Abstract
The Current Population Survey, designed to produce the official monthly labor force statistics, is valuable for many labor force studies. Long-term longitudinal labor force information is available from several sources, most notably the National Longitudinal Surveys. In contrast, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) was designed for analyzing within-year receipt of, and transitions in, income and program participation. Changing interviewing frequency and time in sample to improve SIPP's usefulness for these purposes while maintaining survey quality would be unlikely to enhance its role in providing labor force data. SIPP's most important uses for labor market studies are expected to center on the relationship of employment and unemployment to income and program participation and on various topics using its detailed data modules. This paper recommends consideration of alternative questionnaire methods to reduce SIPP's wave-seam problem, including an NLS-like employment history approach.
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