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| Note 2: The Current Population Survey (CPS) |
The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of approximately 50,000 households that are selected scientifically from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The CPS has been conducted for more than 50 years. The Bureau of the Census conducts the survey for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, asking a knowledgeable adult household member (known as the “household respondent”) to answer all the questions on all of the month’s questionnaires for all members of the household. The CPS collects data on the social and economic characteristics of the civilian, noninstitutional population, including information on income, education, and participation in the labor force. However, the CPS does not collect all this information every month. Each month a “basic” CPS questionnaire is used to collect data about participation in the labor force of each household member, 15 years old and above, in every sampled household. In addition, different supplemental questionnaires are administered each month to collect information on other topics. In March and October of each year, the supplementary questionnaires contain some questions of relevance to education policy. The Annual Social and Economic Supplement, or March CPS Supplement, is a primary source of detailed information on income and work experience in the United States. The labor force and work experience data from this survey are used to profile the U.S. labor market and to make employment projections. Data from this survey are also used to generate the annual Population Profile of the United States, reports on geographical mobility, educational attainment, and detailed analyses of wage rates, earnings, and poverty status. The October Supplement contains basic annual school enrollment data for preschool, elementary and secondary, and postsecondary students, as well as educational background information needed to produce dropout estimates on an annual basis. In addition to the basic questions about education, interviewers ask supplementary questions about school enrollment for all household members 3 years old and above. CPS interviewers initially used printed questionnaires. Since 1994, the Census Bureau has used Computer-Assisted Personal and Telephone Interviewing (CAPI and CATI) to collect data. Both technologies allow interviewers to use a complex questionnaire and increases consistency by reducing interviewer error. Further information on the CPS can be found at http://www.bls.census.gov/cps DEFINITION OF SELECTED VARIABLES Family income The October CPS collects data on family income, which are used in indicators 3 and 16 to measure a student’s economic standing. Family income is derived from a single question asked of the household respondent. Income includes money income from all sources including jobs, business, interest, rent, and social security payments. The income of nonrelatives living in the household is excluded, but the income of all family members 14 years old and above, including those temporarily living away, is included. Family income refers to income received over a 12-month period. Families in the bottom 20 percent of all family incomes are classified as low income, families in the top 20 percent of all family incomes are classified as high income, and families in the 60 percent between these two categories are classified as middle income. The table below shows the current dollar amount (rounded to the nearest $100) of the breakpoints between low and middle income and between middle and high income. For example, low income in 2000 is defined as the range between $0 and $15,300; middle income is defined as the range between $15,301 and $72,000; and high income is defined as $72,001 and over. Therefore, the breakpoints between low and middle income and between middle and high income are $15,300 and $72,000, respectively. Parental education For indicator 3, information on parents’ education was obtained by merging data from parents’ records with their children’s. Estimates of a mother’s and father’s education were calculated only for children who lived with their parents at the time of the survey. For example, estimates of a mother’s education are based on children who lived with “both parents” or with “mother only.” For children who lived with “father only,” the mother’s education was unknown; therefore, the “unknown” group was excluded in the calculation of this variable. Event dropout rate Indicator 16 reports event dropout rates by family income. Event dropout rates measure the proportion of students who drop out of high school in a given year. They are computed using CPS data on the number of youth ages 15–24 who, in the data collection year, were not enrolled in school, had not earned a diploma or alternative credential, and had been enrolled the previous October in high school. There are several issues that affect interpreting dropout rates by family income using the CPS. First, it is possible that the family income of the students at the time they dropped out was somewhat different from that at the time of the CPS interview. Furthermore, family income is derived from a single question asked of the household respondent in the October CPS. In some cases, there are persons ages 15–24 living in the household who are unrelated to the household respondent yet whose family income is defined as the income of the family of the household respondent. Therefore, the current household income of the respondent may not accurately reflect that person’s family background. In particular, some of the young adults ages 15–24 do not live in a family unit with a parent present. The October survey was administered to about 56,700 households. About 11,300 households were classified as low income. Of the low-income households, about 2,300 included 15- through 24-year-olds. The use of event dropout rates, which are based on a smaller number of cases than status dropout rates, contributes to large annual fluctuations. An analysis of 1997 event dropout rates by family income and family status (presence of parent in the household) indicates whether any bias is introduced into the analysis of dropout rates by family income of youth not living with at least one parent. About 10 percent of 15- through 24-year-olds enrolled in high school in the previous year were not living with a parent, and the percentage was much higher for students in low-income households than for those in middle- and high-income households. The event dropout rate was lower for those with at least one parent in the household than for those not living with a parent. This was true for all 15- through 24-year-olds as well as within each category of household income. The dropout rate for those with at least one parent in the household was 82 to 83 percent of the dropout rate for all 15- through 24-year-olds within each of the three categories of household income. As a result, despite the fact that a much higher proportion of students in low-income households did not reside with a parent, the relative relationships among dropout rates for the three income groups were similar for those with a parent in the household to those for all 15- through 24-year-olds. Specifically, the event dropout rate for those from low-income households was about three times higher than for those from middle-income households and seven times higher than for those from high-income households, both among all 15- through 24-year-olds and among those residing with at least one