Population coverage. This report includes the civilian noninstitutional population of the United States and members of the Armed Forces in the United States living off post or with their families on post, but excludes all other members of the Armed Forces.

Source of data. Most of the data shown in this report were obtained from the March supplement of the Current Population Survey. Data on school enrollment and voting and registration were collected in the October and November supplements, respectively. Data on the Hispanic population from the October and November supplements, unlike the March supplement, were not adjusted (controlled) with independent estimates of the Hispanic population. Consequently, substantial differences exist between adjusted and unadjusted estimates such as in the size of the Hispanic population. However, few statistically significant differences between the data sources were found among derived measures such as percents, medians, means, or rates. Table C-1 presents the most current CPS reports containing detailed data on the characteristics of the Hispanic population and whether the estimates of Hispanics are adjusted with or controlled to independent estimates of Hispanics.

Revised Survey Procedures. During the period from April 1984 through June 1985 the Bureau of the Census was systematically introducing a new sample design for the Current Population Survey. The purposes of this new sample design are to update the sampling frame to the 1980-census base, to improve survey efficiency, and to improve the quality of the survey estimates. By March 1985, approximately 60 percent of the sample was based on the new 1980-based sampling frame. Most geographic areas selected for the new sampling frame, about 80 percent, were also included in the 1970-based design.

Symbols. A dash (-) represents zero or rounds to zero, and the symbol "B" means that the base for the derived figure is less than 75,000. An "X" means not applicable, and "NA" means not available.

Rounding. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent; therefore, the percentages in a distribution do not always add to exactly 100.0 percent. The totals, however, are always shown as 100.0.

Moveover, individual figures are rounded to the nearest thousand without being adjusted to group totals, which are independently rounded; percentages are based on the unrounded numbers.

Persons of Spanish/Hispanic origin. Persons of Spanish (Hispanic) origin were identified by a question that asked for self-identification of the person's origin or descent. Respondents were asked to selected their origin (and the origin of other household members) from a "flashcard" listing ethnic origins. Persons of Hispanic origin, in particular, were those who indicated that their origin was Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or some other Spanish origin.

Age. This classification is based on the age of the person at his or her last birthday.

Marital status. The marital status classification identifies four major categories: single, married, widowed, and divorced. These terms refer to the marital status at the time of the enumeration.

The category "married" is further divided into "married, spouse present," and "married, spouse absent." A person was classified as "married, spouse present" if the husband or wife was reported as a member of the household, even though he or she may have been temporarily absent on business or vacation, visiting, in a hospital, etc., at the time of the enumeration. The group "married, spouse absent" includes married persons living apart because either the husband or wife was employed and living at a considerable distance from home; was serving away from home in the Armed Forces, was residing in an institution, had moved to another area, had separated from their spouse because of marital discord, or had a different place of residence for any other reason.

Family. A family is a group of two or more persons (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such persons (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family. Beginning with the 1980 CPS, unrelated subfamilies (referred to in the past as secondary families) are no longer included in the count of families, nor are the members of unrelated subfamilies included in the count of family members.

Hispanic family. A Hispanic family is defined as a family in which the family householder (defined below) is of Spanish origin.

Household. A household consists of all the persons who occupy a housing unit. A house, an apartment or other group of rooms, or a single room, is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters; that is, when the occupants do not live and eat with any other persons in the structure and there is either (1) direct access from the outside or though a common hall or (2) a kitchen or cooking equipment for the exclusive use of the occupants.

A household includes the related family members and all the unrelated persons, if any, such as lodgers, foster children, wards, or employees who share the housing unit. A person living alone in a housing unit, or a group of unrelated persons sharing a housing unit as partners, is also counted as a household. The count of households exludes group quarters.

Group quarters. As of 1983 group quarters were defined in the Current Population Survey as noninstitutional living arrangements for groups not living in conventional housing units or groups living in housing units containing nine or more persons (or prior to 1983 five or more persons) unrelated to the person in charge. Since 1972, inmates of institutions have not been included in the Current Population Survey.

Householder. The term "householder" refers to the person (or one of the persons) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented (maintained) or, if there is no such person, any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders, or paid employees. If the house is owned or rented jointly by a married couple, the householder may be either the husband or the wife. The person designated as the householder is the "reference person" to whom the relationship of all other household members, if any, is recorded.

Prior to 1980, the husband was always considered the householder in married-couple households. The number of householders is equal to the number of households. Also, the number of family householders is equal to the number of families.

