Description

For persons aged 16 and older who have been married and are in scope, MARSTRD reports the person's current marital status, in round. MARSTRD uses AHRQ-provided information about whether or not a person's spouse is present in the household with the marital status information from MARSTATRD to report the person's marital status and presence of a spouse.

AHRQ collects data about the presence of a spouse in the household separately from questions asking about marital status, and this information is instead gathered when persons identify the location of their spouse in the household (SPOUSEPNUMRD). There is no consistency check between the presence of spouse variables and marital status. AHRQ documentation notes that discrepancies may reflect ambiguity around when a change in marital status occurred (e.g., relationship among household members information is asked for all persons living in the household at any time during the round, while marital status is asked as of the interview date), valid discrepancies where persons are married and not living together, or separated but still living together. IPUMS assigns unique codes for persons who are ineligible to report their marital status, but who have information about having a spouse in the household.

Comparability

In 1996, MARSTRD only includes eligible persons in rounds 1 and 2 of data collection who are aged 16 or older and who have ever been married; in subsequent years, MARSTRD is available for all persons aged 16 and older who have ever been married and who are inscope. Otherwise, this variable is completely comparable across time.

Universe

Availability

• 1996-2022

Weights

• 1996-2021 : PERWEIGHT

Flags