Support #2192
open
parental status
50%
Description
I am looking for the proportion of adults aged 16 and over (or 18 and over) who are parents, whether or not the child/ren are under or over 18 years and whether or not the child/ren are living in the parental home. Parents can include biological parents, adoptive parents, and guardians.
Looking at the variable list for the waves and at the mainstage wave 14 questionnaire, it looks like the data to answer this question are collected.
But I have searched unsuccessfully for a derived variable/user analysis that includes this information (i.e. the proportion of adults who are parents).
Could you possibly help me? Would be very much appreciated.
Updated by Understanding Society User Support Team 5 days ago
- Category set to Data documentation
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Hello Hilary,
There isn't a specific derived variable for this purpose, but there are variables that identify the number of children in the household. These include:
• nchild_dv: Number of own children in the household.
• anychild_dv: Indicates whether an individual has ever had a (biological) child.
• nkids_dv: Total number of children in the household.
Additionally, you can explore the “egoalt” and “xhhrel” files for more detailed relationship data:
• egoalt: Identifies relationships within the household and provides one file per wave.
• xhhrel: A cross-wave file that identifies relationships both inside and outside the household.
The key difference between the two files is that egoalt focuses on within-household relationships for each wave, while xhhrel offers a broader view of family relationships across waves.
For more information on the xhhrel file, please refer to: https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/documentation/mainstage/user-guides/main-survey-user-guide/connecting-family-members-and-households-over-time/ and the user guide https://understandingsociety.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/documentation/user-guides/6614_main_survey_user_guide_family_matrix_xhhrel.pdf
You might also want to explore the data management syntax available here (https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/documentation/main-survey/syntax/stata/stata-using-egoalt-file-create-household-composition-variables.do), which illustrates how to create household composition variables. For example, the syntax shows how to calculate the number of siblings in a household using the egoalt file. To adapt this for parents, simply modify the w_relationship_dv variable to reflect the value you need.
I hope this information is helpful.
Best wishes,
Roberto Cavazos
Understanding Society User Support Team