DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE 2003 AND 2004 ANNUAL DEMOGRAPHIC FILES

1. Value descriptions have changed for person item MARG-TAX.  The new descriptions are given in location 703 in the person record.
2. The itme PEINUSYR (location 731 on the person record) has a revised description for PEINUSYR = 17.  This value now means 2000-2001, and a new value, 18, appears.
3. Revised Topcodes:As was the case in previous years, all earnings and income items were subject to topcoding this year. The same topcodes used in 2003 were used again (see chart #1 below). Topcoded values were replaced with the average across all topcoded records. Chart #2 below provides these average amounts for the 12 socioeconomic cells within which we computed these averages. Cells with a ---- did not have any topcoded records. Cells with an * were collapsed together. Chart #3 contains the topcodes and average amounts for the noncash items.

Chart #1

Topcode Amounts for Earnings Fields

Field           Topcode

ERN-VAL         $200,000

WS-VAL            35,000

SE-VAL            50,000

FRM-VAL           25,000

Chart #2

Average (Replacement) Values for Earnings Fields

Cell          ERN-VAL         WS-VAL        SE-VAL            FRM-VAL

M,NBH,FTYR    $404,469        $89,988       $111,645          $67,545

M,NBH,OTH      352,161         85,005        154,049           72,338

M,B,FTYR       360,083        156,017        104,785*          37,503*

M,B,OTH        407,231*        50,720*       104,785*          ----

M,H,FTYR       427,646         64,536         91,233           50,171

M,H,OTH        407,231*        53,834*       104,785*         301,900

F,NBH,FTYR     390,847         67,710         99,464           40,178

F,NBH,OTH      520,705         50,853        104,785*          37,503*

F,B,FTYR       556,932*        57,293        104,785*          37,503*

F,B,OTH        407,231*        53,834*        ----             ---- 

F,H,FTYR       387,963         49,202         ----             ----

F,H,OTH        ----            53,834*       104,785*          37,503*

1/  Cell Definition:  (Key)

Column 1:    Sex:

             M=Male

             F= Female

Column 2:    Race/Origin:

             NBH=Not Black, Not Hispanic

             B=Black

             H=Hispanic

Column 3:    Work Experience:

             FTYR=Full Year (50+ weeks), Full Time (35+ hours per week)

             OTR=Not Full Year, Full Time

Chart #3

Income Source      Topcode                Average

SUR-VAL1           $50,000                $83,330

SUR-VAL2            50,000                 82,330

DIS-VAL1            35,000                 57,375

DIS-VAL2            35,000                 ----

RET-VAL1            45,000                 62,401

RET-VAL2            45,000                 61,613

INT-VAL             25,000                 51,372

DIV-VAL             15,000                 39,987

RNT-VAL             40,000                 74,636

ED-VAL              20,000                 30,986

CSP-VAL             15,000                 28,201

ALM-VAL             40,000                 74,692

FIN-VAL             30,000                 51,555

OI-VAL              25,000                 47,050

Topcoding of income affects recode variables.

The data after topcoding were used to create all combined income recodes on the file.  This means, for example, that one’s total income amount may include a topcoded amount among the income sources in the calculation.  Therefore, the total income amount may seem high when analyzing family poverty ratios.  Be careful when analyzing poverty data where topcoded income amounts appear.