August 2008 CPS Migration Supplement: A Preliminary Look at the Citizenship and Year of Entry Sections

G. Patricia de la Cruz, U.S. Census Bureau
Cassandra A. Logan, U.S. Census Bureau
Frank Hobbs, U.S. Census Bureau

In August of 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau sponsored a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS)that included an updated question on citizenship and additional questions on year of entry, not included in the basic CPS monthly questionnaire. The goals of the CPS Migration Supplement, particularly the Citizenship and Year of Entry sections, were to determine the current citizenship status of individuals who may have naturalized while participating in the survey and to examine the variability of responses to the year of entry (YOE) question within a household over time, to examine the quality of the current measure of year of entry, and to create and assess various measures of time spent in the United States. The poster will show some preliminary results from both sections but will focus primarily on issues of data quality from the Year of Entry section, for example item nonresponse and the consistency of reporting.