Description

Available in all survey years, FTOTINCCPS is an IPUMS MEPS-constructed variable that represents the sum of total personal income (INCTOT) (excluding tax refunds and capital gains) across all members of the CPS-defined family.

CPS families are defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, adoption and residing together. Unlike the MEPS-defined family, CPS family does not include unmarried partners or foster children.

FTOTINCCPS was constructed by summing the public (edited and top-coded) versions of total individual income over CPS family members, as defined by CPSFAMID, to yield CPS family-level total income. Person-level total income amounts comprised annual earnings from wages, salaries, bonuses, tips, commissions; business and farm games and losses; unemployment and workers' compensation; interest and dividends; alimony, child support, and other private cash transfers; private pensions, IRA withdrawals, social security, and veterans payments; supplemental security income and cash welfare payments from public assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and related programs; gains or losses from estates, trusts, partnerships, S corporations, rent, and royalties; and a small amount of "other" income. Person-level, and thus family-level, income excluded tax refunds and capital gains.

Beginning in 2007, the variable FTOTVAL was constructed from the person-level total income variable (INCTOT). Additionally, the IPUMS MEPS-constructed variable FTOTINCMEPS offers total family income for MEPS-defined families (includes foster children and unmarried partners). Like FTOTINCCPS, FTOTINCMEPS is constructed from the public (edited and top-coded) versions of total individual income.

FTOTINCCPS is 9 columns wide with 2 implied decimals. That is, values of 012345678 should be interpreted as 123456.78. The command files delivered with IPUMS extracts automatically divide FTOTINCCPS by 100, so no further adjustment is needed.

Comparability

There are no comparability issues.

Universe

Availability

• 1996-2021

Weights

• 1996-2021 : PERWEIGHT

Flags