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HWSEI
Socioeconomic Index, Hauser and Warren
Return to Occupational Standing - SES variables list

Description

HWSEI is a constructed variable that assigns a Hauser and Warren Socioeconomic Index (SEI) score to each occupation using the modified version of the 1990 occupational classification scheme available in the OCC1990 variable. The HWSEI variable is a measure of occupational status based upon the earnings and educational attainment associated with each category in the 1990 occupational scheme.

User Note: There is significant debate about the usefulness of composite measures of occupational standing (in the IPUMS, these variables include SEI, HWSEI, NPBOSS50, and NPBOSS90). We strongly urge researchers to read our user note on this issue and to familiarize themselves with the debates surrounding the use of these variables.

Using data from the 1989 General Social Survey (GSS) and the 1990 census, Hauser and Warren regressed the occupational prestige ratings (i.e., the started logit of percentage of 5 or higher ratings on the nine-point scale used in the 1989 GSS) on occupational education (i.e., the started logit of percentage of all occupational incumbents who had completed one or more years of college) and occupational earnings (i.e., the started logit of percentage of all occupational incumbents who earned $14.30 per hour or more in 1989). The resulting statistical model was used to generate socioeconomic scores for the entire rage of 1990 occupations. The HWSEI is, therefore, the weighted sum of occupational education and occupational earnings.

For more information, see R. M. Hauser and J. R. Warren "Socioeconomic Indexes for Occupations: A Review, Update, and Critique," Sociological Methodology 27 (1997): 177-298; and K. Nakao and J. Treas, "Updating Occupational Prestige and Socioeconomic Scores: How the New Measures Measure Up," Sociological Methodology 24 (1994): 1-72.

Hauser and Warren developed this measure to be applicable to datasets with occupational data coded to the 1990 census occupational scheme. For the purpose of comparability across time, the IPUMS version of HWSEI uses the modified version of the 1990 occupational classification scheme available in OCC1990. Several 1990 occupation categories were aggregated in modified version of the 1990 occupational classification scheme. In these cases, the socioeconomic index score was calculated as the weighted average of 1990 occupational categories.

Alternative measures of occupational standing measures that are based on OCC1990 are available in EDSCOR90, ERSCOR90, NPBOSS90, and PRENT. For information on occupational standing measures, see "Integrated Occupation and Industry Codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS."