Annual Demographic Survey (March CPS Supplement) 1995 Methodology and Documentation Page
CPS FIELD REPRESENTATIVE/CATI INTERVIEWER MEMORANDUM NO. 95-04 Section I -- March 1995
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of the Census
OVERVIEW OF THIS DOCUMENT
This memorandum is your interviewing manual for the March 1995 Income Supplement. It provides the information you need to conduct the supplement interview. The manual is divided into three parts:
Part 1: Information about the March Supplement: This part provides general information about interviewer training, interviewing procedures, the supplement's advance letter and fact sheet, the supplement sample, etc.
Part 2: Extra (Non-Supplement) Items in the March Instrument: This part gives a general description of the March instrument (covering both the basic CPS and the supplement interviews) and specific information about extra items in the instrument that are not considered part of the supplement itself.
Part 3: Income Supplement Items: This part gives you specific instructions on how to complete the supplement items.
This document also includes some "Quick Review" exercises at various intervals (one after Part 1, one after Part 2, and several throughout Part 3) which you should complete as you come across them in your reading. The purpose of these exercises is to allow you to pause, reflect about what you read, and summarize what you learned as you answer the exercises, before you move on to another section of the Self Study. The answer key to all of these "Quick Review" exercises appears at the end of this manual.
For the sake of clarity, the item-specific instructions provided throughout this manual will often quote or paraphrase the respective supplement items. However, this will not give you a complete picture of the item in question, since the answer categories may not be included. The Items Booklet is the only place where you will find a complete illustration of each supplement item. To fully understand the item-by-item instructions provided here, please look at the corresponding item in the Items Booklet as you read each item's explanation in this manual.
For each set of items, the manual will tell you where those items appear in the March Items Booklet. You should use the page number rather than the item number to locate the items in the March Items Booklet, since the March supplement items are not numbered consecutively.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1. Information About the March Supplement
A.
Interviewer Training
B.
Supplement Uses and Users
C.
Data Collection Authority
D.
March Sample
E.
March Letter and Brochures
F.
Problems with the 1994 March Supplement
G.
Followup
Part 2. Extra (Non-Supplement) Items in the March Instrument
A.
Description of the Instrument
B.
"Hispanic" Items
C.
"API" Items
D.
Social Security Item
E.
Family Income Item
Part 3. Income Supplement Items
A.
Content and Flow of the Supplement Interview
B.
Migration
C.
Work Experience
D.
Earned Income
E.
Unemployment and Worker's Compensation
F.
Social Security
G.
Supplemental Security Income
H.
Public Assistance or Welfare Payments
I.
Veteran's Payments
J.
Survivor Benefits
K.
Disability Income
L.
Retirement and Pension
M.
Interest
N.
Dividends
O.
Property Income
P.
Education Assistance
Q.
Alimony and Child Support
R.
Regular Financial Assistance
S.
Other Money Income
T.
Health Insurance
U.
Employer's Pension Plan
V.
School Lunches
W.
Public Housing
X.
Food Stamps
Y.
Energy Assistance
Z.
"Must" Income Items
QUICK REVIEW EXERCISES
Part 1--Quick Review
Part 2--Quick Review
Part 3--Quick Review of Sections:
A and B
C
D
E, F, and G
H and I
J, K, and L
M, N, O, and P
Q, R, and S
T and U
V, W, X, and Y
ANSWER KEY TO QUICK REVIEW EXERCISES
Each March, the Current Population Survey includes the Income supplement. You will be trained on this supplement for one day either the of March 5-11 or 12-18. Bring the following materials to the training:
1) Section 1: Field Representative(FR)/Interviewer Instructions (this document)
2) Section 2: Review Exercise and Practice Interview
3) March Items Booklet
4) CPS Interviewing Manual
5) CPS Job Aid Booklet
6) Laptop Computer
Before the training, make sure you:
1) Read Section 1 in its entirety.
2) Complete Section 2.
3) Familiarize yourself with the March Items Booklet.
Charge all preparation and training activities as follows:
Project Operation Code
Activity Number CAPI CATI
Self Study 0906 28 98
Group Training* 0906 26 96
* Include all training-related costs, such as salary, travel, and per diem.
The March 1995 instrument asks the usual monthly labor force questions plus another set of questions on work experience, income, and migration. These questions make up the March Supplement, which provides the most widely used socioeconomic data released by the Census Bureau. For example, some of the data uses include:
Some of the data users include:
All information provided by individuals participating in the CPS is confidential, as required by Federal law. The information may be seen only by sworn Census employees and may be used for statistical purposes only.
After the information is collected for all individuals, it is compiled and organized into meaningful statistical summaries. These summaries are then published in reports which are available to the public as well as government and private business. No identifying information on any specific household or address (persons' names, house number and street name, etc.) is released to anyone, regardless of whether they are in the public or private sector.
1. Work Experience
The work experience information (Q29a through Q4788) is collected under the authority of Title 29, United States Code, Sections 1 through 9. Response to these items is voluntary; there are no penalties for refusing to answer.
2. Migration and All Other March Supplement Items
The migration information (MIGSAM - NEXTST) and all other March supplement data (Q48aQ52c; Q56aQ94) are collected under the authority of Title l3, United States Code, Section 182. Response to these items is also voluntary, and there are no penalties for refusing to answer.
If the respondent questions the legality or usefulness of the supplement, you should make him/her aware of the information provided in sections C.1 and C.2 above. You will also find some of this information on the instrument's "Help" screen, which is accessed by entering Shift F2:
"Purpose6"Is this survey authorized by law?
The March sample includes:
We add Hispanic households interviewed in November 1994 to the March 1995 supplement sample to ensure that Hispanics are adequately represented in the supplement.
You will conduct the supplement interview even for Armed Forces members, in those households consisting of civilians and Armed Forces members. The instrument will lead you to classify the following cases as Type B "Other":
Select "Other" at the >TYPB< screen. Then at the Type B other specify screen type "No Hispanic members" if there are no Hispanic household members age 15 or over OR type "New Household" if the household reference person was not a household member in November.
The "Hispanic" households may no longer be in sample when you interview them in March. However, you must interview them again to ensure that Hispanics are adequately represented in the Income supplement. You may have to explain this to those Hispanic households that did not get advance notice in November and December. In January and February, the instrument prompted Field Representatives (FR's) and CATI interviewers to remind Hispanic households in outgoing rotations that they may be interviewed again in March.
In February, Field Representatives mailed or handed out an Advance Letter (CPS-580) and a Fact Sheet (CPS-676) to give advance notice about the March supplement to those households that will be interviewed in March. The Regional Office mailed these materials to the Hispanic households that were added to the sample.
Advance Letter (CPS-580) = highlights the types of questions we ask in March and includes a form where the respondent can write down some of the information he/she will need to answer the supplement questions.
Fact Sheet (CPS-676) = gives examples of the data we obtain from the March supplement and illustrates the importance of the data as reported by newspapers across the nation.
The Regional Office does not mail these materials to households that will be 1st and 5th month households in March, because such households always receive the CPS-263A and CPS-264, respectively. Give these households the March materials when you visit them, and explain that they didn't get the materials before interview week because we didn't want to confuse them with different letters about the survey.
F. Problems with the 1994 March Supplement
The 1994 March Income Supplement was our first attempt to completed such a complicated interview using the laptop computers. There were many problems encountered which we have tired to address in the 1995 instrument.
Screens Had Too Many Instructions
We determined that many screens on the March Income Supplement contained far too much information on them. This contributed to errors. Below is one example of a cluttered questions used in last years supplement.
>Q56dcalc< ENTER NUMBER OF MONTHS AMOUNT RECEIVED IN FIRST COLUMN. THEN ENTER MONTHLY AMOUNT IN SECOND COLUMN.
BE SURE TO ASK FOR ANY CHANGES IN MONTHLY AMOUNT.
IF ANY AMOUNT UNKNOWN, ENTER ESTIMATE.
IF ESTIMATE NOT AVAILABLE, BACK TO Q56d AND ENTER YEARLY ESTIMATE.
NOTE: INCLUDE THE MEDICARE DEDUCTION OF $36.60 PER MONTH FOR CHECKS RECEIVED IN 1993.
ENTER <N> IN FIRST COLUMN WHEN ALL MONTHS ACCOUNTED FOR.
# MONTHS AMOUNT
===>__ ===>$_,___
===>__ ===>$_,___
===>__ ===>$_,___
Everyone agreed that the screens on the March instrument should contain less information. In addition to having too much information to read to yourself, you were expected to make multiple entries without asking additional questions. This only added to the confusion.
We eliminated the first two instructions in the example by collecting the information in a series of short questions instead of asking you to record multiple answers without asking additional questions. You have also been taught, as a basic interviewing rule, that the respondent's best estimate is better than a DON'T KNOW, and therefore, you do not need this instruction on the screen. The instrument now includes a separate question to determine if the medicare deduction was included and the instrument does the math calculations if necessary. We now account for the entire year in a series of questions and verify the yearly amount .
What we have tried to do this year is emulate the process we used on paper. Like paper our screens have a question, the answer categories and an answer field. As a matter of fact, because we do not need the skip instructions or check items on screen, the questions are simpler than paper. We added interviewer notes only when absolutely necessary and as with paper, we believe you know what to do when questions come up and when to probe. If necessary, help the respondent with math calculations on paper before making an entry in the computer.
A new series of questions was created to collect:
The new series will be easier for you and respondents to understand. Verification screens follow income amount items depending on the outcome of the internal edits that we added to the instrument. If a yearly amount was reported, the internal edits will test the amount reported. If amount does not seem reasonable, a screen appears which will alert you that something was possibly entered incorrectly. If the respondent reported an amount for a periodicity less than a year, the computer calculates the yearly amount and a verification screen asks the respondent if the amount sounds about right. If it does not seem correct, the respondent's best estimate will be asked for.
Field Representative/Interviewer Errors in Recording Amounts
One error which we can do little to correct is when you hit the wrong keys, DO NOT hit enough keys or do not hit a key hard enough. The fact that the cursor covers the entire answer space of the last digit entered in the computer increase the possibility that a typo will occur. To help eliminate accidental keying errors, you will verify all the total yearly income amounts.
Field errors consisted of two main problems. These problems were:
Verifying Entries
If an answer is crucial to the survey, it should be verified. If the yearly amount is below or above acceptable normal limits the computer checks will ask you if you entered the correct amount. In case a respondent does not know his/her yearly earnings for an income source, we ask for the periodicity he/she does know (weekly, bi-weekly, twice monthly, monthly salary or yearly). We then have the computer calculate the annual salary and a screen appears for you to verify the amount with the respondent. If the yearly salary is unknown there are additional problems because checks are not used.
As usual, the instrument will allow you to schedule callbacks to follow up on missing labor force data. In March, the instrument will also allow you to schedule callbacks to obtain missing supplement data. If the labor force interview was a refusal, do not follow up on the supplement.
Conduct a supplement followup when:
The "must" income items and series in the March instrument are:
You will not be required to follow up on other supplement items that have "D" as an entry. Usually you follow up on these income amounts because the respondent him/herself said he/she didn't know, or because you received a rough estimate which you can convert to a more accurate amount before the followup deadline.
For specific instructions on how to do followup on the "must"
income items, see Section Z at the end of this document.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. Give two of the uses of the March supplement data:
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
2. In the March instrument, you can access a "Help" screen that explains the legal authority we have to collect the supplement data; how do you access this screen?
Answer Page No.
3. Circle the answer that correctly completes the following statement: "You will conduct the supplement interview for Armed Forces members in ."
Also, in the space provided, give the page where you found the answer.
a. Households consisting completely of Armed Forces members.
b. Households consisting of civilians and Armed Forces members.
Page number:
4. We add Hispanic households interviewed in November 1994 to the March 1995 sample. For this reason, some of the Hispanic households you interview will have completed their 4th or 8th month in sample and may ask why you need to interview them again. What would you say?
Answer Page No.
5. When do you conduct a supplement followup?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
A. Description of the March Instrument
The CPS instrument consists of three parts:
1) The basic CPS items (including Demographics and Labor Force).
2) Extra items that aren't part of the Income Supplement, but that are included in the March instrument to:
3) The Income Supplement items. Part 3 of this document provides an item-by-item description of the Income Supplement.
As indicated earlier, the reason for asking the Hispanic items is to ensure that Hispanics are adequately represented in the Income supplement.
The screen names for the "Hispanic" items are the following:
In March, the instrument will treat Hispanic sample cases as if they were 5th-month cases. However, you are allowed to interview Hispanic cases over the phone.
Not all Hispanic cases are eligible for interview. The instrument will allow you to interview only those cases that are eligible, namely:
If the instrument determines that a case is not eligible, it will take you to the Type B screen so you can classify the case as a Type B "Other" (outcome code 233), and then to the "specify" screen where you should type in one of these three reasons:
1) "No Hispanic members age 15 or older."
2) "Reference person wasn't a household member in November."
3) "Vacant unit."
[NOTE: You won't have to ask Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS) questions for Hispanic households.]
The reason for asking the "API" items is to collect data on the size and socioeconomic characteristics of the various Asian and Pacific Islander groups. These data help policy-makers identify which are the neediest API groups and develop programs specifically tailored to their needs.
The screen names for the "API" items (shown in the Items Booklet) are the following:
The instrument will display these items if the case you are interviewing has at least one RACE entry equal to "Asian or Pacific Islander" (Race category 4). At the API-34 screen, enter the precode which best represents the group with which the person identifies. If a person cannot specify a single group, mark his/her mother's group. If a single response cannot be provided for the mother's group, then enter whatever group the person reports first.
Examples:
1) If the person says he/she is "North Korean," enter <5> for "Korean."
2) If the person is not sure of his/her racial group because his/her father is Hawaiian and his/her mother is Japanese, enter <3> for "Japanese."
3) If the person is not sure of his/her racial group because:
enter <2> for Filipino.
Only 8 of the API-34 answer categories are specific API groups. The other 2 are "Other" categories:
<8> Other Asian, and
<10> Other Pacific Islander
If you can't find the respondent's answer in one of the 8 specific groups, you will have to report their answer as either <8> or <10>. Before you do so, look for the respondent's answer in the "Help" screen (by entering "A"), to ensure that you are classifying them under the right group (Asian or Pacific Islander). The "Help" screen (API-help) is illustrated on page 2 of the March Items Booklet.
The reason for collecting Social Security numbers is to compare the information we collect with that of other agencies in order to evaluate the accuracy, consistency, and comparability of various statistics produced from the CPS. You may want to explain to the respondent that the Census Bureau can obtain personal information from other agencies, but it cannot release personal information to other agencies because, unlike other government agencies, the Bureau protects each person's confidentiality.
The screen name for the Social Security item is:
Social Security numbers are collected only 4 months out of the year: December, January, February, and March. In March, you will be collecting Social Security numbers for all civilian household members age 15 or older in:
You don't have to remember these criteria, since the instrument is programmed to display the Social Security item whenever these criteria are met. But you should be aware that you may have to ask the Social Security item, in case you need to explain why we do so to a reluctant respondent.
Some households for which you are missing Social Security numbers may hand you a form CPS-504 (Report of Social Security Number) with the missing information filled in. Field Representatives are instructed to leave this form in the months of December, January, and February, with the respondents who are willing to report any missing Social Security numbers on the form and hand in the form to the FR when he/she visits the next month. If you get any form CPS-504 in March, enter the Social Security numbers in the instrument for each appropriate person at the time of the interview.
Suggestion: According to experienced CPS FR's, the best way to collect Social Security numbers from reluctant respondents is by asking the question matter-of-factly, without changing the pace or tone of voice in which you ask the other questions.
The reasons for asking the Family Income item are:
1) to identify those households for which certain supplement items must be displayed (only in March),
2) to meet the data requirements for the basic CPS (all other months).
Because of the first of these two reasons, the Family Income item is displayed before the supplement in March, whereas in other months it is displayed after the supplement (if there is one).
The screen name for the Family Income item (shown in the Items Booklet) is:
The criteria for displaying the Family Income item are similar to the criteria for displaying the Social Security item:
The main differences between the Social Security item and the Family Income item are that the Family Income item:
Report only the total income for the reference person and his/her relatives living in the housing unit. DO NOT report income of non-relatives of the reference person, even if they are household members. As indicated in your CPS Interviewing Manual, you should report as family income "the total money income of the reference person plus that of all his/her relatives age 15 and over, who are currently household members."
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. The March CPS instrument consists of which three parts?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
2. In March, even though you are allowed to interview them by phone, the instrument will treat Hispanic sample cases as if they were in what month in sample?
Answer Page No.
3. What two reasons would you specify in the Type B "Other" screen for making a Hispanic case a Type B?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
4. When will the instrument display the API items?
Answer Page No.
5. From the API-34 screen, you can access a "Help" screen to ensure that you are classifying the person correctly under "Other Asian" or "Other Pacific Islander." How do you access this "Help" screen?
Answer Page No.
6. According to experienced CPS FR's, what is the best way to collect Social Security numbers from reluctant respondents?
Answer Page No.
7. What would you report as family income?
Answer Page No.
A. Content & Flow of the Supplement Interview
The Income Supplement portion of the instrument asks questions that collect the following type of data:
1) Work Experience
2) Earned Income
3) Unemployment and Worker's Compensation
4) Social Security Income
5) Supplemental Security Income
6) Public Assistance
7) Veteran's Payments
8) Survivor Benefits
9) Disability Income
10) Retirement and Pension
11) Interest
12) Dividends
13) Property Income
14) Education Assistance
15) Child Support and Alimony
16) Regular Financial Assistance
17) Other Money Income
18) Health Insurance Coverage
19) Employer's Pension Plan
20) School Lunches
21) Public & Subsidized Housing
22) Food Stamps
23) Energy Assistance
24) Migration
The general flow of the supplement interview is as follows:
1) First, you will ask the Work Experience, Earned Income, and Unemployment and Worker's Compensation questions (items 1 through 3 in the list above) for all household members on a person-by-person basis.
For example, if there are three household members, you will ask the Work Experience, Earned Income, and Unemployment and Worker's Compensation questions for the first household member, then the same set of questions for the second household member, and then again for the third household member.
2) After asking the above questions for all household members, you will ask all other supplement questions (Social Security, Public Assistance, Survivor Benefits, etc., or items 5 through 13 in the list above) on a household basis. For each set of questions, you will ask if anyone in the household received that type of income:
If the answer is yes, you will then ask more questions about that same type of income.
If the answer is no, the instrument will skip to the next type of income and ask if anyone in the household received that type of income.
For example, when you get to the Social Security questions, the first question you will ask is Q56a: "During 1994, did (anyone in this household/you) receive any Social Security payments from the U.S. Government?":
If the answer is yes, you will then ask more questions about Social Security income (who received it, how much, etc.).
If the answer is no, the instrument will skip to the next set of questions (in this case, the set of questions on Social Security for children) and ask if anyone in the household received that type of income (Q56f).
In general, the instrument will follow this pattern as it displays the questions for the remainder of the supplement interview.
The screen name that marks the beginning of the supplement interview is:
This item introduces the supplement to the respondent. If, when you read this item, the respondent seems reluctant to complete the supplement, try to persuade him/her by explaining the uses of the supplement. If you enter precode <I> from this item, you can access a screen that will help you explain to the respondent the importance of completing the supplement. If, after you try to persuade him/her, the respondent still refuses, enter <R> and you will skip the supplement portion of the interview.
The migration items will be the last set of questions asked. Although the migration items are last we will cover them here so the rest of this manual can focus on work experience and income concepts, procedures, and instructions.
