1968 - 2009: 999999999999999 = NIU (Not in universe)

Description

SPMFAMUNIT identifies the family units used to calculate the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). SPMFAMUNIT must be combined with YEAR to uniquely identify family units across samples.

SPM family units can differ from official poverty units in several ways, including: treating cohabiting partners as members of the same family; treating foster children under age 22 and children under 15 with no identifiable relatives in the household as members of the householder's family; and combining all individuals unrelated to the household head, but who related to one another in the same family unit regardless of the age or marital status.

To identify which SPM family units differ from the family units used to measure official poverty status, see SPMNEWFAM.

SPM variables prior to 2010 are created by Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Research. Details about the methodology used by CPSP to construct the Historical SPM are described in the Historical SPM user note.

For more information on the construction of families used in the SPM, see the Census Bureau's "Unit of Analysis for Poverty Measurement: A Comparison of the Supplemental Poverty Measure and the Official Poverty Measure" report.

Comparability

Prior to 2010, SPM variables are constructed by CPSP using data from the CPS ASEC and other sources to calculate household resources and poverty thresholds. These variables are created using the best possible data available, but some must be imputed due to incomplete data coverage (particularly in the earliest years of the Historical SPM). Users are encouraged to read the Historical SPM documentation for information about CPSP's methodology and use caution when comparing pre- and post-2010 values.

SPMFAMUNIT is comparable across years from 2010 to 2018.

In 2019, the Census Bureau implemented a new processing system to accommodate survey changes. These changes affect income and relationship variables, making poverty measurements before and after 2019 incomparable. For more information on this overhaul, see our guide to the 2019 ASEC updates.

In 2020, the Census re-released the SPM Research File with revised SPM variables which incorporated improved methodology (which was originally introduced with the 2021 ASEC file). This variable contains the originally released SPM variable data, not the revised data. IPUMS created alternative SPM variables for the 2020 samples. For information on these alternative SPM variables in the 2020 ASEC, see our documentation on the re-release of the 2019 SPM research file in the 2020 ASEC that lists all revised variables and describes methodological improvements that impact SPM resource and threshold variables.

Universe

Flags

Unharmonized Variables