IPUMS envy

A couple weeks back, I couldn't get NZ Census data going back earlier than the 1996 Census.

I'd then asked one of The Initiative's researchers, who's better on Stats NZ data than I am, to see whether he could find data going farther back. He couldn't. Stats replied that age breakdowns of income data, like the stuff I was doing in the post linked above, would only be available in hard copy publications from past censuses, or as a customised data job.

Meanwhile, IPUMS sends out the following email to its users:

Dear IPUMS user,

We are excited to announce new data available from IPUMS-USA:

• Multi-year ACS samples from 2013 and 2014.

• A new 5% public use microdata file for 1960. This collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau provides an improvement upon the previous 1% file for 1960. The new data contains more detailed geographic information. You can read more about the 1960 project on our website.

• Harmonized 100% full count dataset for 1850.

We will be exhibiting at the Population Association of America (PAA) 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. next week. Visit booth 512 to talk data with us.

You can download a 5% Public Use Microsample of the 1960 US Census via the IPUMS website.

In New Zealand, there's a Confidentialised Unit Record File for the 2013 Census, but nothing for prior censues currently listed. And getting access to a CURF is a bit trickier than getting access to the US PUMS.