The reason for asking the Migration items is to determine the mobility of the Nation's population. Migration data are used to monitor migration patterns and to predict how population shifts between different areas (cities, suburbs, non-metropolitan areas, etc.) will affect the general socio-economic conditions in such areas. This year you will ask about where everyone in the household lived 5 years ago and 1 year ago.
The screen names for the Migration items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Whom do we ask: The 5-year migration items are asked for the reference person and all household members 5 years or over, including Armed Forces members, who did not live with the reference person five years ago. The 1-year migration items are asked for the reference person and all household memeber 1 year or over, including Armed Forces members, who did not live with the reference person one year ago.
Reference date: The 5-year migration items refer to on March 1, 1990. The 1-year migration items refer to residence on March 1, 1994. It is very important that you emphasize the reference date for the Migration items, since they follow income questions whose reference period is the entire year (including January and February) of 1994.
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MIGRATION ITEMS:
For the specific wording of the items see pages 70-78 of the March 1995 Items Booklet.
>MIGSAM< Reference person's five year migration
The purpose of this question is to let the respondent know we are asking about the reference person and to establish the correct time frame in order to answer the questions.
Enter <1> "Yes, this house (apt)" if:
Enter <2> "No, different house in U. S." if:
Enter <3> "No, outside the United States," if the reference person was not living in D.C. or one of the 50 states. The instrument will proceed to MIGCN1.
>MIGLIV< Reference person's residence
You ask this item if you enter <2> "No, different house in U.S." in MIGSAM.
>MIGPLC< Reference person's city/town/post office
If the reference person lived in the United States (or was on a ship docked at a port in the United States), enter the name of the city, town, or post office in which he/she lived (or in which the port is located). The name of the city in which the reference person currently resides is displayed on the screen. Enter <S> if the response is the same as the one displayed.
If the reference person did not live within the limits of a city, town, or post office, enter the name of the nearest city, town, or post office, and "no" in MIGCLM without asking.
If the reference person lived on a military installation inside the U.S., enter the name of the city, town, or post office in which the military installation is located. If the installation is not in a "place", or if the place is not known, enter the name of the installation and enter "Yes" in MIGCLM without asking.
If the reference person lived in the District of Columbia, enter "Washington." If the reference person lived in any other independent city, enter the name of the city.
>MIGSTA< Reference Person's State
Enter the accepted abbreviation of the State in which the reference person was living on March 1, 1990. You may also make the following entries at this screen:
<W> For persons living on a ship at sea
<S> For persons living now in the same State that they lived last year. (The name of the State in which the person currently resides is displayed on the screen.)
<H> For a list of accepted State abbreviations.
If the reference person was living on a military installation on March 1, 1990, and the military installation is inside the United States, enter the State in which the installation is located. If the State is unknown, enter the name of the installation.
For purposes of this supplement, FPO or APO addresses are not acceptable.
If the reference person was at sea on March 1, 1990 and had no usual place of residence elsewhere, enter precode <W> for "living on a ship at sea."
If the reference person was on a ship docked in a port on March 1, 1990, enter the name of the State in which the port is located.
>MIGZIP< Reference Person's ZIP Code
Enter the zip code in this item.
>MIGCLM< Reference Person within city, town or village limits
Enter "No" if the reference person did not live within the limits of a city, town, village, etc.
Enter "D" (Don't know) if the respondent is not sure if the reference person actually lived within the limits of a city, town or village.
NOTE: You will not ask this question if the reference person lived in New England on March 1, 1990. By our definition, everyone in these States lives inside the boundaries of a city or town. The six New England States are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Suggestion: According to experienced CPS FR's, if the respondent is not sure if the reference person lived inside city limits, you could probe by asking if the reference person had to pay city taxes. If the answer is yes (the reference person paid city taxes), then enter <1> for "Yes" in MIGCLM.
>MIGCOU< Reference Person's county or parish
For reference persons who lived in the United States (or who were on a ship docked at a port in the United States) on March 1, 1990, enter the name of the county in which the reference person lived (or in which the port is located). If the name is not known, enter "D" for "Don't know."
NOTE: For this item, you cannot enter <S> for "same as current." We do not have any current county information, so it would be meaningless to enter "same."
Also, for reference persons who lived in Alaska, or Louisiana, enter the name of the borough or parish, respectively. If the reference person lived in New York City and the name of the county is not known, enter the name of the borough.
Enter "IND CITY" if the reference person lived in an independent city (such as Washington, D.C.; St. Louis, Missouri; Carson City, Nevada; Alexandria, Virginia; Fairfax City, Virginia; Baltimore City, Maryland; etc.)
>MIGCN1-MIGCN4< Reference Person's Country
Enter the code for the foreign country or U.S. possession in which the reference person was living on March 1, 1990. If the reference person was living on a military installation on March 1, 1990, and the military installation is in a foreign country or U.S. possession, enter the code for the U.S. possession or foreign country.
For purposes of this supplement, FPO or APO addresses are not acceptable.
If the reference person was on a ship docked in a port on March 1, 1990, enter the code for the possession or foreign country in which the port is located.
If you cannot find the country that the respondent told you on this list of countries, enter <M> for More countries and the instrument will go to >MIGCN2<, another list of countries. At the >MIGCN2< you can enter <M> again and another list of countries appears. At the >MIGCN3< screen you can enter <M> one last time to go to the last countries screen <MIGCN4). On the last screen, read the probe to the respondent. If you still cannot find the country on any of the country screens enter <555> for elsewhere.
>MIGALL< All household members lived with reference person
You will ask if all of the people in the household lived with the reference person 5 years ago. If you receive a NO you will continue with MIGMOV to determine which members did NOT live with the reference person 5 years ago.
>MIGM< Those members who did not.
This question determines which persons were not living with the reference person 5 years ago. You will ask questions NXTSAM through NXTCNT for each person that did not live with the reference person five years ago.
>NXTSAM< Next household member five year migration
See MIGSAM pages 24 and 25 for instructions.
>NXTLIV< Next household member's residence
See MIGLIV page 25 for instructions.
>NXTPLC< Next household member's city/town/post office
See MIGPLC page 26 for instructions.
>NXTSTA< Next household member's State
See MIGSTA pages 26 & 27 for instructions.
>NXTZIP< Next houseold member's ZIP Code
See MIGZIP page 27 for instructions.
>NXTCLM< Next household member within city, town or village limits
See MIGCLM page 27 for instructions.
>NXTCOU< Next household member's county or parish
See MIGCOU pages 28 for instructions.
>NXTCN1-NXTCN4< Next household member's country
See MIGCN1-MIGCN4 page 28 & 29 for instructions.
>MOVSAM< Reference person's 1 year migration
The purpose of this question is to let the respondent know we are asking about the reference person and to establish the correct time frame in order to answer the questions.
Enter <1> "Yes, this house (apt)" if:
Enter <2> "No, same house as 5 years ago" if the reference person lived in the same house as 5 years ago on March 1, 1990 but not the same house that he/she is living in now.
Since you have already collect information about 5 years ago the instrument will go to the next household member.
Enter <3> "No, elsewhere" if:
For all of these reasons the instrument will go to MOVLIV to get more information about where the respondent lived last year.
>MOVLIV< Reference person's residence 1 year ago
This question refers to the reference persons residence 1 year ago as compared to his/her current residence.
Enter <1> "Different house (apt) in this county" if the reference person lived in another house in the same county on March 1, 1994.
Enter <2> "Different county in this state" if the reference person lived in a different county in the same state on March 1, 1994.
Enter <3> "Different state in the U. S." if the reference person lived in another state on March 1, 1994.
Enter <4> "No, outside the United States" if the reference person lived outside of the United States on March 1, 1994.
>MOVSTA< Reference person's state
Enter the accepted abbreviation of the State in which the reference person was living on March 1, 1994. You may also make the following entries at this screen:
<W> For persons living on a ship at sea
<S> For persons living now in the same State that they lived last year. (The name of the State in which the person currently resides is displayed on the screen.)
<H> For a list of accepted State abbreviations.
If the reference person was living on a military installation on March 1, 1994, and the military installation is inside the United States, enter the State in which the installation is located. If the State is unknown, enter the name of the installation.
For purposes of this supplement, FPO or APO addresses are not acceptable.
If the reference person was at sea on March 1, 1994 and had no usual place of residence elsewhere, enter precode <W> for "living on a ship at sea."
If the reference person was on a ship docked in a port on March 1, 1994, enter the name of the State in which the port is located.
>MOVALL< All household members lived with reference person 1 year ago.
You will ask if all of the people in the household lived with the reference person 1 year ago. If you receive a NO you will continue with MOVMIG to determine which members did NOT live with the reference person 1 year ago.
>MOVM< Those members who did not.
This question determines which persons were not living with the reference person 1 year ago on March 1, 1994. You will ask questions NXTMOB through NEXTST for each person that did not live with the reference person 1 year ago.
>NXTMOB< Next household members 1 year migration
See MOVSAM pages 30 & 31 for instructions.
>NXTLIV< Next household member's residence 1 year ago
See MOVLIV page 31 for instructions.
NEXTST Next household member's state
See MOVSTA page 32 for instructions.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. What is the general flow of the supplement interview?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
2. At the beginning of the supplement interview (the pre-income screen), you can access a "Help" screen that explains the importance of completing the supplement. How do you access this "Help" screen?
Answer Page No.
3. What are the reference dates for the Migration items and how are they different from the reference period for the Income items.
Answer Page No.
4. To report the State in which the person was living on March 1, 1990, you must enter the appropriate State abbreviation in MIGSTA or NXTSTA. From these two screens you can access a "Help" screen that gives you a list of State abbreviations. How do you access this "Help" screen?
Answer Page No.
5. What would you enter in MIGSTA if on March 1, 1990 if the person lived:
In a military installation in the U.S.?
Answer Page No.
6. According to experienced CPS FR's, how could you probe to determine if the person lived inside the city limits?
Answer Page No.
The reason for asking the Work Experience items is to provide statistics that show movements in and out of the labor force over a 1-year period. Such statistics allow us to make indirect measurements of discouraged workers and others whose labor force participation is rather casual.
The screen names for the Work Experience items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Whom do we ask: The Work Experience items are asked for all household members 15 years of age and over, including Armed Forces members. In this section, include persons with military jobs, regardless of whether the military job was the person's job in 1994 or the person's "longest job."
Reference period: The Work Experience items refer to civilian or military jobs held during calendar year 1994, that is from January to December 1994.
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE WORK EXPERIENCE ITEMS:
For the specific wording of the items see pages 3-9 of the March 1995 Items Booklet.
>Q29a< Job or business during 1994
Other than the inclusion of paid leave, for the purposes of the Work Experience items, "work" is defined as it is for the regular CPS questions. Enter "Yes" if, for any length of time in 1994, the person worked at any military or civilian job.
Suggestion: According to experienced CPS FR's, probably 25 percent of the respondents think you are asking about a job other than their regular job when you ask them this question (since they already talked to you about their regular job in the basic labor force interview). If you suspect the respondent misinterprets the question in this fashion, the FR's recommend that you probe by asking: "Did (name/you) work at ANY TIME during 1994?"
>Q29b< Another type of work during 1994
This question is intended to jog the respondent's memory for any shortterm jobs held during 1994. Make sure you report the work people do in small businesses they operate from their home or work they do on a farm for money.
>Q30< Looking for a job or on layoff during 1994.
The definitions for "looking for work" and "on layoff" are the same as those used for basic CPS. Enter <1> for "Yes," and <2> for "No," as appropriate.
>Q31< Different weeks worked or on layoff
Enter the number of weeks looking for work or on layoff.
>Q32< Main reason did not work
How to ask: Ask this item without reading the answer categories. However, if you find it necessary to probe for an answer, read the entire list of answer categories provided.
For example, ask "What was the main reason you did not work in 1994? Were youill or disabled and unable to work, retired, taking care of home or family, going to school, could not find work, or doing something else?" When you get an answer, confirm that the activity represents the main reason the person did not work in 1994, and enter the appropriate precode.
Most of the answer categories are selfexplanatory, as you can see in the following table:
MARK IF
"Ill or disabled and a "disabled" or "unable to work"
unable to work" condition accounted for more time during
the year than any other reason
(In most cases, this would be for more
than 6 months. It is similar to the
"unable" concept in basic CPS. Include
in this category, if unable to work,
mentally handicapped persons and those
recovering from an accident.)
"Retired" a person retired because of ill health
or any other reason
"Taking care of home or a person answers "expecting a baby,"
family" "new baby," "don't want to work,"
"spouse doesn't want me to work," or
"keeping house"
"Could not find work" a person answers that he/she could not
find work in general, or could not find
work in a specific area
"Doing something else" there is a very extraordinary case
(Keep this answer to a minimum. Probe
when it appears that you should have
checked one of the previously listed
categories.)
>Q33< Weeks worked during 1994
The definition for "number of weeks" is the number of different weeks in which the person worked, even if only for a few days or a few hours in some of those weeks. For example, if a student worked 40 hours a week throughout his/her summer vacation, and worked only on Saturdays throughout the school year, the correct entry would be 52 weeks. Make sure you report weeks worked in both military and civilian jobs.
Include any time off with pay, such as paid vacation and paid sick leave. If the person reports that the only wages or salary he/she received in 1994 was for paid sick leave, include the number of weeks for which he/she was paid. In this case, you will need to reword the other work experience questions as appropriate when you ask them, and enter the time paid as if you were reporting time worked in 1994.
For school personnel such as teachers, administrators, janitors, etc., accept the weeks worked as reported by the respondent, including the time on paid holiday or vacation. Also, if the person returned to the job after a summer vacation, consider the weeks during the summer vacation as weeks worked.
Exclude any time off without pay for persons who (while employed) had unpaid vacations, unpaid sick leave, periods of layoff or strike, periods receiving disability insurance when not actually working, etc.
For unpaid family workers (persons who did unpaid work during the year on a familyoperated farm or business), report only the weeks in which the person actually worked. Include weeks he/she was away from his/her unpaid job only if he/she was working at some other job during that time.
For self-employed persons, include both the weeks that the person actually worked and any weeks in which he/she was away for such reasons as a short vacation or illness, provided that he/she kept his/her business (or farm) operating during his/her absence.
Do not count as work any of the time a self-employed person was away if he/she was away for a period of 30 consecutive days or more and did no other work during that time. This is true even if the person kept his/her business open during the absence.
Count as work each week that a selfemployed person contacted his/her business to discuss its operation while he/she was away on a long vacation or illness.
Get the best possible estimate if you have difficulty getting an exact number of weeks worked. Enter <M> if the respondent can only answer in months. This will take you to another screen where you will enter the number of months worked in 1994. The computer will then take that entry and convert it into weeks, which you will verify afterwards with the respondent.
>Q35< Lose weeks because of layoff or lost a job
You will only ask this question of people who worked 5051 weeks during the previous year. We ask this question to find out how many people worked almost a full year and lost a small amount of timea week or twobecause of short layoffs or unemployment.
Enter "Yes" if:
Enter "No" if:
Do not change the number of weeks reported (in Q33) if:
>Q36< Weeks looking for work or on layoff
This item will tell us how much work time the person lost due to unemployment or layoff. Layoff includes both temporary and indefinite layoffs.
Read the introductory statement to the respondent exactly as worded; the instrument will display the number of weeks worked during the year (as reported in Q33) and will calculate and display 52 minus the entry in Q33.
Enter <N> for "None" if the person was not looking for work or on layoff during any of the remaining weeks.
>Q37< Looking for work in one stretch
Enter <1> for "Yesone stretch":
Enter <2> or <3>, as appropriate, for "No" (more than one stretch):
>Q38< Reason not working or looking for work
The instrument will add the number of weeks worked (Q33) plus the number of weeks looking for work (Q36). If the total is less than 52, you will ask this item. If the total is equal to 52, you will skip to Q39 below.
We ask this question to determine if the person did not participate in the labor force (that is, was not working or looking for work) because he/she chose not to, or because he/she was affected by problems in the job market.
When you ask this question, read the answer categories only if you need to probe.
When you get an answer:
If you cannot classify the response under one of the given answer categories, enter <6> for "Other" and specify the response as briefly as possible.
>Q39< Total number of employers in 1994
We ask this question to determine the number of different employers a person had during 1994.
When you ask this item, read the entire item. In other words, read the question and the statement that follows it: "If more than one at the same time, only count it as one employer."
For purposes of this question only, employers are defined as follows:
For wage and salary workers, the employer would be the person, company, corporation, agency, etc. who paid them; that is, the person, company, etc. whose payroll the worker was on. Count a different employer for each change of payroll. However, do not count a different employer for each change of occupation under the same payroll.
For selfemployed workers:
For domestic service and oddjob workers, report the number of employers as specified in the following table:
If Then Enter
a person was self-employed the <1>
entire year, even though they may
have changed their type of
business,
a self-employed person closed <2> or <3>, depending upon
his/her business and took a job the number of employers.
with someone else,
(treat him/her as having
worked for more than one
employer)
or if a wage and salary worker
became self-employed,
a person was employed as a domestic <1>
or was an odd-job worker
(gardeners, baby-sitters,
housekeepers, etc.)
a domestic or odd-job worker moved <2> or <3> depending upon the
between this type of job and number of jobs employed at
something entirely different, during the year.
Persons employed as domestics or oddjob workers (gardeners, baby-sitters, housekeepers, etc.) may regularly work for a number of people throughout the year. For these people, consider their type of work as their employer. Therefore, report:
one employer for a person who did housework for five different families all of 1994, even if each of the five families paid him/her for doing different tasks.
two employers for a person who switched from doing housework the first part of the year to painting houses the second part of the year.
Do not count simultaneous jobs (more than one job held at the same time) as more than one employer. Report only one employer in each of the following cases:
>Q41< Hours worked
Most respondents will be able to answer this question without difficulty. However, some respondents will find it difficult to report hours "usually" worked per week because of seasonal variations, or because they worked irregular hours or changed jobs. For such persons, define hours "usually" worked in 1994 as hours worked more than half the time in 1994. If the respondent needs a more specific guideline, have him/her consider the person's work schedule during the last 45 months worked in 1994 and determine how much time the person usually worked during that period.
For example, if a person:
the correct answer to 4l would be 35 hours per week, since he/she worked 35 hours per week for more than half the time that he/she worked in 1994.
If the person worked at more than one job during most of the time that he/she worked in 1994, consider his usual hours worked per week as the total hours usually worked at all jobs.
For example, if a person:
the entry in Q41 would be 55 hours.
>Q43< Worked less than 35 hours
Read the entire question for each person. It is important to read the entire question so the respondent remembers what he/she needs to exclude for each person.
Enter "Yes" if:
Enter "No" in all other cases:
Consider only those weeks in which the respondent worked l34 hours. Do not include weeks in which the respondent did not work at all, or was on unpaid sick leave or vacation time.
>Q44< Weeks worked less than 35 hours
Include only those weeks in which the respondent worked l34 hours. Do not include weeks in which the respondent did not work, or was on unpaid sick leave or vacation time.
Suggestion: According to experienced CPS FR's, respondents sometimes hesitate when you ask them this question because they are not sure what you are asking. If the respondent hesitates, the FR's suggest that you probe by adding "In the weeks that you worked" to the beginning of the question, as indicated below:
"In the weeks that (name/you) worked, how many weeks did (name/you) work less than 35 hours in 1994?"
>Q45< Main reason worked less than 35 hours
When you ask this question, read the answer categories only if you need to probe. When you get an answer, confirm that the answer represents the main reason the person worked less than 35 hours per week.