Head versus householder. Beginning with the 1980 CPS, the Bureau of the Census discontinued the use of the terms "head of household" and "head of family." Instead, the terms "householder" and "family householder" are used. Recent social changes have resulted in greater sharing of household responsibilities among the adult members and, therefore, have made the term "head" increasingly inappropriate in the analysis of household and family data. Specifically, the Bureau has

discontinued its longtime practice of always classifying the husband as the reference person (head) when he and his wife are living together.

In this report, the term "householder" is used in the presentation of data that had previously been presented with the designation "head." The householder is the first adult household member listed on the questionnaire. The instructions call for listing first the person (or one of the persons) in whose name the home is owned or rented. If a home is owned jointly by a married couple, either the husband or the wife may be listed first, thereby becoming the reference person, or householder, to whom the relationship of other household members is to be recorded.

Family household. A family household is a household maintained by a family (as defined above), and any unrelated persons (unrelated subfamily members and/or secondary individuals) who may be residing there are included. The number of family households is equal to the number of families. The count of family household members differs from the count of family members, however, in that the family household members include all persons living in the household, whereas family members include only the householder and his/her relatives. (See the definition of family.)

Related subfamily. A related subfamily is a married couple with or without children, or one parent with one or more own single (never married) children under 18 years old, living in a household and related to, but not including, the person or couple who maintains the household. The most common example of a related subfamily is a young married couple sharing the home of the husband's or wife's parents. The number of related subfamilies is not included in the count of families. Unrelated subfamily. An unrelated subfamily (formerly called a secondary family) is a group of two or more persons who are related to each other by birth, marriage, or adoption, but who are not related to the householder. The unrelated subfamily may include persons such as guests, roomers, boarders, or resident employees and their relatives living in a household. The number of unrelated subfamily members is included in the number of household members but is not included in the count of family members.

Persons living with relatives in group quarters were formerly considered as members of unrelated subfamilies. However, the number of such unrelated subfamilies became so small (37,000 in 1967) that beginning with data for 1968 (and beginning with census data for 1960) the Bureau of the Census includes persons in these unrelated subfamilies in the count of secondary individuals.

Married couple. A married couple, as defined for census purposes, is a husband and wife enumerated as members of the same household. The married couple may or

may not have children living with them. The expression "husband-wife" or "married-couple" before the term "household," "family," or "subfamily" indicates that the household, family, or subfamily is maintained by a husband and wife. The number of married couples equals the count of married-couple families plus related and unrelated married-couple subfamilies.

Unrelated individuals. Unrelated individuals are persons of any age (other than inmates of institutions) who are not living with any relatives. An unrelated individual may be (1) a person living alone or with nonrelatives only, (2) a roomer, boarder, or resident employee with no relatives in the household, or (3) a group quarters member who has no relatives living with him/her. Thus, a widow who occupies her house alone or with one or more other persons not related to her, a roomer not related to anyone else in the housing unit, a maid living as a member of her employer's household with no relatives in the household, and a resident staff member in a hospital living apart from any relatives are all examples of unrelated individuals.

Nonfamily householder. A nonfamily householder (formerly called a primary individual) is a person maintaining a household while living alone or with nonrelatives only. Secondary individual. A secondary individual is a person in a household or group quarters such as a guest, roomer, boarder, or resident employee (excluding nonfamily householders and inmates of institutions) who is not related to any other person in the household or group quarters. (See section on unrelated subfamily for slight change in coverage of secondary individuals in 1968.)

Own children and related children. "Own" children in a family are sons and daughters, including stepchildren and adopted children, of the householder. Similarly, "own" children in a subfamily are sons and daughters of the married couple or parent in the subfamily. (All children shown as members of related subfamilies are own children of the person(s) maintaining the subfamily.) "Related" children in a family include own children and all other children in the household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. For each type of family unit identified in the CPS, the count of own children under 18 years old is limited to single (never married) children; however, "own children under 25" and "own children of any age," as the terms are used here, include all children regardless of marital status. The totals include never-married children living away from home in college dormitories.

Years of school completed. In this report, data on years of school completed were derived from the combination of answers to two questions, (a) "What is the highest grade of school that this person has attended?" and (b) "Did this person finish this grade?"

The questions on educational attainment applied only to progress in "regular" schools. Such schools include public, private, and parochial elementary and high schools (both junior and senior high), colleges, universities, and professional schools, whether day schools or night schools. Thus, "regular" schooling is that which advances a person toward an elementary or high school diploma, or a college, university, or professional school degree. Schooling in other than regular schools was counted only if the credits obtained were regarded as transferable to a school in the regular school system.

School enrollment. The school enrollment statistics from the October 1984 CPS are based on replies to the enumerator's inquiry as to whether the person was enrolled in school. Enumerators were instructed to count as enrolled anyone who had been enrolled at any time during the current term or school year in any type of graded public, parochial, or other private school in the regular school system. Such schools include nursery schools, kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, colleges, universities, and professional schools. Attendance may be on either a full-time or part-time basis and during the day or night. Thus, regular schooling is that which may advance a person toward an elementary or high school diploma, or a college, university, or professional school degree. Children enrolled in nursery schools and kindergarten are also included in the enrollment figures for "regular" schools.

"Special" schools are those which are not in the regular school system, such as trade schools or business colleges. Persons attending "special" schools are not included in the enrollment figures.

Persons enrolled in classes which do not require physical presence in school, such as correspondence courses or other courses of independent study, and in training courses given directly on the job, are also excluded from the count of those enrolled in school, unless such courses are being counted for credit at a "regular" school.

Reported voter participation and registration. Voter participation data for 1984 were derived from replies to the following question asked of persons (excluding noncitizens) of voting age: "In any election some people are not able to vote because they are sick or busy, or have some other reason, and others do not want to vote. Did (this person) vote in the election held on November 6th?"

Those of voting age were classified as "voted" or "did not vote." The "did not vote" class includes those reported as "did not vote," "do not know if voted," noncitizens, and nonrespondents. Nonrespondents and persons who reported that they did not know if they voted were included in the "did not vote" class because of the general overreporting by respondents in the sample.

The data shown on registration were obtained by tabulating replies to the following question for those persons included in the category "did not vote." "Was (this person) registered to vote in the November 6th election?"

All persons reported as having voted were assumed to have been registered. Therefore, the total registered population is obtained by combining the number of persons who voted and persons included in the category "did not vote," but who had registered.

The population of voting age includes a considerable number of persons who meet the age requirement but cannot register and vote. Only citizens are eligible to vote. Among citizens of voting age, some persons are not permited to vote because they have been committed to penal institutions, mental hospitals, or other institutions, or because they fail to meet State and local resident requirements for various reasons. The eligibility to register is governed by State laws which differ in many respects.

Children ever born. The question "How many babies has...ever had, if any? (Do not count stillbirths)" was asked of all women 18 to 44 years old. When asking about children ever born, interviewers were instructed to include children born to the woman before her present marriage, children no longer living, and children away from home as well as children who were still living in the home. It is possible that some never-married mothers living with one or more of their natural children reported themselves as having been married. In addition, many mothers who first married after the birth of one or more children counted those children, as they were expected to do. Nevertheless, data are probably less complete for births out of wedlock than for births within wedlock.

In filling out the interview schedule, the interviewer entered the number of children ever born from 0 to a terminal category of "10 or more." For purposes of computing the total number of children ever born, the terminal category was counted as 10.

Labor force. Persons are classified as in the labor force if they were employed as civilians, unemployed, or in the Armed Forces during the survey week. The "civilian labor force" is comprised of all civilians 15 years old and over classified as employed or unemployed.

Paid labor force. Persons are classified as in the paid labor force if they were employed as wage and salary workers or self-employed workers during the survey week containing March 12, 1985, or were looking for work at the time and had last worked as wage and salary or self-employed workers.

Employed. Employed persons comprise (1) all civilians who, during the specified week, did any work at all as paid employees or in their own business or profession,

or on their own farm, or who worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers on a farm or in a business operated by a member of the family, and (2) all those who were not working but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent because of illness, bad weather, vacation, or labor-management dispute, or because they were taking time off for personal reasons, whether or not they were paid by their employers for time off, and whether or not they were seeking other jobs. Excluded from the employed group are persons whose only activity consisted of work around the house (such as own home housework, painting or repairing own home, etc.) or volunteer work for religious, charitable, and similar organizations.

Unemployed. Unemployed persons are those civilians who, during the survey week, had no employment but were available for work and (1) had engaged in any specific jobseeking activity within the past 4 weeks, such as registering at a public or private employment office, meeting with prospective employers, checking with friends or relatives, placing or answering advertisements, writing letters of application, or being on a union or professional register; (2) were waiting to be called back to a job from which they had been laid off; or (3) were waiting to report to a new wage or salary job within 30 days.

Occupation. The data on occupation of employed persons 16 years old and over refer to the civilian job held during the survey week. Persons employed at two or more jobs were reported in the job at which they worked the greatest number of hours during the week.