parent. Youth neither enrolled nor working The March CPS Supplement added questions to collect information on the educational enrollment of all respondents as well as on their employment status in 1986. To construct the variable for indicator 13, all youth ages 16–24 were categorized as being in one of four categories: “enrolled in an education institution but not working”; “working but not enrolled”; “both enrolled and working”; or “neither enrolled nor working.” Respondents who were unemployed and looking for work as well as those who were unemployed and not in the labor force (i.e., not looking for work) were both considered not working. The category “neither enrolled nor working” used in indicator 13 comprises the population of youth neither enrolled nor working. Educational Attainment Data from CPS questions on educational attainment are used in indicators 3, 13, and 14. From 1972 to 1991, two CPS questions provided data on the number of years of school completed: (1) “What is the highest grade . . . ever attended?” and (2) “Did . . . complete it?” An individual’s educational attainment was considered to be his or her last fully completed year of school. Individuals who completed 12 years were deemed to be high school graduates, as were those who began but did not complete the first year of college. Respondents who completed 16 or more years were counted as college graduates. Beginning in 1992, the CPS combined the two questions into the following question: “What is the highest level of school . . . completed or the highest degree . . . received?” This change means that some data collected before 1992 are not strictly comparable with data collected from 1992 onward and that care must be taken when making such comparisons. The new question revised the response categories from the highest grade completed to the highest level of schooling or degree completed. In the revised response categories, several of the lower levels are combined into a single summary category such as “1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grades.” Several new categories are used, including “12th grade, no diploma”; “High school graduate, high school diploma, or the equivalent”; and “Some college but no degree.” College degrees are now listed by type, allowing for a more accurate description of educational attainment. The new question emphasizes credentials received rather than the last grade level attended or completed if attendance did not lead to a credential. The new categories include the following:
High School Completion The pre-1992 questions about educational attainment did not specifically consider high school equivalency certificates (GEDs). Consequently, an individual who attended 10th grade, dropped out without completing that grade, and who subsequently received a high school equivalency credential would not have been counted as completing 12th grade. The new question counts these individuals as if they are high school completers. Since 1988, an additional question has also asked respondents if they have a high school degree or the equivalent, such as a GED. People who respond “yes” are classified as high school completers. Before 1988, the number of individuals who earned a high school equivalency certificate was small relative to the number of high school graduates, so that the subsequent increase from including equivalency certificate recipients in the total number of people counted as “high school completers” was small in the years immediately after the change was made. Before 1992, the CPS considered individuals who completed 12th grade to be high school graduates. The revised question added the response category “12th grade, no diploma.” Individuals who select this response are not counted as graduates. Historically, the number of individuals in this category has been small. College completion Some students require more than 4 years to earn an undergraduate degree, so some researchers are concerned that the completion rate, based on the pre-1992 category “4th year or higher of college completed,” overstates the number of respondents with a bachelor’s degree (or higher). In fact, however, the completion rates among those ages 25–29 in 1992 and 1993 were similar to the completion rates for those in 1990 and 1991, before the change in the question’s wording. Thus, there appears to be good reason to conclude that the change has not affected the completion rates reported in The Condition of Education 2004. Some college Based on the question used in 1992 and in subsequent surveys, an individual who attended college for less than a full academic year would respond “some college but no degree.” Before 1992, the appropriate response would have been “attended first year of college and did not complete it”; the calculation of the percentage of the population with 1–3 years of college excluded these individuals. With the new question, such respondents are placed in the “some college but no degree” category. Thus, the percentage of individuals with some college might be larger than the percentage with 1–3 years of college because “some college” includes those who have not completed an entire year of college, whereas “1–3 years of college” does not include these people. Therefore, it is not appropriate to make comparisons between the percentage of those with “some college but no degree” using the post-1991 question and the percentage of those who completed “1–3 years of college” using the two pre-1992 questions. In The Condition of Education, the “some college” category for years preceding 1992 includes only the responses “1–3 years of college.” After 1991, the “some college” category includes those who responded “some college but no degree,” “Associate’s degree in college, occupational/vocational program,” and “Associate’s degree in college, academic program.” The effect of this change of the “some college category” is indicated by the fact that in 1992, 48.9 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds reported completing some college or more compared with 45.3 percent in 1991 (see NCES 2002–025, table 25-2). The 3.6 percent difference is statistically significant. Some of the increase may be due to individuals who have completed less than 1 year of postsecondary education who in years preceding 1992 would not have responded that they completed “some college.” Another potential difference in the “some college” category is how individuals who have completed a certificate or some other type of award other than a degree respond to the new questions about their educational attainment introduced in 1992. Some may answer “some college, no degree,” while others may indicate only high school completion, and others may equate their certificate with one of the types of associate’s degrees. No information is available on the tendencies of individuals with a postsecondary credential other than a bachelor’s or higher degree to respond to the new attainment question introduced in 1992. |
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Dollar value (in current dollars) at the breakpoint between low- and middle- and between middle- and high-income categories of family income: October 1970-2001  —Not applicable. NOTE: Amounts are rounded to the nearest $100. |
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Percentage distribution of event dropouts for 15- through 24-year-olds according to household type, by family income: October 1997  †Not applicable. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey (CPS), October Supplement 1997. |
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