Marital History Variables Group (SSBV7)

Marital History Variables

Marital history is presented as two arrays of 8 elements describing up to 4 marriages. This history retains at most 4 dates of origin and the associated 4 dates of dissolution (whether due to divorce or death), if applicable, along with the corresponding type of event (marriage, divorce, or widowhood) for each SIPP respondent. The wave 2 Marital History topical module provides the majority of this information for up to 3 marriages. If an individual had more than 3 marriages, no dates for those marriages between the second and most recent are collected during the topical module interview. For individuals who participate in the topical module, we supplement this information by searching for new marriages or the termination of an existing marriage utilizing our knowledge of monthly marital status covering the period of the panel beyond wave 2. We rely exclusively on the complete set of monthly marital status indicators for people who do not participate in the topical module. The two marital history arrays, one comprised of dates and the other of event types, are edited to ensure internal consistency for linked spouses. Missing event dates or reasons are acquired from the spouse who has provided this information during a SIPP interview. This means that in the case of a deceased individual, the surviving spouse's report of widowhood is transferred to their former spouse. Likewise, for respondents who leave the household due to divorce (and are no longer interviewed by the SIPP), the spouse remaining in the household supplies the details regarding marital dissolution for both. It is possible for beginning or ending date information to not identically match for the linked spouses. In this case, we evaluate whether topical module details were supplied. If both spouses participated in the topical module, the data are considered as likely to be reliable from either individual. We examine whether the first spouse's beginning date occurs before the previous marriage end date for either spouse while the second spouse's beginning date occurs after the previous marriage end date of both spouses. If so, then the second spouse's beginning date replaces the first spouse's beginning date. Alternatively, if the reverse is true, then the first spouse's beginning date replaces the second spouse's beginning date. When no obvious conflicts with the date of the start of the current marriage and the date of termination of the previous marriages of either spouse exist, then a random number is used to determine which spouse's information to retain. A similar algorithm is implemented to resolve issues relating to non-matching ending dates of the linked spouses (in this case, each spouse's subsequent marital start date is taken into consideration). When disagreements between the beginning or ending dates occur and only one of the two spouses participated in the topical module, the participating spouse's information is considered to be more reliable (provided that the adoption of the date presents no conflicts with previous or subsequent marital events for either spouse). In the absence of topical module participation for both spouses, a random number is used to determine which spouse's information to retain. Any persisting conflicts between dates of marital events are remedied by utilizing a random number to determine the most reasonable event date for the pair. As a final step, the cleaned file is carefully reviewed once more to ensure internal consistency.

flag_mar4t

obs_first_sipp_mar_num