- Codes
- Description
- Comparability
- Universe
- Availability
- Flags
- Questionnaire Text
- UnHarmonized Variables
Codes and Frequencies
Description
QUITSICK identifies respondents who said that they had ever retired or left a job for health reasons. The question was used to determine whether a follow-up question should be asked about the receipt of income as the result of a health problem.
Comparability
This variable is completely comparable across years.
Comparability with IPUMS-USA
The closest equivalent to QUITSICK in IPUMS-USA is a category in the DISABWRK variable, which specifies that the individual has a "disability which prevents work." Researchers should keep in mind that this category in DISABWRK, available for the 1970, 1980, and 1990 censuses, is more restrictive than the QUITSICK variable in IPUMS-CPS. For example, a survey respondent might report having left one job due to health reasons but have taken another, less physically-demanding job; the census response indicates the health problem entirely precluding paid employment. Also, the time frame for DISABWRK is more precise, since the question asks about a current disability which prevents work. By contrast, QUITSICK asks whether an individual had ever left a job for health reasons; by the time of the survey, an individual might have fully recovered from a health problem that had forced them to leave a job in the distant past.
Universe
- Persons age 15+.
Availability
Years | Jan | Feb | ASEC | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 – 2024 | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |