DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04378.v1
title: Current Population Survey, March/April 1990 Match Files: Alimony and Child Support
title: Version 1

description: This data collection is comprised of responses from the
 March and April installments of the 1990 Current Population Survey
 (CPS). Both the March and April surveys used two sets of questions,
 the basic CPS and a separate supplement for each month.
 The CPS, administered monthly, is a labor force survey providing
 current estimates of the economic status and activities of the
 population of the United States. Specifically, the CPS provides
 estimates of total employment (both farm and nonfarm), nonfarm
 self-employed persons, domestics, and unpaid helpers in nonfarm family
 enterprises, wage and salaried employees, and estimates of total
 unemployment.
 In addition to the basic CPS questions, respondents were asked
 supplemental questions in March about the economic situation of
 persons and families for the previous year. About 39,000 of the
 housing units interviewed in March were interviewed again in April. In
 these housing units all women 15 years of age and older who had
 children were asked the April CPS supplemental questions. These
 questions concerned child support and alimony payments. Of the 43,018
 women found eligible in March, 39,474 of them women matched women
 interviewed in April. For the remaining 3,544 women interviewed in
 March, the child support and alimony information was imputed.
 Information regarding child support and alimony was collected to
 determine the size and distribution of the female population with
 children affected by divorce or separation. Moreover, the data were
 collected to better understand the characteristics of persons
 requiring child support and alimony, and to help develop and maintain
 programs designed to assist in obtaining child support. These data
 highlight alimony and child support arrangements made at the time of
 separation or divorce, amount of payments actually received, and value
 and type of any property settlement.
 This collection also contains data covering nine noncash income
 sources: food stamps, school lunch program, employer-provided group
 health insurance, employer-provided pension plan, personal health
 insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, the Civilian Health and Medical Program
 of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS), and energy assistance.
 Demographic variables include age, sex, race, marital status, veteran
 status, educational attainment, occupation, and income. Data on
 employment and income refer to the preceding year, although other
 demographic data refer to the time at which the survey was
administered.
description: For all CPS data files, a single weight was prepared and
 used to compute the monthly labor force status estimates. An
 additional weight was prepared to roughly correspond to wage and
 salary workers. The difference in content of the March CPS supplement
 required the presentation of a household weight, a family weight, and
 a March supplement weight. Users are strongly encouraged to refer to
 the user guide for additional information concerning the weights used
in this collection.
description: A multistage probability sample was used for the housing
unit.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Current Population Survey, March/April 1990 Match Files: Alimony and Child Support
description: The civilian noninstitutional population of the United
 States living in housing units, as well as members of the Armed Forces
 living in civilian housing units on a military base or in a household
not on a military base.
description: face-to-face interview(1) These data are distributed exactly as they arrived
 from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed the data.
 Users should contact the principal investigators if further
 information is desired. (2) In this hierarchical dataset, there are
 three record types: Household, with 132 variables, Family, with 69
 variables, and Person with 402 variables. (3) The file is sorted by
 Census state code (MSTSTATE), then by MSA/PMSA rank code. (4) Users
 are strongly encouraged to read the User Guide, which contains the
 questionnaires for the supplements and additional technical
documentation.