Reasons for working parttime
If Then mark
a person worked part-time because no <1> "Could not find a full-time
other work was available (other job."
answers could be: "That's all I could
find," or "They only wanted part-time
people"),
a person wanted to work part-time or <2> "Wanted to work part-time
could not work full-time because of or only able to work part-time
child care or other family
constraints or school scheduling,
a person was placed on part-time <3> "Slack work or material
schedules because of slowdowns or shortages."
partial shutdowns at their place of
work or because of a lack of orders,
model changeovers, taking inventory,
shortages of materials, seasonal or
temporary slowdowns, or working
part-time because of plant re-tooling
or repair,
a person gives a reason that does not <4> "Other." Specify
fit any other category such as bad
weather, labor disputes, and regular
full-time work week is less than 35
hours,
>Q46< Longest job during 1994
(and Q47a through Q47E1c)
You will ask this item of all household members 15 years old or older who indicated they worked for pay at a civilian or military job during 1994. The instrument will display (in items Q47aQ47d, respectively) any Industry and Occupation (I and O) information collected in the labor force interview. If the response to Q47a is the same as the response to the I and O items, enter <S> for "Same as I and O items." This also applies for items Q47bQ47d.
Enter <N> "Not the same job" if any or all of the information listed is not exactly the same.
When you ask this question, keep in mind that in basic CPS a "job" is the composite or total of the person's entries in the I and O items:
The March supplement uses this same "job" definition. However, for purposes of the supplement, you need to know what is the person's longest job.
"Longest job" definition: The longest job is the one at which the person worked the greatest number of weeks during 1994. A person's longest job is not necessarily the longest one he/she has ever had. For example, if a person:
then you would report his/her second job as his/her longest job in 1994 (even though he/she worked at the first one for a longer period of time).
If a person had two or more jobs of equal length in 1994, consider his/her most recent job as the longest job. In some cases a person may have held two jobs simultaneously for all of 1994. In such cases:
Wage and Salary Workers
For wage and salary workers, a job consists of the total period of paid employment (including paid vacation and paid sick leave) with a single employer, in the same occupation. Usually, the number of different jobs a person had is equal to the number of different payrolls he/she was on during the year.
Example: If a man was employed as a clerk in the Post Office for 8 weeks last summer and again for 3 weeks before Christmas, then report him as having been employed at one job for 11 weeks.
If, however, a person changed occupations within the same employment, the number of jobs is equal to the number of occupations.
Example: Joan Murphy worked all of last year for XYZ Construction Company, the first 32 weeks as a secretary, and the last 20 weeks as a sales representative. In the basic labor force interview, your I and O entries would report her as a sales representative.
However, in the supplement interview, you would report her as a secretary; that is, you would:
In Q46, you must consider both occupation and employer when determining longest job.
Employees of Government or Large Corporations
In government employment, consider different agencies or bureaus as different employers; different branches of a large corporation that maintain separate employment offices and payrolls are also different employers. Keep in mind, however, the concept of occupation when determining longest job.
Domestic Service and Odd Job Workers
Some persons, such as domestic servants and oddjob workers for private families (e.g., baby sitters, window washers, gardeners, etc.) work regularly for a number of employers. For such workers, report as "longest job" the type of work they did the longest rather than the employer for whom they worked the longest. For example, if a person:
Selfemployed workers
For a selfemployed person, consider a job as the time spent in a particular type of business, professional practice, or on a farm.
If the person changed from one type of business to another, consider it as a change in "jobs." However, if the person changed the location of his/her business without changing the type of business, do not consider this a change in "jobs."
Unpaid family workers
For an unpaid family worker, consider a "job" as the total period of employment in the familyoperated farm or business. If the family changed from one type of business to another, consider it as a change in "jobs". However, if the family changed the location of the business without changing the type of business, do not consider this a change in "jobs."
You will notice that if the respondent indicates in Q46 that the person's longest job in 1994 was the same as the job reported in the labor force interview, you will then ask questions about that person's earnings. The purpose of these questions is to record earnings from any other job the respondent may have held during the previous year.
Armed Forces Longest Job in 1994
Since Armed Forces members are eligible for the supplement, military jobs may be reported as "longest job" in Q47a through q47e:
The instrument will remind you, at the appropriate screens, of the entries you need to make in order to report military jobs.
>Q4788< Total number of employees
This item refers to the total number of employees at all locations operated by the person's longest employer. Data from this item are used in conjunction with other employer related items (such as, group health insurance and pension plan coverage) to gain insight into the relationship between the firm size and employer benefits.
Whom do we ask: We ask this question of everyone whose longest job in 1994 was not with the State or Federal government. We don't ask it of State or Federal government employees (including members of the Armed Forces) because we know for a fact that the number of employees in either the State or the Federal government is more than 1,000.
Fill the category corresponding to the number of persons employed by the person's 1994 longest job employer. If the respondent's initial response is "Don't know," probe by reading the answer categories.
You should make sure the respondent understands that the number we are looking for should cover all employees at all locations operated by the employer:
Example: If Gene worked for a convenience store that is part of a regional chain, we need the total number of employees for the entire chain, not just the number of his fellow employees at the convenience store.
Likewise, the number should include employees from all operating units of the employer's structure.
Example: If the employer had a sales staff of 25, a payroll staff of 15, and an accounting department of 5, you should report the total number of employees as 45, even if they worked at physically different locations.
Longest Job in 1994 is Local Government
For local government employees, consider the highest level of local government as their employer. For example, you should consider a person employed by the circuit court as a local government employee rather than a circuit court employee; therefore, report the total number of county employees in Q4788.
Refer to your CPS Interviewing Manual for more examples of local government employees.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: The "work" definition for this supplement is the same "work" definition used in the labor force interview. The only exception is that, in the supplement, should be reported as work.
Answer Page No.
2. When you get an answer, what should you confirm:
a. In Q32? b) In Q38?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
3. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: In Q33, the number of weeks worked in 1994 is the number of weeks in which the person worked in 1994.
Answer Page No.
4. In Q39, how can you tell the total number of employers for persons (like domestics and odd-job workers) who regularly work for several people throughout the year?
Answer Page No.
5. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statements:
a. In Q46, a person's longest job is:
b. In Q46, a person's longest job is not necessarily:
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
6. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: In Q4788, you should make sure the respondent understands that the number we are looking for should cover employees at locations operated by the employer.
Answer Page No.
The reason for asking the Earned Income items and all subsequent income items in the March supplement is to gauge the economic well-being of the Nation as a whole, and of selected population groups of interest. These data allow us to determine what percentage of the population is in poverty and to monitor any changes in that population over time.
The Earned Income items are concerned with receipt of earned income from wage and salary jobs, own businesses, and farms.
The screen names for the Earned Income items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Whom do we ask: The Earned Income items are asked of all household members 15 years of age and over, including Armed Forces members. If the respondent cannot provide complete and accurate income data for the person about whom the question is asked, obtain the data directly from that person if he/she is available. Otherwise, obtain the best information possible from the respondent and follow up whenever necessary.
Reference period: The Earned Income items refer to calendar year 1994, that is from January to December 1994. Because of the length of the reference period and the difficulty of the subject matter itself, some respondents may need a little extra time to recall some income amounts. Try to be patient and assist the respondent in providing the best possible answer.
Income data versus tax returns: Respondents often ask why can't we obtain the income information from tax returns. We cannot do so for several reasons:
1) Not all income is reported in tax returns. Many persons receive such small amounts of income, that they are not required to file an income tax return. Others receive their income from sources such as Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Supplemental Security Income. These types of income are not taxable and, therefore, not reported on income tax returns.
Collecting income data for persons who do not file tax returns or who receive income from the sources mentioned above is of great importance in measuring the number of persons who live in poverty.
2) Tax returns are not reported on a family basis but on a type of return basis (such as joint return, separate, etc.). For this reason, no information can be compiled for family income, which is the sum of all income received by all family members 15 years old or over.
3) Tax returns do not provide important information on age, race, sex, and occupation. However, such information is regularly collected in the basic CPS.
Reporting income data based on tax forms: Accept answers from an income tax form only if the respondent offers them. Never ask a respondent to use an income tax form. If you report income data based on a person's tax form:
1) Make sure the amounts you enter are for that individual only. Many income tax returns show the combined income of husband and wife. However, for the supplement, you should report income on an individual basis. Also, tell the respondent that many types of income are not taxable, and ask all applicable questions to determine whether the person received any additional money income last year.
2) Make sure you obtain the income data from the right location on the tax form. The following page contains a chart with the income items and their corresponding item location on the 1994 income tax forms (schedules 1040, 1040A, and schedules C, E, and F). Refer to it whenever necessary.
Income Tax Reference for Selected Income Sources
Income Tax
CPS Item Forms
Income Type or Series
Schedule Part Line No.
Wages or Salary 48A (49B) 1040 7
1040A 7
1040EZ 1
Own Business
48B (49B) C 31
Partnership
48B (49B) E II 31
Own Farm
48B (49B) F II 36
Interest
66C 1040 8a and 8b
1040A 8a and 8b
1040EZ 2
Dividends
67C 1040 9
1040A 9
Rents
68C E I 26
Estates and
Trusts 61C (08) or E III 36
68C
Royalties 68C
E I 26
Pensions 61C, 64C
or 65C 1040 15a & 16a 10a
& 11a
1040A
Alimony 71C
1040 11
Social Security
56C
Unemployment 1040 20a
Compensation 1040A 13a
52B
1040 19
1040A 12
NOTE: Wages and salaries also appear on Form W-02 (Withholding Tax Statement) under "Total Wages Paid in 1994."
Annual totals: Be sure the dollar entries in the income items represent the total amount received during calendar year 1994 for the particular source of income.
For the earnings series only, if the respondent can give you only a weekly, biweekly (every two weeks), twice monthly or monthly amount, first enter the dollar amount and then enter the appropriate precode for the time period. Then you will find out the number of (weekly/bi-weekly/twice monthly/monthly) pay periods during which the respondent received earnings in 1994. The computer will calculate the total amount if you enter subannual income amounts (weekly, monthly, etc.). If the annual total appears out of range the instrument will display the amount and ask you if this is a correct entry. If the calculations appear to be correct you will verify this calculated annual amount with the respondent.
Estimates: In some cases, the respondent may not be able to give you an exact or complete answer to a given question. If the exact or complete answer is not known or is unavailable ask the respondent to make an estimate. Estimates not only include estimations of dollar amounts, but include estimation of the Yes/No entries as well, such as income screener items.
Nonresponse: During the interview, if a respondent cannot estimate either the sources or the amount, enter precode <D> for "don't know."
You have "D" (don't know) entries for items in a series used to calculate yearly totals such as periodicity (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.), number of weeks worked and the amount per week which are "must" income items. You are only required to convert "D" (don't know) entries for "must" income items. You will know when you have a "D" in a "must" income item, because the instrument will automatically force you to schedule a callback.
The "must" income items and series in the March instrument are:
Respondent unwilling to answer: If respondents are reluctant to give income information, use the following explanations. A summary of these explanations is available during the interview by using function key F12. You will proceed to item "Purpose" where you may display information on confidentiality by entering precode <5>, or information on the importance of the data and the reasons why income tax returns are not enough by entering precode <M>.
(1) Stress confidentiality
If the respondent fears the income data will be disclosed, explain that you and all other Census employees are sworn to keep the answers confidential. The law provides heavy penalties of imprisonment and fine for disclosures. Not even agents of the FBI or the Internal Revenue Service can look at the Census records for purposes of investigation.
(2) Explain why tax returns alone are not enough
If the respondent does not understand why all of the income data cannot be obtained from Federal income tax returns, explain that income data given in returns cannot be used to meet our statistical needs because not all people are required to file returns. In addition, certain types of income such as worker's compensation, unemployment compensation, public assistance, and Social Security are not always taxable and therefore are not reported on tax forms. Also, the returns do not show age, educational attainment, and other items needed to understand differences in income.
(3) Explain need for data
If the respondent questions the need for the data, explain that the answers to these questions are needed by the government to help measure changing economic conditions, and by businesses in order to prepare future production plans and programs. The income data obtained are also used to help examine the effectiveness of government programs such as Social Security, unemployment compensation, and Veterans' benefits.
Refusals: Make every effort to obtain the desired information. However, if a respondent still refuses to answer a question after all efforts to obtain a response have been exhausted, enter precode <R> for "Refused." Even though the respondent refuses to give the amount received from a source but has indicated that the source was received, be sure to enter "Yes" when appropriate.
Income received by children (persons under 15): The income of children is generally not included unless it is received by an adult on behalf of the children or it is received jointly with an adult as in the case of interest from savings accounts.
There are four basic types of earnings:
(1) Wage and salary income: Wage or salary income is the money earned by a person working at a job.
It is the gross income or that amount before any deductions for withholding tax, Social Security, union dues, bonds, savings accounts, loan payments, health insurance, uniforms, etc.
Respondents will often report their "takehome" pay, that is, wages or salary minus deductions. If the respondent knows only the amount of "takehome" pay, itemize the deductions in order to get an estimate of total wage or salary income before deductions. Certain special types of wage or salary income are described below.
When computing total wage or salary income from a job also include the following items if they were received as part of the pay from that job:
Piecerate payments
Money received for work done at a specified amount per piece or quantity. Piecerate payments are very important in many manufacturing jobs, such as food packing, and in some jobs in the garment industry.
Commissions
Money received by a person for transacting business for another person or corporation. In some occupations, such as sales clerks, truck drivers, launderers, etc., commissions may constitute a large portion of wages or salary.
Tips
Payments received, as supplements to wages, for services rendered to the customer. For some occupations such as waiters and waitresses, bellhops, barbers, taxicab drivers, etc., tips may constitute a large part of the person's income.
Nonmilitary bonuses
Count payments made by employers to employees as supplements to wages and salaries; for example, bonuses for services on the basis of a percentage of the profits and cash "Christmas gifts" from employers to employees.
Armed Forces and National Guard or Reserve pay
Count money received as payment for service in the Armed Forces as wage or salary income. It includes base pay plus cash housing and/or subsistence allowance (but not the value of rentfree quarters), incentive pay such as flight pay, and uniform allotments.
Do not deduct dependency allotments in computing annual wage or salary income. Count payments received for training periods in the National Guard or in military reserve units.
Wages for baby-sitting or mowing lawns
Count money received for baby-sitting in other persons' homes or mowing lawns for other persons. Money earned in one's own home for baby-sitting is considered income from a non-farm business.
Assistantships and Teaching Fellowships
Count the money that graduate students receive for teaching parttime or working parttime for a college or university as wages and salaries; i.e., a student who teaches one class a day to receive a stipend while doing graduate study. (There are some fellowships that graduate students receive for which they do not have to work. These should not be included as wage or salary income and are covered elsewhere in the interview.)
Sick pay
Include sick pay (continued payment of wages by the employer while the employee is not at work because of illness) as wages or salary. This includes sick pay paid by the person's employer or union. Do not include in wages or salary money paid by "income protection" plans purchased by the employee.
Jury duty
Pay received for participating on a jury is considered wages or salary. Also, remember that weeks spent at jury duty are considered work.
Director's fees
Pay to persons for being a member of the board of directors for a corporation is wage or salary income.
Earnings for on the job training
Pay received from a private organization for onthejob training under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) is considered wages or salary.
Income earned in a foreign country
Income earned in a foreign country should be included as wage and salary income. If the amount is reported in a currency other than United States dollars:
NOTE: In your March training session, you will go over in detail the use of the F7 notes to record estimated amounts for which you intend to do followup at a later time.
For persons living in the United States employed by a foreign country or business, include their income even if it is not received directly in the United States. Include pay for subsistence and housing as income.
(2) Income from incorporated business: Any income received from an incorporated business is considered wage or salary income. Even if someone is the sole employee of a corporation, it is the corporation that makes the profit or loss, not the person.
(3) Income from non-incorporated, own non-farm business: Income from own non-farm business, partnership, or professional practice is the net income received by a person from the operation of her/his own unincorporated non-farm business. In the case of a partnership, income from own non-farm unincorporated business is the share of net income a person receives as a partner.
Unincorporated non-farm businesses may vary from a home baby-sitting service to a large factory. Many doctors', dentists', and lawyers' practices are unincorporated businesses. Some doctors, dentists, and lawyers, however, have incorporated their practices. Income received from working for an incorporated business, even though the person may own the business, is considered income from wages or salaries.
Net income only
Income from own non-farm business includes only the net income received from the operation of a non-farm business, professional practice, or partnership last year. To get net income, subtract business expenses from the total (gross) money receipts if such information is offered.
Total (gross) money receipts
Total (gross) money receipts include all money received from goods sold or services rendered. Also include the value of any net inventory increase. This would include any net increase in the amount of inventory and any net increase in the market value of inventory due to appreciation in the previous year.
If a person received net income from a partnership, include only his/her share of such income.
Business expenses include:
Business expenses do not include:
(4) Income from "Own Farm": Income from "own farm" is the net income a person received as a direct result of:
Do not include income which is received for renting land to others as income from own farm unless the rent is received as a share in profits from the farm products. Rental income received as cash is covered elsewhere in the interview. However, do include the net income a person receives for the use of his/her equipment and labor for custom farm work, such as threshing and combining. If the person owned and operated a farm and also did custom farm work, consider the total net amount he/she received for both as farm income.
Example: The only income Jack received from his farm was the cash rent paid by Tom who operated the farm entirely on his own. In this example, don't consider Jack as a recipient of farm income. Tom's income is farm income. Jack's income is considered rental income covered elsewhere in the interview.
Example: If Jack received a percentage of the profits (or shared in the losses) from the farm he rented to Tom, in addition to cash rent, these profits are considered farm income for Jack. This percentage of profits is considered a business expense and deducted from Tom's farm income.
Example: Farmer Walter sold several bulls he raised. Determine the expense in raising the bulls, calculate the net profit or loss and count the resulting amount as farm income.
(a) Net farm income: When a farmer does not know how much net income he/she received from operating a farm, help him/her estimate. To estimate, calculate total money receipts and farm operating expenses. Subtract farm operating expenses from total money receipts to obtain net farm income.
(b) Total money receipts include:
1) the sale of farm products, forest products, and nursery or greenhouse products, 2) participation in government farm programs such as payment for natural crop disasters, price supports, subsidy for not growing certain crops, or incentive payments. 3) net income from custom farm work 4) net income form recreational services provided by the farmer such as proceeds from hunting, fishing, or camping, and 5) commodity credit loans which were not repaid in 1994.
Do not include in total money receipts income from the sale of land, buildings, or machinery. Also exclude the value of food, fuel, or other farm products produced and used on the farm.
(c) Farm operating expenses include:
(d) Sharecroppers and tenant farmers: Sharecroppers and tenant farmers live on farm land owned by a landlord. Many types of arrangements can be made between the landlord and the farmer by which the landlord and farmer receives payment for his/her work.
Example: Landlord Brown receives a specified share of farmer Smith's crop.
In this example:
Special classifications of earnings types: The following sources of income may be mentioned when you are asking the Earned Income items:
(1) "Salaries" which owners of business pay themselves: Include "salaries" which some owners of unincorporated businesses pay themselves as income from own business or farm.
(2) Pay "in kind": While work for pay "in kind" is considered work for purposes of basic CPS items WK, ABS, and BUS1 and for the work experience items, do not count any pay "in kind" (food, lodging, etc.,) as earned income even though received as payment for work performed.
(3) Expense accounts: Do not count expense accounts as earned income. An expense account is the amount paid to an employee for the purpose of meeting expenses incurred in carrying out his/her job. Do not count a person's expense account even if the person receives the same amount each month.
(4) Custom Work: Pay for custom work which one farmer does for another on a farm should be included as income from own farm.
Changes from last year: We discovered that last year subannual income amounts (weekly, monthly, etc.) were inadvertently entered as annual amounts for many of the income items. Also, keying errors, such as not entering enough zeros, were also discovered. In an attempt to prevent these errors from occuring, we have changed manner in which we ask some of the income items. In addition, we have added internal income-range checks within the instrument that will cause a verification screen to appear if a reported income seems out of range.
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE EARNED INCOME ITEMS:
>S-Q48a through Q48aad series< Wages Series
How to record: It is important that you record only the amount received from the employer worked for the longest period of time as identified in item Q46.
Since these questions immediately follows item Q46 or Q47a-Q47E1c (longest job), no leadin is required. Item S-Q48a refers to the longest job as identified in item Q46. That is, item S-Q48a or Q48b always refers to the longest job held during 1994, including cases where a respondent's longest employment in 1994 was in the Armed Forces. If a person's longest job is recorded as unincorporated selfemployed, question Q48b will be asked instead of S-Q48a.
The "S" in front of Q48a means screen. On the S-Q48a screen there is another item Q48ap. This just lets you know that there are two questions on the screen.
>S-Q48a< Earnings and periodicity
Read the first item on the screen which is S-Q48a to get the total earnings.
Then ask the second item (Q48ap), periodicity, what time period this total represents (for example, weekly, bi-weekly, twice monthly, monthly or yearly amount.)
If the second item is <5> "Yearly" the instrument will check the amount you give and if the amount is within an acceptable range the instrument will go to Q48a3, otherwise it will go to Q48aC2 for you to check the amount you entered.
If the second item is <1> through <4> the instrument will goto Q48a1 to get the number of (weekly/bi-weekly/twice monthly/monthly) pay periods the person earned the amount in S-Q48a in 1994.
>Q48a1< How many (weekly/bi-weekly/twice monthly/monthly
Enter the number of weeks, bi-weeks, twice monthly or monthly that the respondent received his/her earnings. This item is used to calculate annual earnings for 1994.
>Q48aC2< FR Check
Do not read this item to the respondent. This item is to check that you entered the correct yearly amount in S-Q48a. If you discover you have incorrectly keyed the amount, enter <2> No, then the instrument will goto S-Q48a for you to enter the correct annual amount. If the entry is correct, enter <1> Yes, then the instrument will goto Q48a3.
>Q48aV< Verifying amount
This item is another check to make sure that respondent has given you the correct information. If this amount is correct, enter <1> then the instrument will go to Q48a3. If this amount is incorrect, enter <2> then the instrument will go to Q48a2.
>Q48a2< Best estimate
This is the final attempt to obtain the respondents best estimate of their earnings during 1994. This item will display the previous entries.
>Q48a3< Include tips, bonuses, or overtime pay
This item is intended to determine whether the person received any tips, bonuses, overtime, or commissions in addition to the income already reported in S-Q48a.
If you receive a "Yes" response to this item, you will proceed with Q48b. If the response is "No," the instrument will goto Q48aad.
>Q48aad< Amount of tips, bonuses, or overtime pay
Enter the amount of tips, bonuses, overtime pay or commissions not reported in S-Q48a.
>Q48b and Q48BLO< Net earnings from business/farm and money lost
How to record: It is important that you record only the amount received from the business worked for the longest period of time as identified in item Q46.
Note: In Q48b, for amounts $1,000,000 and over, enter $999,999. In Q48BLO, for amounts $10,000 and over, enter $9,999.
Net loss: If there was a net loss from a farm, business enterprise, or professional practice in item Q48b enter precode <L>lost money and enter the amount lost in item Q48BLO.
Broke even or no profit: Enter <1> in item Q48b if the person reports that he/she just "broke even," "didn't make a cent," or made "nothing" in the business or professional practice; that is, his/her receipts just balanced his/her business expenses.
>Q48c< Include all tips, bonuses, overtime pay, or commissions
This item is intended to determine whether the person received any tips, bonuses, overtime, or commissions in addition to the income already reported in Q48b.
If you receive a "Yes" response to this item, you will proceed with Q49a series. If the response is "No," you will revise the earnings in Q48b to include the additional income received. Enter precode <2> for "No." The instrument will back you to Q48b; enter F6 to change the answer and enter the revised amount.
>Q49a< Earned income from any other employers
This question is intended to cover income earned during 1994 from all other jobs, businesses, or farms. Be sure to include any small amounts received from odd jobs, small businesses or hobbies or small amounts from the occasional sale of farm products. Also include reserve pay, director's fees, pay for jury duty, and baby-sitting money earned in addition to earnings from the longest job.
If you receive a "Yes" reply to this item, you will ask S-Q49B1 through Q49B3 series, otherwise, with an entry of "No", you will skip to Q50a.
>S-Q49B1
through Q49B1ad series< All Other Employers Series
How to ask: It is important to record all income earned during 1994 from all other jobs not report in S-Q48a series. Wages or salaries are to be classified under earnings from other employers.
See S-Q48a through Q48aad, pages 71-73, series for instructions.
>Q49B2< Other Earnings from own business
How to record: Self-employment income is to be classified under own business after expenses. Include even small amounts of selfemployment income. It is important that you record only the amount received from the business worked for the longest period of time as identified in item Q46.
Note: In Q49B2, for amounts $1,000,000 and over, enter $999,999. For a loss, for amounts $10,000 and over, enter $9,999.
Net loss: If there was a net loss from a business enterprise or professional practice enter precode <L>lost money one the first line and enter the amount lost on the second line.
Broke even or no profit: Enter <1> in item Q49B2 if the person reports that he/she just "broke even," "didn't make a cent," or made "nothing" in the business or professional practice; that is, his/her receipts just balanced his/her business expenses.
If the answer is none, enter precode <X> and the instrument will take you to Q49B3. Otherwise, if the respondent gives an amount, enter that amount.
>Q49B3< Other Earnings from farm
How to record: Farm income is to be classified under farm after expenses. Again, count even small amounts received from the sales of farm produce, livestock, etc.
Note: In Q49B3, for amounts $1,000,000 and over, enter $999,999. For a loss, for amounts $10,000 and over, enter $9,999.
Net loss: If there was a net loss from a business enterprise or professional practice enter precode <L>lost money on the first line and enter the amount lost on the second line.
Broke even or no profit: Enter <1> in item Q49B3 if the person reports that he/she just "broke even," "didn't make a cent," or made "nothing" in the farm produce, livestock, etc.; that is, his/her receipts just balanced his/her farm expenses.
If the answer is none, enter precode <X> and the instrument will take you to CHK50A. Otherwise, if the respondent gives an amount, enter that amount.
>CHK50A< Interviewer Check Item
A person's longest job in 1994 as recorded in IONMP or Q46 will be displayed. If there is an entry of farmer in "Business," enter precode <l> for "Yes," you will then ask Q50b. Otherwise, enter precode <2> for "No" to skip to Q5lA1. Do not read this question to the respondent.
>Q50b and Q50b-add< Other income from agricultural work
This question is intended to pick up any income that the farm owner may have overlooked when answering items Q48b and Q49B3. The income reported in items Q48b and Q49B1-Q49B3, if any, are displayed on the screen. Emphasize "other than the farm income we have already talked about," in case the farm owner had already included it in his/her prior responses.
If the person responds "Yes," enter precode <1> and record in Q50badd the amount not previously reported.
Note: In Q50b-add, for amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. If the respondent asks why we can't obtain the income information from tax returns, what three reasons would you give?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
2. In the March instrument, you can access a "Help" screen to help you convince reluctant respondents to provide income data. How do you access this screen?
Answer Page No.
3. The only times you can report a child's income are:
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
4. What are the four basic types of earnings?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
d.
5. In addition to their basic wage and salary income, some persons receive other types of income which you should include when you report earnings in S-Q48a. Give three examples of these "other" types of income:
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
6. When you report a person's income from his/her own business or farm in Q48b, which should you report: gross or net income?
Answer Page No.
E. Unemployment & Worker's Compensation
From the Unemployment items forward, the supplement interview will be concerned with income other than earnings. Unless otherwise specified, the "reference period" and "whom do we ask" information will be the same from this point forward as that provided for the Earned Income items.
The screen names for the Unemployment and Worker's Compensation items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Changes from last year: We discovered that last year subannual income amounts (weekly, monthly, etc.) were inadvertently entered as annual amounts for many of the income items. Also, keying errors, such as not entering enough zeros, were also discovered. In an attempt to prevent these errors from occurring, we have changed the manner in which we ask some of the income items. In addition, we have added internal income-range checks within the instrument that will cause a verification screen to appear if a reported income seems out of range.
This year to help prevent these errors we have revised some of the income other than earnings items. For these income other than earnings we have added more questions and created a series for these income types. The new series for unemployment are Employee Benefits (Q51A1 through Q51A14), Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (Q51A2 through Q51A24) and Union Unemployment or Strike Benefits (Q51A3 through Q51A34). The new series for worker's compensation is Q52a through Q52c4.
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE STATE OR FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION SERIES:
For the specific wording of the items see pages 14-18 of the March 1995 Items Booklet.
What to include: Unemployment Compensation includes any money received in 1994 from:
Supplemental unemployment benefits may have been a significant portion of the income received by some workers who were on layoff in 1994. These benefits are taxable and persons receiving them will receive a separate W2 form showing the amount received in 1994. Supplemental unemployment benefits are paid to persons by a private company (either directly or indirectly) and are received in addition to State unemployment benefits.
Also include money received as incentive payments for work related expenses by persons undergoing classroom training provided for by the JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act) which provides training for persons receiving welfare payments under Aid to Families with Dependent Children. This money and training will have been provided through the State or local government.
What to exclude: Exclude earnings received from a private organization for on-the-job training sponsored under the JTPA. Count these earnings as wages and salary income.
>Q51A1 through Q51A14 Series< Employee Benefits Series
>Q51A2 through Q51A24 Series< Supplemental Unemployment Benefits
>Q51A3 through Q51A34 Series< Union Unemployment or Strike Benefits
How to ask series:
The first item in the series determines whether anyone in the household has received Unemployment benefits in 1994. If someone has received benefits the instrument will continue in the series. If no one has received benefits the instrument will go to the next series or Q52a.
The second item is asked to find out what is the easiest time period for the person to report receiving benefits. The five types of time periods are: weekly, bi-weekly, twice monthly, monthly or yearly.
For the third item it is important that you record the amount received from benefits for 1994.
For the fourth item, if the person chooses "yearly" in the second item and the instrument determines that the amount is out of range this check item will appear. This item is for you to make sure you entered the correct annual amount. Do NOT read this item to the respondent. If the amount is correct the instrument will go to the next question.
The fifth item is used to determine how many weeks, bi-weeks, twice monthly or monthly periods that the person received benefits. This item is used to calculate annual benefit payments for 1994.
The sixth item is a verification item of the amount that the computer calculated from the numbers you entered in previous items. Read this item as written. If this computed amount is correct, the instrument will go to the next series or Q52a. If this amount is not correct, the instrument will go to the final item in the series.
The seventh item is the final attempt to obtain the person's best estimate of benefit payments during 1994. After obtaining this amount the instrument will go to the next series or Q52a.
>Q52a and Q52b< Receive Worker's Compensation and source of payments
Item Q52a is used to determine which persons received compensation for injuries or illnesses sustained on the job. If the answer is "no" the instrument will goto Q56a. If the answer is "yes", then you will ask Q52b. Item Q52b is used to find out the source of these payments. The possible sources are State worker's compensation, employer or employer's insurance, own insurance or Other.
Be sure the respondent understands that you are asking about income received as a result of jobrelated injuries or illnesses.
What to include: Such compensation payments include periodic money payments made to workers who are injured on the job. Compensation checks may come from the State, private insurance companies, or from private businesses who insure their own workers.
State Worker's Compensation:
Enter precode <1> in item Q52b, if the compensation checks are received from the State.
Employer or Employer's Insurance:
Many large businesses and corporations insure their workers against loss of earnings due to a job related illness or injury. If the respondent received income from his/her employer (other than paid sick leave) or from his/her employer's insurance company as compensation for a job related injury or illness, enter precode <2>.
Own insurance:
Some persons may have purchased some type of accident insurance which maintains their income while they are sick, injured, or disabled and unable to work. Enter precode <3> for these cases.
Other:
Enter <4> for any other payments received due to a job related injury or illness.
What to exclude: Exclude "sick pay" (continued payment of wages by the employer while the employee is not at work because of illness); include this as "Wage or salary" income.
>Q52cp-Q52c4 Series< Worker's Compensation Series
See Q51A1-Q51A14 Series, pages 80-81, - "How to ask series" items 2 through 7 only for instructions.
The screen names for the Social Security items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
How to ask: You will start with the household screening item Q56a, and depending upon the response, continue with Q56bQ56i5 or with Q57a.
What to include: The U.S. Government pays Social Security to:
The worker must have contributed to the Social Security fund for the required number of years.
Some persons receiving Social Security checks will have already had the premiums for Medicare (health insurance) deducted from these checks. You should INCLUDE the amount of these deducted health insurance premiums as income. During 1994 these deductions amounted to $41.10 per month per person. During 1995 these deductions amounted to $46.10 per month per person.
Rainbow colored checks: Social Security checks are rainbow colored checks from the U.S. Treasury which usually arrive on the third day of the month. Social Security checks arrive in a gold colored envelope.
NOTE: A recipient may choose to have the check "direct deposited" into his/her checking or savings account.
Exclude Supplemental Security Income and reimbursement for medical bills: Under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program the Federal government makes monthly payments to the aged, disabled, and blind who qualify. Although the Social Security Administration administers the program, payments made under SSI are not included as Social Security income and these payments are covered in the next series of questions in the interview. Do not include as Social Security income any money received as a direct reimbursement for medical bills paid under the Medicare program. Persons filing for reimbursements will be receiving checks from private health insurance "carriers" and not the U.S. Government.
Joint Payments: Social Security payments can be received by one person or joint payments can be received by a husband and wife or by groups of dependent children. Some married couples receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement (retirement or disability benefits) receive a joint amount in a single check. Also, in the case of dependent children, an adult in the household can be designated as the "payee" for the children's benefits and the monthly Social Security check is made out to the parent (or guardian) of the children. In these instances, if the respondent can tell you how much is for each member, report these amounts separately for husband and wife or children 15 years or older.
Only in the cases where the respondent cannot separate the amounts received by each, report the total amount for one recipient and enter precode <A> for "already included" in the other recipient(s) question Q56d or Q56i. (Follow this general procedure also for other joint receipts in the remaining income items.)
1099 Forms: Since Social Security income is now taxable in some cases, all recipients receive 1099 forms summarizing the annual amount received from this income. Some respondents may refer to these forms in reporting the annual amount received.
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SOCIAL SECURITY ITEMS:
>Q56aQ56b< Anyone receive Social Security payments and who
Enter "Yes" in Q56a if:
Item Q56a requires one "Yes" or "No" entry for the household. If the respondent answers "No" to Q56a, you skip to item Q57a. If the respondent answers "Yes" to Q56a, you will ask Q56b unless it is a oneperson household, in which case you will continue with Q56dp.
Enter the line number in Q56b for all persons or guardians who received Social Security payments during 1994. Order is not important, but in the case of a guardian receiving the payment for the child, enter the guardian's line number. Enter precode <N> "No More" when all applicable line numbers have been entered.
>Q56dp-Q56d6 Series< "Social Security Series"
How to ask series
The first item in the series is to find out what is the easiest time period for the person to report receiving payments. The three types of time periods are: monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
In the second item enter the amount received rounded to the nearest dollar. In cases of combined payments, ask the respondent if he/she knows how much of the combined payment was for each member. If the respondent knows the separate amounts, record them separately. If the respondent cannot separate the amounts, record the total amount under the first person, and enter precode <A> "already included" for the subsequent person who received the joint payments.
If the respondent can only give you his/her current (1995) monthly payment, enter <D> in Q56d. This will take you to Q56d1, where you can enter the current (1995) monthly amount. Otherwise the instrument will go to Q56d2.
The third item asks for the monthly amount received for February 1995. You will only ask this question if the person cannot give you the amount received for 1994. We will use this amount to calculate social security amount for 1994.
Entering the amount received for the most recent (1995) month: If a person cannot give you his/her yearly Social Security amount for 1994, the instrument can calculate it based on the most recent 1995 check. You may enter the Social Security amount received for the most recent 1995 month if, and only if, all four of the following conditions are met:
The fourth item is used to determine how many months or quarters that the person received social security. This item is also used to calculate social security for 1994.
The fifth item was designed to determine whether the amount collected in either Q56d or Q56d1 includes medicare deduction or not. We will use this item to calculate the amount of social security received in 1994. [The deduction per month for 1994 is $41.10 and $46.10 for 1995. The decimal point may not be on the screen. If not, it will look like this 41 10.]
The sixth item was designed to determine whether the cost of living increase is the only change during 1994. If the answer is "yes" the instrument will calculate the total dollars received altogether from social security in 1994. If the answer is "no" the instrument will go to Q56d6 to find out the best estimate. [The cost of living adjustment factor is .972. The decimal point may not be on the screen. If not, it will look like this 972.]
The seventh item is a check for you to make sure the entries you keyed are correct. This item only comes up if you enter yearly in first item above. Do not read this item to the respondent. If you discover you have incorrectly keyed the amount, enter <2> No, then the instrument will go to Q56d for you to enter the correct annual amount. If the entry is correct, enter <1> Yes, then the instrument will go to Q56f and accept the entry you made.
The eighth item is another check to make sure that respondent has given you the correct information. This item you do read to the respondent. If this amount is correct, enter <1> then the instrument will go to Q56f. If this amount is incorrect, enter <2> then the instrument will go to Q56d6.
The ninth item is the final attempt to obtain the respondents best estimate of social security received during 1994. This item will display the previous entries for you to verify.
If you notice a typo in the previous entries, press F1 and go back to the entry or entries with the typos and correct. If it will help the respondent to give you their best estimate read the previous entries. The important thing here is to get the best estimate using whatever means available. If you have to use a paper and pencil or calculator to figure out the respondents best estimate.
>Q56fQ56g< Anyone receive Social Security payments for children not already mentioned and who
If there are children under 23 in the household, we will ask item Q56f. If the response to item Q56f is "Yes" find out which person received payments on behalf of the children, and enter their line number in item Q56g. If the respondent has already given you all this information in Q56a and Q56b, enter a "No" in Q56f. This question is asked to make sure the respondent has not forgotten about a child. If the respondent or you are not sure if a child's information was included, enter <H> for Help and social security previously reported screen will appear.
Enter the line number in Q56g for child or guardians who received Social Security payments during 1994. Order is not important, but in the case of a guardian receiving the payment for the child, enter the guardian's line number. Enter precode <N> "No More" when all applicable line numbers have been entered.
>Q56ip through Q56i5 Series< Social Security for Children Series
See Q56dp-Q56d6 Series, pages 85-87, - "How to ask series" for instructions. The instrument will not have item number five (medicare deduction) for Social Security for Children.
G. Supplemental Security Income
The screen names for the Supplemental Security items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
What to include: The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which is administered by the Social Security Administration, makes assistance payments to low-income persons who are blind, disabled and 65 years or older. Depending on the requirements set up by each State, a person may receive:
Most SSI recipients receive one monthly SSI check from the Federal Government. Federal SSI Checks arrive on the first of the month in a blue envelope.
Some States elected to have the U.S. Government include their supplementary amount in the Federal check. If this is the case, the words
"STATE PAYMENT INCLUDED"
will appear on the rainbow colored SSI check from the Federal government. Supplemental Security Income from both the State and U.S. government refers only to cases when a separate check is received.
States which administer their own supplementary payments will be issuing checks which vary from state to state and even county to county as to color and wording. These checks, which will be paid by the State or local welfare office, will NOT have the words "Supplemental Security Income" printed on them.
To identify SSI payments, determine the reason the check is being received. SSI checks are received by low-income persons who are either 1) aged (65 years old or over), 2) blind, or 3) disabled. If a person received a payment from the State or local welfare office for one of these reasons include this amount as "State or Local Government" SSI payments.
Not Social Security: Remember, even though the Social Security Administration administers the SSI program, the amounts received in SSI checks must NOT be included as Social Security. The money for these programs comes from two distinct sources and, if eligible for both, people can get SSI in addition to Social Security. The key to distinguishing these two different sources of income is the color of the envelope they arrive in and day of arrival of the monthly check. Federal SSI payment envelopes are blue colored, while Social Security envelopes are gold colored. In addition, while Social Security checks arrive regularly on the third day of each month, Federal SSI checks arrive regularly on the first of each month.
Married couples receive separate checks: If a husband and wife are individually eligible to receive SSI payments, each will receive a separate check. Make sure to report the husband's payment and the wife's payment in their respective items.
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME ITEMS:
>Q57a and Q57b< Anyone receive SSI payments and who
Include both Federal and State SSI payments here. Item Q57a requires one "Yes" or "No" response for the household. Item Q57b will be asked when you receive a "Yes" response to Q57a. Enter the line number in Q57b for all persons who received SSI payments. Be certain to ask "anyone else?" to ensure that all recipients in the household are accounted for. Enter <N> when all applicable line numbers have been entered.
>Q57cp through Q57c5 Series< Supplemental Security Income Series
See Q56dp-Q56d6 Series, pages 86-88, - "How to ask series" for instructions. The instrument will not have item number five (medicare deduction) for Suplemental Security Income.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. Give the following information about Supplemental Unemployment Benefits:
a) What are they?
b) Are they received in addition to State unemployment benefits?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
2. When you report payments received as a result of a job-related injury or illness in Q52a through Q52c:
a) Should you include sick pay?
b) Why or why not?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
3. A good way of distinguishing between SSI checks and Social Security checks is by the color of the envelopes in which they are mailed and by the date in which the checks arrive:
a. SSI checks are mailed in what color envelopes?
b. SSI checks arrive on what day each month?
c. Social Security checks are mailed in what color envelopes?
d. Social Security checks arrive on what day each month?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Whom do we ask: We ask the public assistance questions only in households whose entry for family income is under $50,000, blank, or refused.
The screen names for the Public Assistance items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
What to include: Include as public assistance or welfare payments, money received from the State or local welfare office under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program (AFDC, ADC) or other assistance programs such as:
1) general assistance, general relief,
2) emergency assistance,
3) Cuban/Haitian or other refugee assistance,
4) Indian Assistance (on reservations or Indian land)
5) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program
Include the entire amount of public assistance benefits as income for the person to whom the checks were made out even though a part or all of the amount is for dependent children.
What to exclude: Exclude regular payments received by the aged, blind or disabled persons from the State or local welfare office. This should have been reported as State or local SSI payments. Exclude food stamps, clothing, or other non-monetary receipts. Exclude from public assistance, money received in the form of scholarships from Federal, State, or local public programs. Also exclude from public assistance, aid received through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Aid received through LIHEAP should be entered in supplement items Q93 to Q94.
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE OR WELFARE PAYMENT ITEMS:
>Q59A88 and Q59b88<: Anyone receive public assistance or welfare payments and who
Enter "Yes" in Q59A88 if any household member received public assistance or welfare payments either for themselves, or as a representative payee for payments made to children under 15.
If the respondent answers "Yes" to Q59A88, you will ask Q59b88 unless it is a one person household, in which case you will continue with Q59C88. Enter the line number in Q59b88 for all persons who received public assistance or welfare payments during 1994. Probe by asking "Anyone else" until no more persons received payments. Then enter precode <N> and continue with Q59C88.
If no one in the household received public assistance during 1994, enter "No" in Q59A88 and ask Q60A88.
>Q59C88< Type of assistance payments
Item Q59C88 is designed to isolate AFDC recipients. You will ask this question for each line number you entered in Q59b88. Unless the respondent gives you a clear-cut answer here, you may have to probe to determine what type of assistance was received.
The largest welfare program is the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program which makes payments to low-income families with children. AFDC is a Federal program that is administered by the State or local government. Need is based upon:
If AFDC is received for a child, the child must be under 18, or age 18 and in school.
General Assistance or General Relief
General Assistance programs are State and local programs that provide cash assistance to persons:
State and local General Assistance programs are generally more limited in regard to the duration and amount paid than the federally-aided assistance programs.
General Assistance programs are often called by names other than "General Assistance." Following is a partial list of the names used by some States for programs that should be considered General Assistance:
General Assistance should not be confused with Emergency Assistance, which provides temporary aid for 1 month of a 12-month period.
Localities in some of the States may use titles other than those which the State agency uses. Such names are:
It is impossible to give a full listing of the names for all States and localities because they are often changed.
Indian Assistance Program
There are a number of income-assistance programs for the native American Indians which are administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. To be eligible for these programs, a person must:
There are some minor exceptions to this rule in Oklahoma and Alaska.
Cuban/Haitian or Other Refugee Assistance
There are several income assistance programs for persons who are refugees from foreign countries, primarily Cuba, Haiti, and Southeast Asia. An individual can receive cash assistance based on income eligibility for up to 18 months after entry into the country. Further, an individual can receive AFDC for up to 3 years, with the Federal government reimbursing the local government for the cost of the support.
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) is a public assistance program for mothers and their babies which provide cash assistance in addition to baby supplies and food.
>Q59ep-Q59e4 Series< "Public Assistance or Welfare Payments Series"
How to ask series
The first item is to find out what is the easiest time period for the person to report receiving payments. The time periods vary with each series. The five different types of time periods are: weekly, bi-weekly, twice monthly, monthly, or yearly).
For the second item it is important that you record the amount received from payments for 1994.
The third item is used to determine how many (time period type) that the person received payments. This item is used to calculate payments for 1994.
For the fourth item, if the person chooses "yearly" in the second item and the instrument determines that the amount is out of range this check item will appear. This item is for you to make sure you entered the correct annual amount. Do NOT read this item to the respondent. If the amount is correct the instrument will go to the next question.
The fifth item is a verification item of the amount that the computer calculated from the numbers you entered in previous items. Read this item as written. If this computed amount is correct the instrument will go out of the series to the next item. If this amount is not correct, the instrument will go to the final item in the series.
The sixth item is the final attempt to obtain the person's best estimate of payments received during 1994. This item will display the previous entries for you to verify.
If you notice a typo in the previous entries, press F1 and go back to the entry or entries with the typos and correct. If it will help the respondent to give you their best estimate read the previous entries. The important thing here is to get the best estimate using whatever means available. If you have to use a paper and pencil or calculator to figure out the respondents best estimate.
The screen names for the Veteran's Payments (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
How to ask: You will read the lead-in phrase (At any time during 1994 did you receive: ) only if the answer to the previous question was "Yes." Otherwise, the question will read "Any Veterans' (VA) payments?"
ITEM-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE VETERANS' ITEMS:
>Q60A88< and Q60b88< Anyone receive Veterans' (VA) payments and who
The Department of Veterans' Affairs, formerly called the Veterans' Administration, is still referred to as the VA. The VA administers several types of payment programs that are made available to veterans AND their dependents.
Enter "Yes" in Q60A88 if any household member received payments from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. If so, you will ask who received the payments in Q60b88, unless it is a one person household, in which case you will continue with Q60c88. Enter the line numbers in Q60b88 and ask "Anyone else" until you receive a "No" answer. Then enter precode <N> and continue with Q60c88.
If no one in the household received VA payments, enter "No" in Q60A88 and ask Q58a.
>Q60c88< Type of Veterans' payments
How to ask: Read the question and wait for a response. Do not read the list of veterans' payment types unless you feel the respondent is having difficulty answering the questions. Continue asking "Anything else" until you receive a "No" answer. Then enter precode <N> and continue with Q60D88.
Types of payments: A brief description of the types of veterans' payments follows:
>Q60D88< Fill out an annual income questionnaire
Certain VA benefits are only payable to veterans (or spouses of veterans) with low incomes. The purpose of this question is to separate the low-income veterans' programs from the other types of VA programs. All low-income VA programs require recipients to fill out an annual income questionnaire.
>Q60e88 through Q60e-88cal< Amount received during 1994
This item should include the entire amount received from all sources. If the respondent receives payment from more than one source and gives you each payment, enter precode <C> in Q60e88 and enter the payment received from each source in Q60e88 cal. If there was no payment from a source, enter precode <X>.
Note: For amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. In the spaces below, write the answers that correctly complete the following statement: The Public Assistance items are asked only in households where the family income entry is: a) , b) , and c) .
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
2. The AFDC program, which makes payments to low-income families with children is the largest public assistance (welfare) program. Give two examples of other assistance programs:
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
3. In the spaces below, write the answers that correctly complete the following statement: In order to receive the veteran's pension, a veteran must be:
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
4. In the spaces below, write the answers that correctly complete the following statement: Education Assistance payments in Q60c-88 cover education assistance for veterans as well as education assistance for their: a) and b) .
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
The screen names for the Survivor Benefits items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
>Q58a and Q58b< Anyone receive survivor benefits such as widow's pensions, estates, trusts, annuities, or any other survivor benefits and who
The parenthetical "Other than Social Security or VA benefits" will be displayed when Social Security income or Veterans' payment has been reported.
Item Q58a requires one "Yes" or "No" response for the household. Item Q58b will be asked when you receive a "Yes" response to item Q58a for the household. Remember to count income received by a household member under l5 only if it was received on his/her behalf by an adult member of the household.
Enter the line number in Q58b for all persons who received survivor income. Be certain to ask "anyone else?" to ensure that all recipients in the household are accounted for. Then enter precode <N>.
>Q58c< Source of income
This item is asked for all persons whose line number is entered in Q58b. Then we continue with item Q58E1 through Q58E4 for each person.
The most common types of income received by widows and surviving children appear as sources 211 in item Q58c. You do not have to read the entire list unless you feel the respondent is having difficulty answering the question. Accept the respondent's answer and enter the precode corresponding to the source(s) they give you. Ask "Any other source" until you receive a "No" answer. Then enter precode <N> for "No other sources of income".
You will proceed to items Q58E1 through Q58E4 to record the amount received from up to the first four income sources reported. Enter precode <11>other or don't know last. After entering this precode, you will go to Q58Coth and specify the source. You will then continue with Q58E1 through Q58E4 for the next person.
A brief explanation of the sources of survivor benefits is provided below. Notice that precodes begin with 2; this was done to maintain consistency with the 1994 instrument.
Company or union survivor pension (include profit-sharing)received by survivors from a pension or retirement plan established at the deceased family member's place of employment or union.
Federal government (Civil Service) pension received by survivors of Federal or Civil Service employees who died while still working or died after retirement but provided for the special spouse's annuity.
U.S. Military retirement survivor pension received by survivors of military personnel who retired before their death.
State or local government survivor pension received by survivors of deceased employees of State or local government.
U.S. Railroad Retirement survivor pension received by survivors of deceased employees of the railroad system. These are in the form of U.S. Government checks from a program similar to Social Security but established especially for railroad employees.
Worker's compensation survivor pension received by survivors of workers who died because of a job-related accident, injury, or illness. These payments may come directly from the State, a previous employer, or an employer's insurance company.
Black lung survivor pension received by survivors of miners under the Federal Black Lung program. The deceased miner must have been disabled by black lung disease.
Regular payments from estates or trusts regular payments received from a deceased relative's estate or from a trust established by the deceased relative. Do not include onetime payments from estates or inheritances.
Regular payments from annuities or paid up insurance policies periodic payments received by survivors from an annuity purchased by a deceased relative or from paid up life insurance policies owned by or in the deceased's name.
Other or don't know include here any payments which are not listed in categories 2 through 10 or payments from unknown sources that are received by a person as a survivor of a deceased relative. Specify the source of income in Q58Coth.
>Q58E1 through Q58E4< Amount received for each income reported
Items Q58E1 through Q58E4 record the amount of income received from the income sources reported in Q58c. Round income received to the nearest dollar. The income source will be displayed as part of the question. For example, if U.S. Military retirement survivor pension was the first income reported in Q58c, item Q58E1 would read "How much did you receive from U.S. Military retirement survivor pension during 1994?"
Note: For amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999.
Note that items Q58E1 through Q58E4 allow income to be reported for up to four separate sources. If more than four sources are recorded in Q58c, we will only ask for amounts from the first four. If the respondent reports that the person did not receive any amount for any pension, enter <X> for None.
If fewer than four income sources are reported, say for example two sources are reported, items Q58E1 and Q58E2 will ask for the two amounts. Items Q58E3 and Q58E4 will be skipped.
The screen names for the Disability Income items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
>Q59a and Q59b< Anyone have a health problem or disability and who
This question is designed to identify persons 15+ who may receive income as the result of some severe and/or permanent illness, injury, or disability. Enter "Yes" in item Q59a if:
The injury, illness, or disability need not have been job-related.
If a respondent answers "Yes, old age", repeat the question to ensure the respondent understands that you are asking about the existence of specific illnesses or injuries which prevents the persons from working or doing certain kinds of work. If the respondent clearly believes his/her advanced age to be a disability, then go ahead and enter "Yes".
Instruct respondents, as necessary, that pregnancy is not considered a disability for this item.
Item Q59a requires one "Yes" or "No" response for the household. If there is some doubt as to whether or not the person has a disability or handicap, mark "Yes" since the main purpose of this question is to identify persons who may have income related to disabilities, handicaps, etc.
Item Q59b is asked when you receive a "Yes" response in Q59a unless it is a one person household. In Q59b, enter the line number of all household members who had this type of disability. Be sure probe "Anyone else," when necessary.
>Q60a and Q60b< Anyone retired or left a job for health reasons and who
This question is designed to identify persons who are receiving income from a work-related disability. Item Q60a requires one "Yes" or "No" response for the household. Item Q60b is asked when you receive a "Yes" response in Q60a. Enter the line number in Q60b for all household members who ever retired or left a job for health reasons. Again, pregnancy is not considered a disability for this item.
>Q61b and Q61c< Anyone receive income for health problems and source
The parenthetical phrase "Other than Social Security or VA benefits" will be displayed if someone in the household already reported receipt of Social Security income or Veterans' payments.
Note that questions Q52aQ52c also refer to income received from a job related injury or illness. There is some overlap between the two series of questions; thus, if a person refers to an illness or injury already mentioned in Q52aQ52b, enter "No" in Q61b.
Items Q61cQ61E will be asked for each person with an entry of "Yes" in Q61b. The most common types of income received by disabled persons are listed as precodes 210 in item Q6lc. Do not read the list of disability sources unless you feel the respondent is having difficulty answering the question. Enter the appropriate precodes for the income sources reported. Enter precode <N> for "No other sources of income" when all sources are reported.
You will proceed to items Q61E1 through Q61E4 to record the amount received from up to the first four income sources reported. Enter precode <11> "Other or don't know" last. When you enter this precode, the instrument takes you to Q61c-oth where you can specify the source. You will then continue with Q61E.
A brief explanation of the disability income sources is listed below. Again, notice that the precodes begin with 2.
Worker's Compensation received by persons who were injured or became ill as a result of working conditions on the job. In some States persons who became permanently and totally disabled may receive payments for life. In most cases, however, payments are temporary, and last only while the worker is unable to return to the job. Payments may be received directly from:
Company or union disability: received by former employees of private companies, businesses, etc., or members of unions who were forced to leave their jobs permanently or for an extended period of time due to a disability or other health condition.
Federal Government (Civil Service) disability: received by former employees of the Federal Government prior to reaching retirement age, who were forced to leave their job permanently or for an extended period of time due to a disability or other health conditions.
U.S. Military retirement disability: received by previous members of the Armed Forces having 20 or more years service before retiring due to a disability or other serious health condition. These payments are not made by the Department of Veteran's Affairs.
State or local government employee disability: same as "U. S. Military retirement disability," except received by former employees of State or local governments.
U.S. Railroad Retirement Disability: similar to Social Security and received by disabled former employees of the railroad.
Accident or disability insurance: received by persons who purchase, on their own, an accident or disability insurance policy. The payments would be received from the person's insurance company.
Black Lung miner's disability: received by miners who were found to be suffering from black lung disease. These payments come from the U.S. Government.
State temporary sickness: programs in five States (New Jersey, New York, California, Hawaii, and Rhode Island) pay benefits to workers who are temporarily ill or disabled due to a nonwork related accident or illness.
Other or don't know: Most sources of disability income should fit one of the 9 categories listed in this item. If you encounter an income source related to a disability or illness which does not fit these categories, include it in this category and specify the source in Q61coth. Also mark this category if the source is unknown but is clearly related to disability or illness.
>Q61E1 through Q61E4< Amount received from each source
Items Q61E1 through Q61E4 record the amount of income received from the income sources reported in Q61c. Record the amount of income received, rounded to the nearest dollar. The income source will be displayed as part of the question. For example, if worker's compensation was the first income reported in Q61c, item Q61E1 would read "How much did you receive from worker's compensation during 1994?"
Note: For amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999.
Note that items Q61E1 through Q61E4 allow income to be reported for up to four separate sources. If more than four sources are recorded in Q61c, we will only ask for amounts from the first four.
If fewer than four income sources are reported, say for example two sources are reported, items Q61E1 and Q61E2 will ask for the two amounts. Items Q61E3 and Q61E4 will be skipped.
>Q62a and Q62b< Anyone receive any pension or retirement income, or any other type of retirement income and who
Many employers offer retirement or pension programs for their employees. This question is concerned with receipt of retirement or pension income by persons who retired at the usual retirement age for their particular job, that is, persons who were not forced to retire early for reasons of injury or ill health. Include in this item regular income from annuities or paid up life insurance policies as well as IRA, KEOGH, or 401(k) accounts. Do not include Social Security income here.
Suggestion: Some persons who receive pension or retirement income cannot recall the amount. According to experienced CPS FR's, you can probe for the amount by asking if the person received a Form 1099-R or RRB-1099 for tax preparation purposes.
Form 1099-R, "Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Profit-Sharing or Retirement Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc." -- persons who receive pension or retirement income from a plan also receive this form, which they must attach to their income tax forms to report their total pension or retirement income for the previous year.
Form RRB-1099, "Payments by the Railroad Retirement Board" -- persons who receive U.S. Railroad Retirement income also receive this form, which they must attach to their income tax forms to report their total retirement income for the previous year.
Item Q62a requires a "Yes" or "No" response for the household. Item Q62b is asked when you receive a "Yes" response to Q62a. In Q62b, enter the line number of each person who received pension income.
NOTE: The parenthetical phrase "Other than Social Security/other than VA benefits/Other than Social Security or VA benefits" is displayed if Social Security or veterans' payments had been previously recorded.
Be certain to ask "Anyone else?" to ensure that all recipients in the household are accounted for. Enter precode <N> for "No more" when all persons have been recorded.
>Q62c< Source of income
Item Q62c is asked for each person whose line number was entered in Q62b. The most common types of retirement and pension income are listed as precodes <1> to <7> in item Q62c.
Do not read the list of pension and retirement income sources unless you feel the respondent is having difficulty answering the question.
Enter precode <8> "Other sources or don't know" last. When you enter this precode, the instrument takes you to Q62coth where you can specify the source. You will then continue with Q62E1p. Enter precode <N> for "NO OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME" when all other sources of income have been recorded.
A brief explanation of retirement and pension income sources is listed below:
Company or union pension (including profitsharing) received by a retired worker from a retirement or pension plan established by his/her previous employer or union.
Federal Government (Civil Service) retirement received by retired employees of the Federal government.
U.S. Military retirement received by retired military personnel who served for 20 years or more in the Armed Forces. Note that there is no listing in this item for veteran's payments. Veteran's payments are not the same as military retirement and should not be included anywhere in item Q62c.
State or local government pension received by retired employees of State government or local governments such as a county, city, or town.
U.S. Railroad Retirement received by former employees of the railroad. These payments are from the U.S. government and are similar to Social Security. A retired railroad employee may also be receiving a company or union pension from a retirement plan established by the railroad where he/she was employed.
Regular payments from annuities or paid up insurance policies in order to provide additional income during retirement, many people purchase an annuity which guarantees regular income payments or convert their paid up life insurance policies into monthly payments. These sources of income are to be included here.
Regular payment from IRA, KEOGH or 401(k) accounts Enter this precode for persons who mention IRA, KEOGH or 401(k) accounts as their source of retirement income. IRA and KEOGH accounts are savings plans that workers establish to provide them with benefits upon retiring. The two plans differ in that IRA plans are for wage-and-salary workers, and KEOGH plans are for self-employed workers.
A 401(k) plan is a thrift savings plan set up by employers to provide retirement benefits for their workers.
Other or don't know Enter this precode if the respondent received pension income that does not fit any of the other categories, or if the respondent does not know the source. Specify the source in Q62coth, if known.
>Q62E1p through Q62E14 Series< First Type of Payment Received Series
>Q62E2p through Q62E24 Series< Second Type of Payment Received Series
>Q62E3p through Q62E34 Series< Third Type of Payment Received Series
See Q59ep-Q59e4 Series, pages 97-98, - "How to ask series" for instructions.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: The only time you should report the survivor benefits of a household member under age 15 is when:
Answer Page No.
2. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: When you report survivor benefits from estates or trusts, report only regular payments as opposed to - payments.
Answer Page No.
3. When you ask if anyone has a "health problem or disability which prevents them from working etc." in Q59a:
a. Does the health problem or disability need to have been job-related?
b. Does pregnancy count as a disability?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
4. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: Worker's compensation payments are received by persons who:
Answer Page No.
5. In Q62c:
a. Should you include Veteran's payments as Military retirement? Who receive Military retirement?
b. IRA plans are for - - workers.
c. KEOGH plans are for - - workers.
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
The screen names for the Interest items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
What to include: Interest is the money which banks, savings institutions, businesses, governments, and individuals pay to other individuals for the use of their money. Some of the most important sources of interest income are savings accounts with banks, credit unions, or savings and loans. Other important sources of interest income are money market funds and certificates of deposit (time certificates), savings or other government bonds and interest on checking accounts. Interest earned in accounts in foreign countries should also be included.
Many people who have savings accounts have their interest credited to the account but do not actually withdraw any money. Include these amounts which are credited as interest income even though no money was taken out. Make sure to include even small amounts of interest, even if it's only $l.00.
Some banks or savings institutions may refer to the interest paid to persons with savings accounts as "dividends." Technically and for tax purposes, these "dividends" are interest and should be included here. Interest credited to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA's), KEOGH's, 401(k) plans and other types of nontaxable interest should also be included here.
What to Exclude: Exclude repayments to the principal of a loan, withdrawals of deposits from savings or checking accounts, and accrued interest on "uncashed" U.S. Savings Bonds. If U.S. Savings Bonds have been cashed, include as interest only the difference between the amount received and the original cost.
>Q63A1 through Q63b< Anyone have money in any savings account or money market fund and bonds, treasury notes, IRA's, or certificates of deposit and an interest earning checking account or any other investments which pay interest. Who?
This 3part question covers most of the major sources of interest income.
Savings certificates and money market funds are obtained from or managed by banks and other financial institutions and are special forms of savings accounts.
Bonds and treasury notes include U.S. Savings bonds and other marketable bonds, and notes and securities. Some of these pay interest on a periodic basis while others pay interest at the end of a specified time period or when cashed. Include checking accounts which earn interest in the third part of this question. Also, include interest credited to thrift savings plans.
Suggestion: If the person does not remember having any interest income, experienced CPS FR's recommend that you ask him/her if he/she had to fill out a Schedule B when he/she did the taxes. If the person did fill out a Schedule B, chances are that he/she will remember not only whether he/she had any interest income, but also how much interest income he/she had.
Be aware that some respondents will give you interest income for persons under age 15. In such cases, make sure you do not report that income.
A "Yes" or "No" response is required for each of the 3 parts of Q63A. If the respondent replies "Yes" to any part of Q63A, you will proceed to Q63b and enter the line number of all household members receiving interest payments. If the response to all parts of Q63A is "No," you will skip to Q64a.
If a single source of interest is held jointly by one or more household members, enter in Q63b the line number of all household members involved.
>Q63c< Amount received in interest from all sources
This item is asked for each person whose line number is entered in Q63b. Record the total amount of interest, rounded to the nearest dollar, received by each person from all sources.
In the case of a joint ownership of interest income sources, separate the amount of interest, if possible, and record the amounts separately. If the respondent cannot separate the amount, include the entire amount for one of the joint owners and enter precode (A) "Already included" for all other joint owners.
In the case of U.S. Savings bonds series E, F, and J, include the interest only if the bonds were cashed during 1994. If the person's line number was entered in Q63b but he/she did not receive interest from this source (such as uncashed savings bonds), enter precode <X> for "None."
This item should include the entire amount received from all sources. If the respondent receives payment from more than one source and gives you each payment, enter precode <C> in Q63c and enter the payment received from each source in Q63ccalc. If there is no payment from a source, enter precode <X>.
Note: For amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999.
The screen names for the Dividends items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
What to include: Some people make investments by purchasing shares of stock in corporations or mutual funds. A mutual fund is an investment entity managed by a money management company where investors pool their money to invest in stocks and bonds that meet the objective of the particular fund. The mutual fund investors receive profits in the form of dividends. Include dividends from investments made in foreign countries.
>Q64a and Q64b< Anyone own any shares of stock in corporations or any mutual fund shares and who.
Emphasize the word "stock" when reading this question since stocks are the main source of dividends, which are the income source we are concerned with here.
You will read the leadin phrase (At any time during 1994, did anyone in this household) only if the answer in the previous question was "Yes." Otherwise, just read the body of the question.
A "Yes" or "No" response is required in Q64a for the household. If you receive a "Yes" response to Q64a, ask Q64b and enter the line number for all household members owning stock in corporations or any mutual funds. If the response to Q64a is "No," you will proceed to Q65a.
Again, if the stocks or mutual funds are held jointly by one or more household members, enter in Q64b the line number of all persons involved. Ask "Anyone else" until a "No" answer is received. Then enter precode <N> and continue.
>Q64c< Amount received in dividends from stocks and mutual funds during 1994.
Item Q64c is asked for each person whose line number is entered Q64b. Record the amount rounded to the nearest dollar. In the case of joint ownership of stocks or mutual funds, separate the amount of dividends, if possible, and record the amounts separately. If the respondent cannot separate the amount, include the entire amount for one of the joint owners and enter precode <A> for "already included" for all other joint owners. Enter precode <X> for "None" if no dividends were received.
Note: For amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999.
Be sure to exclude any capital gains payment to holders of stocks or mutual funds. Also, do not enter precode <A> "already included" to combine income sources (such as dividend amounts with interest amounts).
Interest and dividend amounts must be separated. If the respondent is unable to separate the amounts, include the entire amount as interest (Q63c). At Q64c, make a note of this by using the F7 key. After making the note, enter one dollar (1) under dividends (Q64).
As in the case of interest, dividends are often automatically reinvested. In such cases, the recipient earns dividends, even though he/she does not receive dividend payments. Be sure to include both reinvested dividends and those actually received by recipients in this item.
The screen names for the Property Income items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Net Rental Income:
What to exclude: The following types of income should not be reported as property income in items Q65A1 through Q65c:
Rental income received by selfemployed persons who earn their living by renting real estate (land, buildings, etc.) or by renting other items (tools or equipment) . This should be included as business income in either item Q48b or Q49B.
Net income from the operation of a rooming or boarding house (five or more roomers or boarders under one roof). This also should be included as business income in either item Q48b or Q49B.
Royalties:
Net Royalties consist of total cash from royalties less expenses. Royalties include income from oil, gas, and other mineral rights, income from patents, copyrights on literary works, trademarks, formulas, and so on. Expenses against royalties include depletion allowances, depreciation, office rent, legal fees, clerical help, interest, taxes, and similar items.
In certain cases, royalties could be earned primarily from a person's major occupational activity. For example, a professional self-employed writer may receive royalties as his/her primary income. In this case, consider this as self-employed income.
Estates or Trusts:
Estates or trusts include periodic payments from an estate or trust fund. However, exclude lumpsum, onetime receipts from these sources.
>Q65A1 through Q65b< Anyone own any land, business property, apartments, or houses which were rented to others or receive income from royalties or from roomers or boarders or receive income from estates or trusts. Who?
Special care is needed in this item to ensure that income of these types has not already been included in items Q48b and Q49B for self-employed persons. In item Q65b, self-employed persons will be identified by an "X" in the self-employed column next to the line number. When a self-employed person is reported as receiving income from rent or royalties, ask if the amount received was already reported in his/her yearly earnings.
Enter the line number of a self-employed person only if the amount received in rent or royalties was not already included in his/her yearly earnings. If there is doubt as to whether this income was already reported, the amounts entered in Q48b and Q49B2 may be seen by entering precode <H> for "Help Self employed income reported."
A "Yes" or "No" response is required for each of the 3 parts of Q65a. If the respondent replies "Yes" to any part of Q65a, we will ask Q65b, and enter the line number of all household members who received income from rent, royalties, estates or trusts in 1994. If the response to Q65a is "No," you will proceed to Q66a.
In the case of joint ownership, enter in Q65b the line number for all persons involved. Enter precode <N> for "No more" when all persons have been recorded.
>Q65c< Amount received
The parenthetical phrase will be based on the yes/no entries to items Q65Al through Q65A3. Enter the amount, rounded to the nearest dollar, received from these sources after expenses.
In the case of joint ownership, separate the amounts and record them separately. If the respondent cannot separate the amount, include the entire amount for one of the joint owners and enter precode <A> "already included" for all other joint owners. Again, do not use the "already included" precode to show that the income received from this source has been included elsewhere.
If the person responds "broke even" to this item, enter "1." If the respondent reports a loss, enter precode <L> for "Lost money" and record the amount lost in "Q65CLO," which will be displayed on the same screen.
Note: In Q65c, for amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999. In Q65CLO, for amounts $10,000 and over, enter $9,999.
The screen names for the Education Assistance items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
>Q66a< Anyone attend school beyond the high school level including a college, university, or other schools.
This question is designed to identify persons who may be receiving income to assist in paying for their educational expenses.
Include as "school beyond the high school level" junior or community colleges, 2year or 4year colleges, universities, vocational, technical or professional school. Include full-time and part-time students in both day and night classes.
A "Yes" or "No" response is required in item Q66a for the household. Enter "Yes":
Enter "No" for persons who only audited courses.
>Q66b and Q66c< Anyone receive any educational assistance for tuition, fees, books, or living expenses during 1994 and who.
Make sure that the income you report here (from teaching, lab assistance, etc. as part of a scholarship or fellowship) has not already been reported as earnings in Q48 and Q49. Enter "Yes" in Q66b for money received to assist in paying educational expenses. Include scholarships, fellowships, grants, and money received for tuition, books, and living expenses.
NOTE: The student does not have to receive the money directly in order to have received this assistance.
If the respondent replies "Yes" to Q66b, you will ask Q66c (except in one-person households) and enter the line number for all household members that received educational assistance in 1994. Enter precode <N> for "No more" when all persons have been recorded. If the respondent replies "No", you will proceed to item Q70a.
>Q66d< Type of Assistance
Item Q66d is asked for all persons whose line number is entered in Q66c. If the respondent does not know the source of the assistance, enter the "Other assistance" precode. Be sure to exclude loans or assistance from other household members.
A brief description of each of the sources of education assistance is shown below:
Pell Grant received by undergraduates attending college who have qualified based on need. The amount of the grant will not exceed $2,400 per academic year.
Some other government assistance included here are Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) payments and other scholarships, fellowships, and grants from State, local, or federal governments that are not received directly from government sponsored universities or colleges.
Scholarships, grants, etc. from the school include scholarships, grants, etc. received directly from universities, colleges, or any post secondary schools.
Other assistance (employers, friends, etc.) (Exclude assistance from household members) all other sources of funds received for educational purposes should be included here. Scholarships from private organizations and businesses, educational assistance from employers for work related educational courses, and assistance from friends or relatives not living in the household.
>Q69F88< Amount received in Pell Grant
This question will be asked if the person reported receiving the Pell Grant. Record the response, rounded to the nearest dollar.
Note: For amounts $50,000 and over, enter $49,999.
>Q66h< Amount received in (other) educational assistance.
This question will be asked if the respondent received any educational assistance other than Pell Grant, and any educational assistance in addition to Pell Grant.
Since scholarships, grants, etc., are sometimes received once or twice a year, they may appear to be "onetime" payments. We want to include these payments here regardless of how often they were received.
Note: For amounts $50,000 and over, enter $49,999.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. In Q63c and Q64c (where you report interest and dividend amounts, respectively):
a. You should report the amount actually received (answer yes or no).
b. You should also report amounts credited or reinvested (answer yes or no).
c. Whenever possible, you should report joint amounts separately (answer yes or no).
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
c.
2. When you ask Q64a, "At any time during 1994 did anyone in this household own any shares of stock in corporations ... ?":
a. What word should you emphasize?
b. Why?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
3. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: When you report income from rent and royalties [and estates/trusts], you should always report the income LESS .
Answer Page No.
4. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: When a SELF-EMPLOYED person is reported as receiving rent income in Q65A1, you should probe to make sure that .
Answer Page No.
5. In the space below, write the answer that correctly completes the following statement: If a person is reported as receiving income from teaching, lab assistance, etc. as part of a scholarship or fellowship in Q66b, you should probe to make sure that
.
Answer Page No.
The screen names for the Child Support and Alimony items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
What to include: Child support is money received from parents for the support of their children. In some cases, child support payments may be paid through a welfare agency or a court. These payments should be considered as child support. Alimony is money received periodically from a former spouse following a divorce or separation.
What to exclude: Do not include as child support money received from relatives or friends other than the parent. Also, do not include the actual AFDC payment as child support.
>Q70a and Q70b< Anyone receive any child support payments and who
Item Q70a is asked in all households to determine if any household member received child support payments. The line number of the person(s) who received these payments is entered in Q70b. Enter precode <N> for "No more" when all persons have been recorded. If adults received payments on behalf of the children, enter the line number of the adult receiving these payments.
>Q70cp-Q70c4 Series< "Child Support Series"
See Q59ep-Q59e4 Series, pages 97-98, - "How to ask series" for instructions.
>Q71a and Q71b< Anyone receive alimony payments and who.
Item Q71a is asked to determine if any household members received alimony payments and Q71b identifies who received these payments. Enter precode <N> for "No more" when all persons have been recorded.
You will only read the leadin phrase (During 1994 did anyone in this household receive) if the respondent answered "Yes" to receiving child support payments.
>Q71cp-Q71c4 Series< "Alimony Payment Series"
See Q59ep-Q59e4 Series, pages 97-98, - "How to ask series" for instructions.
R. Regular Financial Assistance
The screen names for the Regular Financial Assistance items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
What to include: Include as financial assistance money received regularly (weekly, monthly, etc.) from persons outside the household such as voluntary contributions by relatives or friends, money received by parents from children not living with them and voluntary allotment checks sent by Armed Forces members.
What to exclude: Exclude occasional gifts or contributions. Do not include income already reported as educational assistance.
>Q72a and Q72b< Anyone regular financial assistance from friends or relatives and who.
Enter "Yes" in Q72a for any cash payments, other than loans, received by household members from relatives or friends not now living in the household. In cases where the regular financial assistance payments go to all household members, report only the income received by persons age 15 and older.
The leadin phrase (During 1994 did anyone in this household receive) is only read if the respondent reported receiving alimony payments in the previous question.
The parenthetical phrase "any other" is displayed if alimony or child support income was reported in items Q70a or Q71a.
Enter the line number(s) of the person(s) receiving the financial assistance in Q72b. Ask "Anyone else" until you receive a "No" answer. Then enter precode <N> and continue.
>Q72cp-Q72c4 Series< "Regular Financial Assistance Series"
See Q59ep-Q59e4 Series, pages 97-98, - "How to ask series" for instructions.
The screen names for the Other Money Income items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Items Q73A1 through Q73A2d are designed to catch income which has been missed by the previous series of questions. As an example of the types of income that may be missed, consider the case of a person who was a non-worker in 1994, that is, he/she reported that he/she didn't work in Q29a and Q29b and therefore skipped over the questions on business or farm interests. Item Q73A1 and Q73A2 should pick up these kinds of income.
Also, this question should pick up small amounts of income that the respondent may have neglected to mention elsewhere during the interview. For example, include funds from the Alaska Permanent Fund which are paid to qualified residents of the State of Alaska.
Sources of Income to exclude
Do not include as income in item Q73A1 and Q73A2 or elsewhere on the questionnaire:
>Q73A1 through Q73A1b< Anyone receive income from: Hobbies, home businesses, farms, or business interests not already covered. Who.
Since this "catch-all" income question does not mention the reference period, you may want to make sure that the respondent is aware that you are still asking about all other money income received in 1994.
If the household response is "No," you will skip to Q73A2. If the household response is "Yes," you will proceed to Q73A1b and determine who received this income. Enter precode <N> for "No more" when all persons have been recorded.
>Q73A1c and Q73A1d< Source of income and amount received in 1994
For each person whose line number is entered in Q73A1b, ask the exact source of the income and record it in Q73A1c, and enter the amount in Q73A1d. If more than one source is received by an individual, use the notes area (F7) to record each source and the amount from each source.
Note: In Q73A1d, for amounts $100,000 and over, enter $99,999.
>Q73A2 and Q73A2b< Anyone receive unemployment compensation, severance pay, welfare, foster child care payments or any other money income not already covered and who.
Sources of Income to include:
See Q73A1 through Q73A1b page 133 for instructions.
>Q73A2c and Q73A2d< Source of income and amount received in 1994
See Q73A1c through Q73A1d page 133 for instructions.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. In the spaces below, write the answer in parenthesis that correctly completes the following statement: When you ask about "child support" in Q70c, you:
a. Should (include/not include) money received from anyone other than the parent.
b. Should (include/not include) any AFDC income received.
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
2. In the spaces below, write the answers that correctly complete the following statement: When you report "other financial assistance" in Q72c:
a. Include any income received (for example: weekly, monthly, etc.) from persons outside the household.
b. Do not include income already reported as assistance in Q69F88 or Q66h.
3. When you ask about "other money income" in Q73A1, there are a number of things you should not include. Name two of them:
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
The reason for asking the Health Insurance items is to calculate the number of persons who have health coverage, since it is a major factor affecting the economic well-being of the population. The questions have been designed to address the needs and recommendations of the users of health insurance data and recommendations made by CPS FR's to improve question wording.
The screen names for the Health Insurance items (shown in the Items booklet) are SHI1 through SHI25 (covering both adults and children). The items will allow us to collect quality data on:
The health insurance items ask questions about private health insurance coverage before asking about Medicare, Medicaid, and other kinds of insurance such as CHAMPUS, CHAMP-VA, VA, Indian Health Service, etc.
Basically, the Health Insurance items ask about:
Some respondents may think that health insurance coverage refers to the actual use of a health plan in paying health care costs. Respondents should be made aware that health insurance coverage refers to the availability of the health insurance and not necessarily the actual use or employ of the plan for paying health care costs.
The screen names for the Health Insurance items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
>SHI1< Introduction to health insurance questions
The introduction tells the respondent that we are asking about the entire calendar year and that the questions apply to ALL household members.
Private (Non-Government) Health Insurance
>SHI2 through SHI4< Anyone covered by a health plan, who and who else in this household was covered.
Item SHI2 focuses on health insurance plans provided through the current or former employer or union and does not cover plans purchased privately.
Enter <1> if any household member:
received health insurance coverage in his/her own name through their current or former employer or union.
was covered by more than one policy, and at least one of the policies was in the person's own name and was provided through a current or former employer or union.
Do NOT include military health plans here. Military health plans will be covered in question SHI18.
Insurance plans that pay only in cases of accident or disability should not be considered as health insurance plans.
Suggestion: Experienced CPS FR's recommend that, when you ask SHI2, you probe using specific examples of health insurance plans, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, etc.
In items SHI3 and SHI4 enter who in the household was the policyholder and who else in the household was covered by the plan. These two questions do not appear for single person households.
Enter as many precodes as appropriate. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>.
Enter as many line numbers as appropriate to identify those persons on the household roster who were covered under the person's plan. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>.
>SHI5< Cover anyone living outside this household.
The purpose of this item is to determine whether the health insurance plan covered anyone living outside the household. Persons not in the household covered by the plan could include a spouse, a child or children, or anyone else covered by the plan.
>SHI6< Former or current employer or union pay for all, part, or none of the health insurance premium.
If the person was covered by several health insurance plans during the year, tell him/her to answer the question for the health insurance plan they had the longest.
Suggestion: Experienced CPS FR's recommend that you probe to ensure that the answer you get reflects the employer's contribution towards the employee's health insurance premiums (and not the employer's contribution towards the employee's health care costs or bills).
>SHI7 through>SHI10< Anyone covered by a plan that they purchased directly and Who. Who else? Anyone living outside this household?
Enter <1> in SHI7 if any household member had:
coverage provided through a health insurance policy they purchased directly, which was not related to their current or past employment and was not government sponsored.
coverage through a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plan they purchased directly, which was not related to current or past employment and was not government sponsored.
coverage by more than one policy, of which at least one was purchased directly by the person.
A health insurance plan that only pays in cases of accident or disability should not be included as a private health insurance plan.
Some persons who do not qualify for Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits consequently are not eligible for Medicare and must pay premiums for Medicare parts A and B. This type of coverage should not be reported as a private health insurance plan.
In items SHI8 and SHI9 enter who in the household was the policyholder of the privately purchased plan and who else in the household was covered by plan. These two questions do not appear for single person households.
Enter as many precodes as appropriate. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>.
Enter as many line numbers as appropriate to identify those persons on the household roster who were covered under the person's plan. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>.
Item SHI10 is designed to find out if someone outside the household is covered by the health plan that was purchased directly.
>SHI11 and SHI12< Anyone covered by the health plan of someone who does not live in this household and Who.
Purpose: Item SHI11 will be used to provide information on household members covered by policies of non-household members.
Enter <1> in SHI11 if any household member was covered by a government-sponsored and/or private (non-government) health insurance plans that were purchased directly, and/or were related to the policyholder's current or past employment.
In item SHI12, enter who in the household was covered by a health plan from a person living outside this household. This question does not appear for single person households.
Enter as many line numbers as appropriate to identify those persons on the household roster who were covered by the health plan of someone who did not live in the household. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>.
Government-Sponsored Health Insurance
>SHI13 and SHI14< Anyone covered by Medicare and Who.
Medicare is the Federal program which helps pay health care costs for persons 65 and older and for certain persons under 65 with long-term disabilities. Almost all Social Security recipients are covered by Medicare.
Medicare consists of two parts, A and B:
Part A is called the Hospital Insurance Program. It helps pay for in-patient hospital care and is available to everyone 65 or over.
Persons who are eligible for either Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits are not required to pay a monthly premium. However, anyone who is 65 or over and does not qualify for Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits may pay premiums directly to Social Security to obtain coverage for Part A of Medicare.
Part B is called the Supplementary Medical Insurance Program. It is a voluntary plan which builds upon the hospital insurance protection provided by the basic plan. It helps pay for doctor and surgeon services and outpatient services not already covered under the hospital insurance.
If the person elects this additional insurance, the monthly premium ($41.10 in 1994) is deducted from his/her Social Security or Railroad Retirement checks. Those persons who do not qualify for Social Security or Railroad Retirement may arrange to pay a monthly premium directly to Social Security to obtain coverage for Part B of Medicare.
Purpose: Item SHI13 will be used to provide information on household members covered by Medicare.
Item SHI14:
Enter as many line numbers as appropriate to identify those persons on the household roster who were covered by this health insurance plan. Ask "Anyone else?" until you received a "No" response; then enter <N>.
>SHI15 and SHI16< Anyone covered by Medicaid the government assistance program that pays for health care and Who.
Medicaid is a program administered at the State level, which provides medical assistance to the needy. Families with dependent children, the aged, blind, and disabled who are in financial need are eligible for Medicaid. Most SSI recipients are covered by Medicaid, as are most AFDC recipients and their dependents. Because it is administered at the State level, Medicaid may be known by different names in different States. In the States listed below, the local name for Medicaid is as follows (the state name will be list in the question):
If you are interviewing in one of the preceding States, a note will be displayed on the screen showing the State and the name for Medicaid in that State.
Report persons covered by State-sponsored plans as receiving Medicaid.
Because the names sound somewhat alike, respondents may be unsure whether they received benefits from Medicare or Medicaid. If you encounter confusion, help the respondent by explaining the difference between the two programs. An explanation of each is displayed on the screen. It is possible for persons to be covered by both Medicare and Medicaid.
Purpose: Item SHI15 will be used to provide information on household members covered by Medicaid.
Enter <1> in SHI15 if any household member was covered by Medicaid.
In item SHI16, enter who in the household was covered by Medicaid. This question does not appear for single person households.
Enter as many line numbers as appropriate to identify those persons on the household roster who were covered by Medicaid. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>.
>SHI17< Number of months covered by Medicaid/local name
Obtain the total number of months the person was covered by Medicaid in 1994, and enter the number of months.
>SHI18 through SHI20a< Anyone covered by any other kind of health insurance and who. Which plan?
Military, and Other Health Insurance
Purpose: The purpose of these items is to identify those persons covered by military health care plans (such as CHAMPUS, CHAMP-VA, VA or military health care), the Indian Health Service and any other kind of health insurance not included in the previous health insurance questions.
CHAMPUS and Military Health Care are programs designed to provide medical services to current Armed Forces members and their dependents, retired Armed Forces members, and survivors of retired or active duty personnel:
CHAMPUS (Comprehensive Health and Medical Plan for the Uniformed Services) provides health care in private facilities for these individuals.
Military Health Care provides health care on military bases for these individuals.
VA provides medical assistance to veterans of the Armed Forces, particularly those with service-connected ailments.
CHAMPVA is the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veteran's Affairs. CHAMPVA is a medical program through which the Department of Veteran's Affairs helps pay for medical services obtained from civilian sources by eligible veterans, veteran's dependents, and survivors of veterans.
The Indian Health Service (IHS) is a health care program through which the Department of Health and Human Services provides medical assistance to eligible American Indians at IHS facilities. In addition, the IHS helps pay the cost of selected health care services provided at non-IHS facilities.
Enter as many line numbers as appropriate to identify those persons on the household roster who were covered by Medicaid. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>.
Any Other Health Insurance Coverage Reported
Purpose: The purpose of these new items is to obtain all other health insurance for the householder's particular state. This is another check to make sure we get all health insurance information from everyone in the household.
>SHIC1 through SHIC3< Any other kind of health insurance and who. Type of insurance.
For item SHIC1, the respondent says that the any of the persons listed have the health insurance listed, enter precode <1>. Otherwise enter <2> and the instrument will go to the next question. Enter all the line numbers of insured persons in item SHIC2. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>. Item SHIC3 is designed to determine what type of insurance the person has.
Current Health Insurance Coverage and Current Health Status
Purpose: The purpose of these new items is to determine the current health insurance coverage and current health status of persons.
Be sure to emphasize the period of coverage for these questions. Current health insurance coverage refers to coverage last week. The Current health status questions refer to the present health status, that is the health status at the time of the interview.
>SHI21 through SHI23a< Health insurance coverage last week.any other type of health plan, who and types of plans.
If anyone in the household was covered by any health insurance last week enter <1> "Yes" in SHI21. Otherwise enter <2> and the instrument will go to the next question. Enter all the line numbers of insured persons in item SHI22. Ask "Anyone else?" until you receive a "No" response; then enter <N>. Item SHI23a-e are designed to determine all types of insurance the person has.
>SHI24 and SHI25< Introduction, and health in general.
The definitions of the terms used to describe the respondent's health status are subjective. There are no clear cut definitions of excellent, very good, good, fair, poor. Depend on the respondent's perception of his/her health status, and enter the precode that best reflects his/her answer.
The screen names for the Employer Pension items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Items Q74aQ74b are asked for each person who worked at a job or business last year, as indicated by a "Yes" response to item Q29a or Q29b.
>Q74a and Q74b< Any employer or union that you worked for in 1994 have a pension or other type of retirement plan for its employees. Included in that plan.
Insert the parenthetical "any" in this question if the person worked for more than one employer last year. If "Yes", you will ask Q74b for this person.
Item Q74a concerns the existence of a pension or other type of retirement plan on the job, regardless of whether the person is included in the plan. Item Q74b is intended to determine if the person participated in the plan.
A pension plan is a plan that provides income at retirement age based on either a percentage of the person's salary or wages, the years of service, or both. For example, a pension plan may provide a monthly payment of 80% of the person's monthly salary at retirement age.
Other types of retirement plans, such as stock option, profit sharing, and thrift savings plans provide benefits at retirement age based on the amount of money the person has accumulated in his/her plan by contributing:
Stock option, profit sharing, and thrift savings plans may or may not be retirement plans. Include such plans only if the plan provides benefits at retirement age.
The phrase "employer or union" does not mean that the person must be a member of a union to respond "Yes". If an available union helps sponsor a pension or other type of retirement plan for any employees, enter "Yes" regardless of whether the person is a union member.
Exclude coverage under IRA and KEOGH accounts, since these are not employer-provided plans. Exclude Social Security, Railroad Retirement, and Veterans' Pensions.
Suggestion: Some respondents may not consider their pension or retirement plan as such because they know the plan by a specific name. Experienced CPS FR's recommend that you probe by mentioning some examples of employer-provided pension and retirement plans, such as 401k plans, the Federal Government Thrift Savings plan, etc.
>SUNITS< Number of housing units in structure.
Only ask this question if you cannot determine it by just looking at the structure. Enter the appropriate precode for this question.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. When would enter <1> in SHI2 for the household members health insurance?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
2. Spell out the following acronyms:
a. CHAMPUS (mentioned in Q75e)
b. CHAMPVA (mentioned in SHI18)
Answer Page No.
a.
b. ___________
3. For whom would you have to ask items Q74a and Q74b (about Employer's Pension Plan)?
Answer Page No.
The screen names for the School Lunch items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
Q80 and Q83 >Q80< Children, 5-18 years old usually ate a complete hot lunch offered at school.
This question is asked in households that have children ages 518 to:
For purposes of this question, "usually" means more than half the time: either half the year or half the week.
NOTE: The remainder of the supplement questions are asked only in households with total annual family income less than $50,000, blank or refused.
>Q83< How many received free or reduced price lunches because they qualified for the Federal School Lunch Program.
This question will determine the number of participants in the Federal Government's School Lunch Program. This number along with the total number of children identified as eating lunch offered at school (item Q80) will give the proportion of children participating in the program, and, along with the family income, will approximate the proportion of eligible children participating in the program.
The Federal School Lunch Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Service which subsidizes the cost of all school lunches in the country. In addition to these standard subsidies, students whose household income falls below a certain level are eligible to receive their lunches free or at a reduced price. In order to qualify, the household must apply to the local school district and the district determines which students qualify for this additional aid.
The screen names for the Public Housing items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
These items are asked only if the housing unit is rented or if tenure is not known and if total annual family income is less than $50,000 or the family income item was blank or refused. These items will not be asked if the unit was owned. All these items together, along with other data from this supplement, form a composite picture of the housing situation.
>Q85< This house in a public housing project.
Public ownership means that the owner is a local or State government agency.
Enter "Yes" if the unit is in a structure which is owned by a local housing authority, or other local public agency such as a housing and redevelopment authority or a housing development agency. These organizations may receive subsidies from the Federal or State Government, but the local agency owns the property.
To live in such a project, the occupant must apply to the local housing authority. Do not count as in a public housing project, houses that were purchased by local governments as part of road building or other projects. Also, do not count governors' mansions or mayors' homes, or residences for government officials which are provided by the jurisdiction.
>Q86< Paying lower rent because the Federal, State, or local government is paying part of the cost.
This item is asked if the response to Q85 is "No." Enter "Yes" if the person pays a lower rent because the government is paying part of the cost of construction, building mortgage, or operating expenses. Otherwise, enter "No."
Described below are six types of programs the government sponsors to help people pay part of the cost of housing.
1. HUD Section 8 Rental Assistance Program
Rental assistance payments are made to the private owners of newly constructed or existing housing units on behalf of low-income tenants who applied to the local housing authority. The local government program for assistance to tenants pay 30 percent of household income for rent, with the Federal assistance payment making up the difference between the tenant's payment and a fair market rental, based on the rents for equivalent units in the area.
2. FHA Section 236
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) finances the construction or rehabilitation of rental or cooperative detached, semi-detached, row, walkup, or elevator type structures primarily for lowerincome families or individuals 62 years or older or handicapped, with priority in occupancy going to those displaced by urban renewal or other governmental actions; up to 10 percent of the units may be occupied by lowerincome individuals under 62 who are not handicapped.
Assistance for mortgages insured under Section 236 is provided in the form of periodic interestreduction payments to the mortgagee on behalf of the mortgagor, which serve to reduce interest costs on a marketrate project mortgage.
These payments enable rentals to be reduced to a basic rental charge, determined for each unit on the basis of operating the project with such payments. A tenant or cooperative member pays either the basic charge or a greater amount, which represents 35 percent of his/her income, but does not exceed the fair market rental charge. This is determined on the basis of operating the project without any interestreduction payments.
3. FHA Rent Supplement Program
Under this program the FHA pays part of the rent for lowincome families and individuals occupying certain types of HUD assisted rental housing projects. To be eligible for assistance under the program the family or individual must have an income below a certain maximum set for the area.
The family or individual is required to spend at least 25 percent of their income for rent. The difference between this amount and the rent charged for the unit occupied by the family or individual is paid by the FHA to the project owner. This FHA payment is known as the rent supplement payment.
4. Housing for Elderly - Direct Loan Program
Under this program (also known as the "Section 202" program), HUD makes 100 percent loans for a maximum term of 50 years to nonprofit organizations. This housing is for older people with incomes too high for public housing but too low to pay rent in the regular private housing market.
The low interest payments permit the nonprofit organization to charge lower rents. Churches, labor unions, fraternal organizations, and civic clubs are generally the owners of these projects.
5. Below Market Interest Rate
Under FHA's "below market-interest rate" programs, the amount of interest paid on the mortgage by the project owner is reduced so that the owner can charge rents which can be afforded by families and individuals of low and moderate income. The FHA pays the mortgage lender the difference between the interest payment required at the market rate and the lower interest payment made by the owner.
For example, if the market interest rate were 143/4 percent and the owner was paying interest at the rate of 9 percent, the difference of 53/4 percent would be paid by FHA to the lender.
These FHA "below market interest rate" programs are also referred to as the "Section 221BMIR" program, or the "Interest subsidy" program.
6. Farmers' Home Administration Rental Program
In rural areas and towns of up to 20,000 population outside metropolitan areas, or 10,000 inside metropolitan areas, the Department of Agriculture program offers rental assistance to tenants of rental units built under this direct loan program. The tenants pay 30 percent of their income and the FMHA pays the remainder of the rent (up to a flexible ceiling determined by the difference between operating cost of the project and the cost of repaying the loan on the project).
The screen names for the Food Stamps items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
>Q87< Receive food stamps during 1994
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the Department of Agriculture administers the Food Stamp program through State and local welfare offices. Food stamps are benefits intended to provide low-income and low-resource households with benefits which can be used to purchase food.
Food stamps are mainly issued in the form of coupon books. In some areas of the country, however, food stamp benefits are also being issued in the form of checks or deposited into an account accessed through the use of a plastic card (similar to a debit card). The plastic cards are used by the food stamp recipients to make purchases in grocery stores which are equipped to handle these types of transactions.
In selected areas of the country, households which are eligible for both AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and food stamps receive their benefits in a combined check or a combined deposit to a bank account. If the respondent cannot separate these two amounts, record the full amount in Q59e4 and indicate in the NOTES section that part of the amount recorded in Item Q59e4 is for food stamps.
If food stamps were received at any time during 1994, enter "Yes" to proceed with item Q88. Otherwise, enter "No" to skip to item Q93.
>Q88< How many of the people were covered by food stamps during 1994
Obtain the number of current members of the household who were covered by food stamps during 1994. If all current members were covered, enter precode <A> for "All". Enter <9> if nine or more persons received food stamps.
>Q90p-Q904 Series< "Food Stamps Series"
See Q59ep-Q59e4 Series, pages 97-98, - "How to ask series" for instructions.
The screen names for the Energy Assistance Items (shown in the Items Booklet) are:
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
The LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) provides financial assistance to eligible households to help them pay their home energy costs. Each State has great flexibility in deciding how to distribute the money to poor households.
The Federal government provides the funds for this program to the States and made over $1 billion available for the last several winters. In addition to Federal funds, some States provided their own money for energy assistance.
Reference Period: The supplement items preceding item Q93 are tied to events that occurred in calendar year 1994. The energy assistance questions refer to the period between October 1, 1994 and the date of the interview or roughly within the past 6l/2 months (include interview week in time frame). It is imperative that you emphasize this time frame when asking the energy assistance questions.
>Q93< Introduction to energy assistance program. Household received assistance from the Federal, State, or local government
Purpose: The purpose of this item is to determine if the household received any financial aid from a governmental source which was specifically intended to help pay for heating costs. These payments may be in the form of coupons, vouchers, or checks which are sent to a household member or these payments may be sent directly to an electric, gas company or fuel dealer.
