DOI: 10.3886/icpsr09176.v1
title: Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) 1985 Panel
title: Version 1

description: This data collection is part of a longitudinal survey designed to provide detailed information on the economic situation of households and persons in the United States. These data examine the distribution of income, wealth, and poverty in American society and gauge the effects of federal and state programs on the well-being of families and individuals. There are three basic elements contained in the survey. The first is a control card that records basic social and demographic characteristics for each person in a household, as well as changes in such characteristics over the course of the interviewing period. The second element is the core portion of the questionnaire, with questions repeated at each interview on labor force activity, types and amounts of income, participation in various cash and noncash benefit programs, attendance in postsecondary schools, private health insurance coverage, public or subsidized rental housing, low-income energy assistance, and school breakfast and lunch participation. The third element consists of topical modules, which are series of supplemental questions asked during selected household visits. Topical modules were not created for the first or second waves of the 1985 panel. The topical module for Wave III contains information on assets and liabilities. Included are questions on loans, IRAs, medical bills, other debts, checking accounts, and savings bonds, as well as questions related to mortgages, royalties, and other investments, real estate property and vehicles, rental income, self-employment, and stocks and mutual fund shares. The Wave IV topical module contains information on fertility history, household relationships, marital history, migration history, support for non-household members, and work-related expenses. The topical module for Wave VI includes data on child care arrangements, child support agreements, support for non-household members, job offers, health status and utilization of health care services, long-term care, and disability status of children. Wave VII topical module contains information on assets and liabilities. Included are questions on pension plan coverage, lump sum distributions from pension plans, characteristics of job from which retired, and characteristics of home financing arrangements. Frequencies for each wave are also provided. Parts 27 and 28 of this study are the unedited research files for Wave V and Wave VIII Topical Modules, obtained from the Census Bureau. These files include data on annual income, retirement accounts, taxes, school enrollment, and financing. These two topical module files have not been edited nor imputed, although they have been topcoded or bottomcoded and recoded if necessary by the Census Bureau to avoid disclosure of individual respondents' identities.
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS0: Study-Level Files 
 DS1: Wave I Rectangular File 
 DS2: Data Dictionary for Wave I Rectangular File 
 DS3: Wave II Rectangular File 
 DS4: Data Dictionary for Wave II Rectangular File 
 DS5: Wave III Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS6: Data Dictionary for Wave III Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS7: Wave IV Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS8: Data Dictionary for Wave IV Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS9: Wave V Rectangular File 
 DS10: Data Dictionary for Wave V Rectangular File 
 DS11: Wave VI Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS12: Data Dictionary for Wave VI Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS13: Wave VII Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS14: Data Dictionary for Wave VII Rectangular Core and Topical Module File 
 DS15: Wave VIII Rectangular File 
 DS16: Data Dictionary for Wave VIII Rectangular File 
 DS17: Frequencies, Wave I 
 DS18: Frequencies, Wave II 
 DS19: Frequencies, Wave III 
 DS20: Frequencies, Wave IV 
 DS21: Frequencies, Wave V 
 DS22: Frequencies, Wave VI 
 DS23: Frequencies, Wave VII 
 DS24: Frequencies, Wave VIII 
 DS25: User Guide 
 DS26: User Notes 
 DS27: Wave V Topical Module Research File 
 DS28: Wave VIII Topical Module Research File
description: Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) Series
description: Resident population of the United States, excluding persons living in institutions and military barracks.
description: A multistage stratified sampling design was used. The 1985 panel consisted of 13,349 households. One-fourth of these households were interviewed each month, and households were re-interviewed at four-month intervals. All persons at least 15 years old who were present as household members at the time of the first interview were included for the entire study, except for those who joined the military, were institutionalized for the entire study period, or moved from the United States. Original household members who moved within the United States during the study period were followed to their new residences and interviewed there. New persons moving into households of members of the original sample also were included in the survey, but were not followed if they left the household of an original sample person.