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EARNWT is an 8-digit numeric variable with four implied decimals. That is, 12345678 should be interpreted as 1234.5678. The IPUMS command files automatically divide EARNWT by 10000, so no further adjustment is needed.

Description

EARNWT is a person-level weight that should be used in any analysis including one of the following variables: EARNWEEK, HOURWAGE, PAIDHOUR, UNION, UHRSWORKORG, WKSWORKORG, ELIGORG, and OTPAY. For any other analysis using ASEC data, researchers should use WTSUPP or for analyses of non-ASEC data, WTFINL.

Individuals in the 6 rotation groups that were not asked the "earner study" questions (covering EARNWEEK, HOURWAGE, PAIDHOUR, UNION, UHRSWORKORG, WKSWORKORG, ELIGORG, and OTPAY) have a value of zero for EARNWT. Even in the 2 rotation groups where "earner study" questions were fielded, children under 15 and members of the armed forces have a value of zero for EARNWT.

According to Technical Paper 66, issued jointly by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, individuals eligible for the earner study are civilians age 15 and older in rotation groups 4 or 8 who are not self-employed.  In any given month, approximately 1/4 of the CPS sample is in the earner study and each household should appear in the earner study exactly twice. Based on documentation from Unicon and NBER, and after an inspection of the original CPS data, we recommend that users impose the CPS eligibility restrictions in any analyses of earner study variables.

Comparability

EARNWT is comparable over time.

Universe

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