The occupation groups included in the report for March 1983, 1984, and 1985 are based on the classification system used in the 1980 census. The occupation groups included in this report for March 1982 are based on the classification system used in the 1970 census. For an explanation and description of the changes from the old to the new system, see the February 1983 issue of "Employment and Earnings," published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The occupation groups used in this report for March 1983, 1984, and 1985 are the major groups used in the 1980 Census of Population. The composition of the groups is shown in 1980 Census of Population, Volume I, Characteristics of the Population, Chapter C, "General Social and Economic Characteristics," U.S. Summary. The system developed for the 1980 census consists of 503 specific occupation categories arranged into 6 summary and 13 major occupation groups. The major occupation groups are combined in this report into 6 summary groups as follows:

Managerial and professional specialty occupations

Executive, administrative, and managerial occupations

Professional specialty occupations

Technical, sales, and administrative support occupations

Technicians, and related support occupations Sales occupations

Administrative support occupations, including clerical

Service occupations

Private household occupations
Protective service occupations

Service occupations, except protective and
household

Farming, forestry, and fishing occupations
Precision production, craft, and repair occupations
Operators, fabricators, and laborers

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors
Transportation and material moving occupations
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers

The occupation groups used in this report for March 1982 are mainly the major groups used in the 1970 Census of Population. The composition of these groups is shown in 1970 Census of Population, Volume I, Characteristics of the Population, Chapter C.

Income. For each person in the sample 15 years old and over, questions were asked on the amount of money income received in the preceding calendar year from each of the following sources: (1) money wages or salary; (2) net income from nonfarm self-employment; (3) net income from farm self-employment; (4) Social Security or railroad retirement; (5) Supplementary Security Income; (6) public assistance or welfare payments; (7) interest (on savings or other investments which pay interest); (8) dividends, income from estates or trusts, or net rental income; (9) veteran's payments or unemployment and worker's compensation; (10) private pensions or government employee pensions; (11) alimony or child support, regular contributions from persons not living in the household, and other periodic income.

It should be noted that although the income statistics refer to receipts during the preceding year the characteristics of the person, such as age, labor force status, etc., and the composition of families refer to the time of the survey. The income of the family does not include amounts received by persons who were members of the family during all or part of the income year if these persons no longer resided with the family at the time of enumeration. However, family income includes amounts reported by related persons who did not reside with the family during the income year but who were members of the family at the time of enumeration.

Data on consumer income collected in the CPS by the Bureau of the Census cover money income received (exclusive of certain money receipts such as capital gains) before payments for personal income taxes, Social

Security, union dues, Medicare deductions, etc. Therefore, money income data do not reflect the fact that some families receive part of their income in the form of noncash benefits such as food stamps, health benefits, and subsidized housing; that some farm families receive noncash benefits in the form of rent-free housing and goods produced and consumed on the farm; or that noncash benefits are also received by some nonfarm residents which often take the form of the use of business transportation and facilities, full or partial payments by business for retirement programs, and medical and educational expenses, etc. These elements should be considered when comparing income levels. (For a detailed explanation of noncash benefits, see Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 150, Characteristics of Households and Persons Receiving Selected Noncash Benefits: 1984.) Moreover, readers should be aware that for many different reasons there is a tendency in household surveys for respondents to underreport their income. From an analysis of independently derived income estimates, it has been determined that income earned from wages or salaries is much better reported than other sources of income, and is nearly equal to independent estimates of aggregate income.

Money earnings. Money earnings are the algebraic sum of money wages or salary and net income from farm and nonfarm self-employment. For a detailed explanation, see Current Population Reports, Series, P-60, No. 151, Money Income of Households, Families, and Persons in the United States: 1984.

Number of earners. This number includes all persons in the family with $1 or more in wages and salaries, or $1 or more or a loss in net income from farm or nonfarm self-employment.

Poverty definition. Families and unrelated individuals are classified as being above or below the poverty level using the poverty index originated at the Social Security Administration in 1964 and revised by Federal Interagency Committees in 1969 and 1980. The poverty index is based solely on money income and does not reflect the fact that many low-income persons receive noncash benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, and public housing. The index is based on the Department of Agriculture's 1961 Economy Food Plan and reflects the different consumption requirements of families based on their size and composition. It was determined from the Department of Agriculture's 1955 Survey of Food Consumption that families of three or more persons spend approximately one-third of their income on food; the poverty level for these families was, therefore, set at three times the cost of the Economy Food Plan. For smaller families and persons living alone, the cost of the Economy Food Plan was multiplied by factors that were slightly higher in order to compensate for the relatively