Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement

AGENCY:

Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of information collection, request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the proposed revision of the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey, prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

DATES:

To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before September 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by email to the Current Population Surveys Branch email address at dsd.cps@census.gov. Please reference the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) in the subject line of your comments. You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2024-0018, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after the comment period has closed. Comments will generally be posted without change. All Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or specific questions related to collection activities should be directed to Kyra Linse, Survey Director, Current Population Surveys via the internet at dsd.cps@census.gov, or by phone at 301-763-9280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

The Census Bureau plans to request clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the collection of data concerning the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to be conducted in conjunction with the February, March, and April Current Population Survey (CPS). The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics sponsor this supplement, which had its beginnings in 1942. This collection is authorized under title 13, United States Code, sections 141 and 182; and title 29, United States Code, sections 1-9. The current clearance expires December 31, 2024. The ASEC data collection questions and design will remain unchanged from its most recent collection in 2024, with the exception of a small number of additional questions on childcare. Adding questions on childcare to the ASEC is crucial to understanding the childcare landscape in the United States. While similar questions are asked on other federal surveys, the ASEC includes other measures of economic well-being, such as the official poverty and supplemental poverty measures. Including these additional questions will allow for more direct policy relevant analyses of the respondent group. Data gathered can provide valuable insights into the usage, accessibility, and difficulties faced by parents and caregivers, informing better policy outcomes. The data gathered would also advance research called for by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to improve the treatment of childcare in the supplemental poverty measure. A deeper understanding of these childcare dynamics can also help identify gaps and enhance family well-being.

Information on work experience, personal income, noncash benefits, current and previous year health insurance coverage, employer-sponsored insurance take-up, and migration is collected through the ASEC. The work experience items in the ASEC provide a unique measure of the dynamic nature of the labor force as viewed over a one-year period. These items produce statistics that show movements in and out of the labor force by measuring the number of periods of unemployment experienced by people, the number of different employers worked for during the year, the principal reasons for unemployment, and part-/full-time attachment to the labor force. We can make indirect measurements of discouraged workers and others with a casual attachment to the labor market.

The income data from the ASEC are used by social planners, economists, government officials, and market researchers to gauge the economic well-being of the country as a whole, and selected population group of interest. Government planners and researchers use these data to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of various assistance programs. Market researchers use these data to identify and isolate potential customers. Social planners use these data to forecast economic conditions and to identify special groups that seem to be especially sensitive to economic fluctuations. Economists use ASEC data to determine the effects of various economic forces, such as inflation, recession, recovery, and so on, and their differential effects on various population groups.

The ASEC is the official source of national poverty estimates calculated in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive 14. Two other important national estimates derived from the ASEC are real median household income and the number and percent of individuals without health insurance coverage.

The ASEC also contains questions related to (1) medical expenditures; (2) presence and cost of a mortgage on property; (3) child support payments; and (4) amount of childcare assistance received. These questions enable analysts and policymakers to obtain better estimates of family and household income, and more precisely gauge poverty status.

II. Method of Collection

The ASEC information will be collected by both personal visit and telephone interviews in conjunction with the regular February, March and April CPS interviewing. All interviews are conducted using computer-assisted interviewing.

III. Data

OMB Control Number: 0607-0354.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Review: Regular submission. Request for a Revision of a Currently Approved Collection.

Affected Public: Households.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 78,000.

Estimated Time per Response: 25 minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 32,500.

Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0 (This is not the cost of respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services required specifically by the collection.)

Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, sections 141 and 182; and title 29, United States Code, sections 1-9.

IV. Request for Comments

We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.