DOI: 10.3886/icpsr09855.v1
title: Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) [1991 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 a series of supplemental questions asked during selected household visits. Topical modules include some core data to help link individuals to the core files. A topical module was not created for the first wave of the 1991 Panel. The Wave 2 Topical Module (Part 5) covers employment, work disability, education and training, marital status, migration, fertility history, and receipt of benefits from government programs. The Wave 3 Topical Module (Part 9) includes data concerning work schedule, child care, child support agreements, support for nonhousehold members, functional limitations and disability, and utilization of health care services. Data in the Wave 4 Topical Module (Part 13) include selected financial assets, medical expenses and work disability, real estate, shelter costs, dependent care, and vehicles. The Wave 5 Topical Module (Part 17) covers annual income and retirement accounts, taxes, and school enrollment and financing. The Wave 6 Topical Module (Part 20) includes information on consumer durables, living conditions, and basic needs. The Wave 7 Topical Module (Part 22) focuses on assets and liabilities, retirement expectations and pension plan coverage, and real estate property and vehicles. The Wave 8 Topical Module (Part 24) covers school enrollment and financing. Part 26 of this study is the Wave 5 Topical Module Microdata Research File, an unedited version of Part 17. This research file has not been edited nor imputed but has 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 1 Core Microdata File 
 DS2: Data Dictionary for Wave 1 Core Microdata File 
 DS3: Wave 2 Core Microdata File 
 DS4: Data Dictionary for Wave 2 Core Microdata File 
 DS5: Wave 2 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS6: Data Dictionary for Wave 2 Topical Module File 
 DS7: Wave 3 Core Microdata File 
 DS8: Data Dictionary for Wave 3 Core Microdata File 
 DS9: Wave 3 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS10: Data Dictionary for Wave 3 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS11: Wave 4 Core Microdata File 
 DS12: Data Dictionary for Wave 4 Core Microdata File 
 DS13: Wave 4 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS14: Data Dictionary for Wave 4 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS15: Wave 5 Core Microdata File 
 DS16: Data Dictionary for Wave 5 Core Microdata File 
 DS17: Wave 5 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS18: Data Dictionary for Wave 5 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS19: Wave 6 Core Microdata File 
 DS20: Wave 6 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS21: Wave 7 Core Microdata File 
 DS22: Wave 7 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS23: Wave 8 Core Microdata File 
 DS24: Wave 8 Topical Module Microdata File 
 DS25: User Notes 
 DS26: Wave 5 Topical Module Microdata Research File
description: Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) Series
description: (1) Beginning with the 1990 Panel, the file structure of SIPP was changed. The unit of observation is one record for each person for each month, rather than one record per person. Also, topical modules are provided separately from the core files. (2) The codebooks are provided as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.
description: Resident population of the United States, excluding persons living in institutions and military barracks.
description: A multistage stratified sampling design was used. One-fourth of the sample households were interviewed each month, and households were reinterviewed 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 those who joined the military, were institutionalized for the entire study period, or moved from the United States. Original household members who moved 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.