Hello all,I'm trying to put together some state-level estimates of household eligibility for the American Connectivity Program. The eligibility requirements (sheet 2)are essentially the same as for Lifeline, but the income to poverty ration is 200%, rather than 135. I'm running this analysis for all states, but am just focusing on Alabama in this example. The estimate of eligible households produced (AL.pums) is much lower than expected compared to 2021 eligibility estimates in this dataset from USAC (sheet 1) (USAC manages Lifeline). I realize this is a really specific issue, but since this is my first time working with the PUMS data I have a feeling I may have made an error along the way. Thanks in advance for any help with this!
library(tidyverse)library(tidycensus)census_api_key(Sys.getenv("CENSUS_API_KEY"))pums_vars <- c("HINS4", "FS", "PAP", "SSIP", "POVPIP")all_pums <- get_pums(variables = pums_vars, state = "AL", year = 2020, survey = "acs5")AL.pums <- all_pums %>% #filter records that meet eligibility requirements subset(HINS4 == 1 | FS == 1 | PAP == 1:30000 | SSIP == 1:30000 | POVPIP == 0:200) %>% subset(SPORDER == 1) %>% #retain just one record per householdsummarize(hh_eligible = sum(WGTP)) #calculate total number of households eligible
Dear Christine
Just as a "heads up" on using the POVPIP variable. It is defined for every record whereas ACS detail table B17001 only defines poverty for the Universe: "Population for whom poverty status is determined". Hence the PUMS file should have some records where POVPIP is undefined. [NOTE 2-18-2023 The PUMS files do have records where POVPIP is undefined. They have a blank field in the PUMS csv files. However if you use the API as I did, -1 will be used as the missing value. I didn't realize this initially] There is no way to determine these records from the PUMS data. See the link below for details. I've cut an pasted from and earlier thread, including a message from the people at the Census.
I've just been through a round with the people at the Census on reconciling "below poverty" from the PUMS with "below poverty" for table B17001. Poverty is not defined for households only for families which includes only people in the household who are related to the "head of household." For example a renter not related to the family is not included in the calculation and is not part of the "universe." For the calculation with partial details see: https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html. You add up the income for all family members and then apply the formula which is based on total family income, number of family members and number of children. Here is the email that I just received from the people at the Census: (regarding matching numbers from B17001 and the calculation using the PUMS variables POVPIP RELSHIPP TYPEHUGQ AGEP.
Hi David,
Thanks for bringing up this point. I am aware that some populations are excluded when I use POVPIP, but I'm trying to recreate Lifeline eligibility estimates based on methodology provided by USAC and they specify that variable. So with that in mind, I need to use these specific variables. I'm wondering if the populations with "0" household weight were somehow accounted for in the eligibility estimate.
In their description it states, " Households are determined to be eligible for Lifeline if the householder reported any of the following in their response to ACS" - this leads me to wonder if they filtered on PERNUM (SPORDER) = 1, and applied person weights? I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I'll try it out and report back.
Dear Christine,
I have to do some additional research on this, but for the benefit of others who use poverty variables and who are reading this here is some additional information. Different Federal (and state) programs use slightly different definitions for "poverty." I did a small google search and found this HHS web page: https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines This webpage uses "family" and "household" interchangeably whereas the Census (ACS) considers them different "concepts."
For the ACS, I believe that a "household" (in contrast to a "group quarters") has a head of household. I think that this is "person 1" on the ACS survey form (please correct me if I have this wrong).
To go back to the Federal Register notice, www.federalregister.gov/.../annual-update-of-the-hhs-poverty-guidelines
"The poverty guidelines are used as an eligibility criterion by Medicaid and a number of other federal programs. The poverty guidelines issued here are a simplified version of the poverty thresholds that the Census Bureau uses to prepare its estimates of the number of individuals and families in poverty. " To continue:
"This notice does not provide definitions of such terms as ‘‘income’’ or ‘‘family’’ as there is considerable variation of these terms among programs that use the poverty guidelines. The legislation or regulations governing each program define these terms and determine how the program applies the poverty guidelines. In cases where legislation or regulations do not establish these definitions, the entity that administers or funds the program is responsible to define such terms as ‘‘income’’ and ‘‘family.’’ Therefore questions such as net or gross income, counted or excluded income, or household size should be directed to the entity that administers or funds the program. Dated: January 12, 2023."
One point that I would like to make is that the POVPIP variable in the PUMS file does not correspond to any of these definitions and should be use with care/modified as needed.
In the past I have communicated with the people at the census and have asked for the SAS code that is used to process the ACS survey form responses to produce the POVPIP variable in the PUMS file. Someone sent an outdated "Annotated Case Report Form" (in the FDA new drug application sense). They are reluctant to share the information presumably because it changes all the time and they don't want it "out there." You could probably make a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) to get the code used to process the ACS 1 year 2021 PUMS POVPIP variable. Maybe I'll give it a try.
Best,
Dave
If you want to know what an FDA Annotated case report form looks like, here are the guidelines:
wiki.cdisc.org/.../aCRF_Guideline_v1-0_20201120_publish.pdf
(sorry about the bad link in an earlier version of this post)
If you submit data to the FDA you need to provide an Annotated Case Report Form for every data item you submit. The guidelines give you an idea of the required detail (46 pages) !