- Codes
- Description
- Comparability
- Universe
- Availability
- Flags
- Questionnaire Text
- UnHarmonized Variables
Codes and Frequencies
Description
UCNOMAIN reports what respondents identified as the main reason they had not applied for unemployment compensation since their last job.
See the Unemployment Compensation Supplement notes for more information on using this dataset.
Comparability
The number of possible reasons for not applying for unemployment compensation has varied greatly over the years. In the 1989-1990 supplements there were 8 possible response options. In the 2005 supplements the number of options was expanded to 25, however many of these options were more detailed variations of the previous 8 options. In 2018, the number of options was condensed to 13. IPUMS CPS has compressed highly detailed response codes so that there are 8 possible codes for each year. Codes that appear in only one year have been recoded as "Other." For users that wish to use the data in the original format, unharmonized variables have been made available.
Universe
- 1989-1990: Civilians age 15 or older in month-in-samples 4 or 8 who were unemployed, had ever worked, and did not apply for unemployment compensation
- 2005: Civilians age 16 or older in month-in-samples 4 or 8 who were unemployed, or not in labor force but had worked in the past 12 months, were not retired or disabled, and did not apply for unemployment compensation
- 2018, 2022: Civilians age 16 or older who were on layoff or not employed but worked in the past 12 months, and did not apply for unemployment compensation
Availability
| Years | Jan | Feb | ASEC | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | X | - | - | X | - |
| 1990 | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | X | - | - | - | X | - | X | - | - | - | X | - |
| 2018 | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | X | - | - | - |
| 2022 | - | X | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
