents could not be linked to both parents and were tabulated as the child of either a single mother or a single father. With the addition of a second parent pointer in 2007, children are now linked to both parents, if present, in their households, regardless of the marital status of the parents.

71. 71 The direct question in ASEC 2007 captured proportionately more of these non-householder couples than did the Household Relationship Topical Module in SIPP 2004. ASEC 2007 captured an additional 1.1 million cohabiting couples, 21 percent over the traditional method of household relationship identification alone, which yielded 5.2 million unmarried partner households. This increase was composed of about 380,000 previously unidentified couples (other than those containing the householder) plus 690,000 who reported cohabiting with the householder although not identifying themselves as an unmarried partner in the relationship to householder item. The SIPP topical module resulted in an additional 357,000 cohabiting couples, 7 percent over the 5.1 million captured using the relationship to householder item. New 2007 CPS Relationship Information

72. 72 Open CPS SAS code – brief walk through

73. 73 Changing Household CompositionLongitudinal Data- Yes – Even with CPS…-

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76. 76 Open Web NBER - CEPRData

77. 77 Some CPS Pitfalls Statistical Significance – Use the source and accuracy sections, replicate weights, and design effects properly Weighting – It’s not just for estimating or comparing to national totals – Normalize Matching to published numbers is not straightforward Causality – can’t do it (well - at all)

78. 78 SIPP Event History CalendarBackground and Development

79. 79 Dating Major Life Events using a CAPI/CASI Event History Calendar in Add Health. Event History Data: Lessons from the NSLY79. Programming and Implementation of Two Event History Calendars in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Examining the Impact of Event History Calendar Interviewing on Data Quality from Disadvantaged Respondents. Impact of the Event History Calendar on Seam Effects in the PSID: Lessons for SIPP. Training Issues for Using the EHC Method within SIPP. Description of plans for a SIPP calendar validation study: Study design and analysis. The Use of Landmark Events in EHC-Interviews to Enhance Recall Accuracy. The Design and Use of an Event History Calendar in the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey: Results and Lessons. A Multi-Method Evaluation of the Use of an Event History Calendar. Seam Bias in the 2004 SIPP Panel: Much Improved, but Much Bias Still Remains. Timeline Data Collection and Analysis: Time Diaries and Event History Calendar Methods.

80. 80 Department of Agriculture Model food stamp eligibility and measure food stamp participation Department of Health and Human Services Measure the economic effect of disabling conditions on children and adults, and determine "triggers" that cause people to go on or to go off programs. Social Security Administration Model SSI benefits, and the restructuring of Social Security such as age threshold changes. Congressional Budget Office and Congressional Research Service Use micro-simulation to measure participation in major government programs Current Uses of SIPP

81. 81 Reengineering Goals Cost reduction Improved accuracy Improved timeliness  and accessibility Improved relevance Use of annual data collection Focused content selection Improve integration across SIPP concepts Focus on improving recall and responses Improved documentation Improved processing system Stakeholder input Explore strengths from ACS and administrative records

82. 82 Stakeholder Concerns SIPP provides unique detail at the monthly level Can the EHC provide similar detail? SIPP addresses recall concerns by frequent administration Can any annual survey facilitate comparable recall quality? Program data are a key data element of SIPP Do the inconclusive/negative findings in prior EHC tests for AFDC/TANF and Food Stamps preclude the use of this method? Data comparability and evaluation are crucial How do SIPP data collected via EHC compare with questionnaire data?

83. 83 The Unique Value of SIPP To provide a nationally representative sample for evaluating: annual and sub-annual dynamics of income movements into and out of government transfer programs family and social context of individuals and households interactions between these items

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85. 85 A few other surveys withEvent History Calendars

86. 86 Origin: Balán et al. study (1969) Reaction to the problems of life history data collection: Focus on few cases: representativeness Lengthy life histories Problematic data collection Difficulty to process and analyze statistically the data Example: “The Polish Peasant” by Thomas and Znaniecki (1958)

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88. 88 Freedman et al. 1988 Most cited paper across all disciplines Acknowledges Balán and Blum studies Month as unit of analysis Calendar can handle categorical, ordinal and interval variables Very detailed explanation on how to record responses Domains by row and years (month) by column

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92. 92 SIPP calendar aided interview test1989 to 1991

93. 93 Analysis and Evaluation of EHC Instruments Reliability – High levels of agreement with previously collected questionnaire based data. Domains Marriage, births, residential moves, school enrollment, labor force (all showed good agreement) Concerns - AFDC/Food Stamps Mode - Phone and in-person almost same degree of consistency. Validation – Limited record check studies – designed into the first SIPP field test evaluation. Reduction of seam bias

94. 94 2008 Field Test Basics A reinterview evaluation and validation test Reinterview of current 2004 panel SIPP respondents to recollect information for calendar year 2007 Pairwise comparison of responses from the two data sources Validation of responses using administrative records matched at the individual level Paper instrument (Control card, EHC, and Assets Questions) Interviewer debriefings and qualitative analyses to refine concepts and training procedures

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101. 101 PSID 2003 EHC instrument

102. 102 English Longitudinal Survey of Aging

103. 103 Re-engineered SIPP Survey Survey Instrument – Annual administration Follow movers Limited feedback Calendar – Improvement on other designs by integrating more closely with Blaise, the instrument programming language. Simultaneous development of processing and instrument

104. 104 Time permitting – quick look at prototype

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108. 108 Contact Info Jason M. Fields, MPH, PhD Family Demographer Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division 4600 Silver Hill Road US Census Bureau - Rm 7H480A Washington DC 20233 Phone: (301)763-2465 Fax: (301)763-3232 EMail: Jason.M.Fields@Census.Gov