A separated dependent unpairs the couple under age-ordered tax-unit roles #9620

Summary

Under age ordering, one separated member anywhere in a tax unit, even a dependent, stops anyone in the unit from being the spouse:

# policyengine_us/variables/household/demographic/tax_unit/is_tax_unit_spouse.py (age-ordering branch)
        is_separated = tax_unit.any(person("is_separated", period))
        adult = ~person("is_child", period)
        head = person("is_tax_unit_head", period)
        eligible = adult & ~head & ~is_separated

filing_status already restricts the same test to the head or spouse ("Separation can make the taxpayer file separately only when it applies to the tax unit head or spouse, not a dependent or other member"). The spouse rule does not.

Example (policyengine-us main c8aae08, TX, 2024)

A head aged 50 with $80,000 of wages, a spouse aged 48 with $40,000, and their 25-year-old dependent child:

On the certified Populace build this unpairs 45 couples under age ordering. #9617 bypasses the gate for units whose roles the dataset supplies, but household situations and datasets without supplied roles still hit it.

Fix

Gate on the separation status of the head and the candidate spouse only, not of every member. The head can be tested directly. For the candidate, exclude separated people from eligible rather than blocking the whole unit.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code