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Re: Female Householders?

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This is the definition of "householder" from appendix A of the AHS reports (you can also download it in PDF format from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/ahs/ahs01/appendixa.pdf ):

"Householder. The householder is the first household member listed on the questionnaire who is an owner or renter of the sample unit and is aged 18 years or older. An owner is a person whose name is on the deed, mortgage, or contract to purchase. A renter is a person whose name is on the lease; if there is no lease, a renter is a person responsible for paying the rent. If no one meets the full criteria, the age requirement is relaxed before the owner/renter requirement. Where the respondent is one of several unrelated people who all could meet the criteria, the interviewer may list the respondent first, so the respondent will be the householder and can answer the questions that are asked specifically about the householder, such as data on moves and income sources."

So a female householder is a woman who meets this definition. Note that in a married couple household, it's likely that either spouse qualifies as householder. We don't select for one or the other. We just take the first one listed. You can use the other person-level variables (such as REL) to refine your selection of household types.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890