NOTE: There is a special probe for households who may be receiving automatic payments, which is described in the section, "Method of Payment."
How to Complete: Enter "Yes" if energy assistance was received by or on behalf of the household (either by a household member or sent directly to a utility company or fuel dealer) from the government at any time between October 1, 1994 and the date of interview. A "Yes" is to indicate that the payments were specifically intended to pay for a portion of the household's heating costs. You will continue with item Q94.
Enter "No":
Again, note the special probe in the section "Method of Payment." This will be the last question for households that respond "No."
Exclusions: Do not include the following types of assistance listed below for item Q93:
Basic needs programs and (housing) subsidy programs provide benefits each month of the year. In most instances, LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE is received only one or two times during the year.
This difference in the frequency of the receipt of benefits may help recipients distinguish LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE from assistance with home energy costs received in monthly basic needs program benefits or monthly housing subsidy benefits. If the household believes it received the assistance each month of the year (particularly during the reference period), then this assistance should not be counted as energy assistance; enter "No" in item Q93.
More than One Residence
The energy assistance questions apply to the household's experience at all residences where they lived during the reference period. For instance, if no such assistance was received at the current address, but was received in October 1994 at their old address, you should enter "Yes" for item Q93.
Eligibility
Federal law sets a limit as to the income a household can have to be eligible for the program. This income limit varies by family size. Each State is free to set a lower limit if it wants to.
Some households may be automatically eligible for the program if they received one or more of the following benefits:
Each State is free to choose which types of households automatically qualify (if any). Additionally, States may extend automatic eligibility to households receiving benefits from General Assistance (GA) or other public assistance programs not listed above.
Automatic Payments
Many households receive assistance by filing an application in person or by mail. However, some households may automatically qualify for assistance and receive checks in the mail without ever filing an application, i.e., such households are receiving automatic payments (see section on "Eligibility"). Some States make automatic payments to most of those households receiving benefits in the categories indicated below by X's:
STATE AFDC Food Stamps General Assistance
(Q59C88) (Q88) (Q59A88, Q73A1)
Illinois X
Michigan X X
Nebraska X
New Jersey X
New Mexico X X
New York X X X
IF YOU ARE INTERVIEWING HOUSEHOLDS IN ANY OF THE ABOVE STATES, NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
Automatic payments may take the form of a check very much like the ones a household receives from AFDC, SSI or GA. If someone in the household you are interviewing in one of the above States reported receiving benefits that may have been paid through automatic energy payments, and the response to Q93 is "No," you will ask Q93PR1. In most cases, an automatic payment would have included an explanation of the purpose of the check.
Amount of Payment
The amount of energy assistance provided to a given household varies by State. The amount may also vary on the basis of the household's heating fuel, income, family size, or other factors.
Types of Payment
The three major types of payments for energy assistance includes payments by check or coupons/vouchers to a household member, and payments directly to electric/gas company or fuel dealer. If necessary, you should mention to the respondent that this item refers to total payments, including those that go directly to the utility company.
1. Payments by check to household
Payments for energy assistance may be made in a variety of forms. The simplest form is to send a check to the household. Although the purpose for sending the check was to help the household with home heating costs, the household is free to spend the money for any other purpose.
NOTE: In a few States, an individual may receive a check which must be signed by BOTH himself/herself and the fuel supplier. Since this type of check is supposed to guarantee that the funds are used to pay only for a heating bill, the check is really like a voucher or coupon.
2. Payments by Coupons/Vouchers to household
All other forms of payment are designed to restrict the use of the assistance to paying heating costs. One method that is designed to restrict the use of the funds to paying for heating costs is to send a coupon or voucher directly to the household. The coupon or voucher has value only if it is turned over to a utility company or fuel supplier to help pay for a heating bill.
3. Payments directly to electric/gas company or fuel dealer
The most widespread method of restricting funds is to have the government send the payment directly to the household's electric or gas company, or its fuel dealer.
NOTE: In a few States, the government may provide for an actual delivery of fuel to the household, rather than helping to PAY for a delivery by a utility company or private fuel dealer. In such cases, the government's arranging of the fuel delivery to the household should be considered the same as if the government had sent the payment directly to the household's electric or gas company, or its fuel dealer.
>Q93PR1 and Q93PR2< Receive an additional or unexpected check during the winter to help pay heating costs.
These probes determine if an automatic energy assistance payment was received.
>Q94< Total energy assistance received since October 1, 1994.
Ask the item as worded. Be sure to enter the total amount of payments received. Make sure the person is aware of the several types of payments, as noted above, that he/she may receive for energy assistance.
Enter the total amount of energy assistance received. Round to the nearest dollar.
NOTE: The amount entered should reflect the total value of all payments sent to the household and/or the electric or gas company or fuel dealer, between October 1, 1994 and the date of interview. That is, total the amounts of all the energy assistance payments received and make the appropriate entry. Also, be alert to the fact that some States send payments in installments.
Instructions: For each of the questions below, give the answer and indicate on what page of this document you found the answer.
1. Define what we mean by "usually" when we ask how many children "usually" ate a school lunch in Q80.
Answer Page No.
2. In the space below, write the answer in parenthesis that correctly completes the following statement: With regard to the Public Housing items (Q85 - Q86):
a. You (will, will not) ask these items if in a previous interview the housing unit was reported as owned.
b. You (will, will not) ask these items if in a previous interview the housing unit was reported as rented or as "don't know."
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
3. Which governments administer the Food Stamp program?
Answer Page No.
a.
b.
4. Most March supplement items have calendar year 1994 as their reference period, whereas the Energy Assistance items have the period between and the date of the interview as their reference period.
Answer Page No.
When you conduct a callback to convert Don't Know "D" entries for "must" income items, the instrument will take you to the "Ckdisplay" item.
>Ckdisplay< ASK IF NECESSARY: Can you or someone in this household provide the amount of:
"Ckdisplay" will be asked if at least one person has a "D" entry because a yearly total could not be calculated in a must income item. You must ask the respondent if he/she or someone in the household can provide income received for any of the household members identified in "Ckdisplay."
However, the "Ckdisplay" item does not tell you word for word how you should ask for each missing piece of information. You must ask for each missing data item in your own words, paraphrasing the information given on the screen.
Example: "Can you or anyone in the household provide the amount of Social Security received during 1994 by JERRY MILLS, or earnings received by LINDA MILLS?"
The possible responses to the question in this example are:
Someone can provide the information but that "someone" is not home. In this case, enter (Fl0) "skip to fin" to set a callback. You will set the callback with the person most knowledgeable to update the must income items.
No one in the household can provide the missing information. In this case, enter precode <N> for "No more information possible from anyone at household." Callbacks will not be scheduled to obtain missing income information if precode <N> is entered.
Someone is available to provide the information. In this case, follow the instructions below.
How to Complete: If your callback respondent is different from the original respondent, you must report so before you try to obtain the missing information. To report a different respondent, change the line number of the respondent as follows:
1) At the >Pk-Resp< screen, enter the line number of the new respondent.
2) The next screen is the >intro-d< will tells you the first item needed. Enter <P> to proceed to the next screen.
3) Then the >CK-display< screen appears with all the "must" items that are needed.
To obtain each missing data item:
1) Enter the appropriate precode (the precode in the first column corresponding to the person whose income is being updated). The instrument will back you to the appropriate income item.
2) Enter (F6) to change the answer, and enter the correct answer. If you have a "D" in any of the must income items series, you may have to answer more than one question to ge a total yearly amount.
Example: For wages, S-Q48a series, if you enter a "D" in S-Q48a for the amount, when you return to enter the amount you will also have to answer the periodicity question (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.). Then you will have to answer other questions for the instrument to calculate the correct yearly amount.
3) Enter (F3) which will take you to the next "D" entry or to the "Ckdisplay," where you will see if there is another missing item that you must complete.
NOTE: If you are updating items S-Q48a series or Q48b, you need to complete Q48c before entering (F3) to return to "Ckdisplay."
If you are updating Q49B1 series, Q49B2, or Q49B3, you need to complete "CHK50A" before entering (F3) to return to "Ckdisplay."
When you do a callback, the instrument can take you to one of three places:
1) The first unanswered item.
2) The first "must" income item with a "D" instead of an amount.
3) An item with a valid entry that precedes either of the above.
The instrument will go to an item that has a valid entry in order to review the information already provided, since the respondent may need that information as a basis for answering the questions that follow.
Example: Assume that the first "must" income item with a "D" is periodicity in the S-Q48a Series. "Is this a weekly, bi-weekly, twice monthly, monthly or yearly amount?." In this case, the instrument will:
1) Display the information about the person's job.
2) Display item S-Q48a.
Regardless of which item you start with, make sure the respondent is aware of the reference period for the March supplement. If the first item displayed doesn't include the reference period, then incorporate the reference period into the question.
WARNING: In rare cases, the instrument will not allow you to update the information and will go to "errormd" when you enter a precode. In this situation, enter <B> to back to "Ckdisplay" and continue updating the other items.
[NOTE: CPS/CATI FR's may want to remove the following Fact
Sheet from this document and post it at their interviewing station
for use during March supplement interviewing. CPS/CATI FR's themselves
requested that a Fact Sheet like this one be developed for that
purpose.]
S-Q48A Series Report money earned by person from longest earnings job before any Wage & Salary deductions. Include the following if received as part of pay:
Q46 The job at which the person worked the greatest number of weeks
Longest Job during 1994. A person's longest job is not necessarily the longest one she/he has ever had. If the person had two or more jobs of equal length in 1994, consider the most recent job as longest job.
Q59A88 In addition to programs listed on screen, Item Q59A88 include as Public Assistance public assistance money received for Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC).
Examples of income Pay "in kind," benefits received in place of or in addition to cash you should exclude: wages; expense accounts; lump-sum payments; occasional gifts of money; cash received from selling one's own house, car, or other personal property; profits or loss from the sale of personally owned stocks (capital gains); withdrawals of savings from banks, or money obtained from the sale of other assets; money borrowed from banks, finance companies, etc.; refunds of money; and reimbursement for medical bills.
Q73A2 Include, as income, funds from the Alaska Permanent Fund, also Other Money Income called the Longevity fund and the State fund, which are paid to qualified residents of the State of Alaska. Also include severance pay and foster child care payments.
AFDC and ADC Aid to Families with Dependent Children
CHAMPUS Comprehensive Health and Medical Plan for Uniformed Services
CHAMPVA Civilian Health and Medical Plan of the Department of Veteran's Affairs
ANSWER KEY TO "QUICK REVIEW" EXERCISES
Part 1. Quick Review:
1a. Measure changes in income.
1b. Measure changes in the structure of American families.
Other possible answers for exercise 1:
Trace migration.
Calculate percentage of people living in poverty.
2. Shift F2.
3. b. Households consisting of civilians and Armed Forces members.
4. That you need to interview them again to ensure that Hispanics are adequately represented in the Income Supplement.
5a. When you can't finish the supplement interview for the entire household.
5b. When you have "D" entries for "must" income items.
Part 2. Quick Review:
1a. Basic CPS items.
1b. Extra (Non-Supplement) items
1c. Income Supplement items.
2. 5th month-in-sample.
3a. No Hispanic member 15 or older.
3b. Reference person wasn't a household member in November.
(Another possible reason: vacant unit)
4. Whenever there is at least one RACE entry equal to 4 (API) for the household.
5. By entering "A."
6. By asking the question matter-of-factly, without changing pace or tone of voice.
7. The total money income of the reference person plus that of all his/her relatives 15 or older who are household members.
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections A and B
1a. First we ask certain items (Work Experience, Earned Income, and Unemployment Compensation, etc.) for all household members on a person-by-person basis.
1b. Then we ask all other supplement questions on a household basis.
2. By entering "I."
3a. The reference dates for the Migration items are March 1, 1990 and March 1, 1994.
3b. The reference period for the Income items is January 1, 1994 through December 31, 1994.
4. By entering "H"
5a. State abbreviation or name of military installation, if State is not known.
6. Ask if the person had to pay city taxes.
Part 3. Quick Review of Section C
1. Paid leave
2a. That the reason the respondent gave is the main reason for not working in 1994.
2b. That the reason the respondent gave is the main reason for not working or looking for work in 1994.
3. Different
4. The total number of employers for such people would be the same as the number of different types of work they do throughout the year.
5. The one at which the person worked the greatest number of weeks in 1994.
6. All
Part 3. Quick Review of Section D
1a. We need data on small amounts of income and on income from government programs, and not all income is reported in tax returns.
1b. We need income data on a family basis and tax returns are reported on a type of tax return basis.
1c. We need data not only on income, but also on age, race, sex, and occupation. Tax returns do not provide data on age, race, etc.
2. By entering F12.
3a. If the child's income is received by an adult on the child's behalf.
3b. If the child's income is received jointly with an adult.
4a. Wage and salary income
4b. Income from incorporated business
4c. Income from non-incorporated, own nonfarm business
4d. Income from own farm
5a. Commissions
5b. Tips
5c. Bonuses (non-military)
6. Net
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections E, F, and G
1a. Benefits paid by private companies to employees during layoff.
1b. Yes
2a. No
2b. Because sick pay should be reported as wage or salary income.
4a. Blue
4b. First
4c. Gold
4d. Third
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections H and I
1a. Under $50,000
1b. Blank
1c. Refused
2a. General assistance
2b. Refugee assistance
3a. Sixty-five years old or older
3b. Not working
4a. Spouse
4b. Children
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections J, K, and L
3a. No
3b. No
4. Were injured or became ill as a result of working conditions on the job.
5a. No. Retired military personnel who served for 20 or more years in the Armed Forces.
5b. Wage-and-salary
5c. Self-employed
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections M, N, O, and P
1a. Yes
1b. Yes
1c. Yes
2a. Stock
2b. Because stocks are the main source of dividends.
3. Expenses
4. The rent income was not included as earned income in Q48b and Q49B2.
5. The educational assistance income was not included as earned income in Q48a and Q49B1.
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections Q, R, and S
1a. Not include
1b. Not include
2a. Regularly
2b. Educational
3a. Money received in one lump-sum.
3b. Occasional gifts of money from persons outside the household.
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections T and U
1a. Received health insurance coverage in his/her own name through their current or former employer or union
1b. Was covered by more than one policy, and at least one of the policies was in the person's own name and was provided through a current or former employer or union
2a. Comprehensive Health and Medical Plan for the Uniformed Services
2b. Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veteran's Affairs
3. For each person who worked at a job or business last year (or for each person with a <1> entry in Q29a or Q29b).
Part 3. Quick Review of Sections V, W, X, and Y
1. "Usually" in Q80 means more than half the time (either half the year or half the week).
2a. Will not
2b. Will
3a. State
3b. Local
4. October 1, 1994
Item Name Item Subject Page
HH32b Hispanic Sample 12
SNAD1 " " 12
HH32d " " 12
SNAD2 " " 12
API-intro Asian & Pacific Islanders 14
API34 " " 14
API-help " " 14
SSN-scrn Social Security Number 15
FAMIN-scrn Family Income 16
Pr-incom First Supplement Item 23
MIGSAM Migration 24
MIGLIV " 25
MIGPLC " 26
MIGSTA " 26
MIGZIP " 27
MIGCLM " 27
MIGCOU " 28
MIGCN1-MIGCN4 " 28
MIGALL " 29
MIGM " 29
NXTSAM " 29
NXTLIV " 29
NXTPLC " 29
NXTSTA " 29
NXTZIP " 30
NXTCLM " 30
NXTCOU " 30
NXTCN1-NXTCN4 " 30
MOVSAM " 30
MOVLIV " 31
MOVSTA " 32
MOVALL " 33
MOVM " 33
NXTMOB " 33
NXTLIV " 33
NXTST " 33
Q29a Work Experience 36
Q29b " " 37
Q30 " " 37
Q31 " " 37
Q32 " " 37
Q33 " " 38
Q35 Work Experience 40
Q36 " " 41
Q37 " " 41
Q38 " " 41
Q39 " " 42
Q41 " " 44
Q43 " " 45
Q44 " " 46
Q45 " " 46
Q46 " " 47
Q47a through Q47E1c " " 47
Q4788 " " 51
S-Q48a through Q48aad Series Earned Income 70
Q48b and Q48BLO " " 72
Q48c " " 73
Q49a " " 73
S-Q49B1 through Q49B1ad Series " " 73
Q49B2 " " 74
Q49B3 " " 74
CHK50A " " 75
Q50b and Q50b-add " " 75
Q51A1 through Q51A14 Unempl. & Worker's Comp. 79
Q51A2 through Q51A24 " " " 80
Q51A3 through Q51A34 " " " 80
Q52a-Q52b " " ". 81
Q52cp through Q52c4 Series " " " 82
Q56a-Q56b Social Security 84
Q56dp through Q56d6 Series " " 85
Q56f-Q56g " " 87
Q56ip through Q56i5 Series " " 88
Q57a and Q57b Supplemental Security Income 90
Q57cp through Q57c5 " " " 90
Q59A88 and Q59b-88 Public Assistance 94
Q59C88 " " 94
Q59ep through Q59e4 " " 97
Q60A88 and Q60b-88 Veteran's Payments 98
Q60c-88 " " 99
Q60D88 " " 100
Q60e-88 through Q60e-88cal " " 100
Q58a and Q58b Survivor Benefits 103
Q58c " " 103
Q58E1 through Q58E4 " " 105
Q59a and Q59b Disability Income 106
Q60a and Q60b Disability Income 107
Q61b and Q61c " " 107
Q61E1 through Q61E4 " " 110
Q62a and Q62b Retirement & Pension 110
Q62c " " 112
Q62E1p through Q62E14 " " 113
Q62E2p through Q62E24 " " 113
Q62E3p through Q62E34 " " 113
Q63A1 through Q63b Interest 117
Q63c " 118
Q64a and Q64b Dividends 119
Q64c Dividends 120
Q65A1 through Q65b Property Income 122
Q65c " " 123
Q66a Education Assistance 124
Q66b and Q66c " " 125
Q66d " " 125
Q69F88 " " 126
Q66h " " 126
Q70a and Q70b Child Support & Alimony 129
Q70cp through Q70c4 " " " 129
Q71a and Q71b " " " 130
Q71cp through Q71c4 " " " 130
Q72a and Q72b Regular Financial Assistance 130
Q72cp through Q72c4 " " " 131
Q73A1 through Q73A1b Other Money Income 133
Q73A1C and Q73A1d " " " 133
Q73A2 and Q73A2b " " " 134
Q73A2c and Q73A2d " " " 134
SHI1 Health Insurance 137
SHI2 through SHI4 " " 137
SHI5 " " 138
SHI6 " " 138
SHI7 through SHI10 " " 139
SHI11 and SHI12 " " 140
SHI13 and SHI14 " " 140
SHI15 and SHI16 " " 142
SHI17 " " 143
SHI18 through SHI20a " " 143
SHIC1 through SHIC3 " " 145
SHI21 through SHI23a " " 145
SHI24 through SHI25 " " 146
Q74a and Q74b Employer's Pension Plan 146
SUNITS 147
Q80 School Lunches 149
Q83 " " 149
Q85 Public Housing 150
Q86 " " 151
Q87 Food Stamps 154
Q88 " " 155
Q90p through Q904 Series " " 155
Q93 Energy Assistance 156
Q93PR1 and Q93PR2 " " 161
Q94 " " 162
Ckdisplay "Must" Income Items 165
Annual Demographic Survey (March CPS Supplement) 1995 Methodology and Documentation Page
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