SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Necessity of the Information Collection
The purpose of this request for review is for the U.S. Census Bureau to obtain clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the collection of basic demographic information on the Current Population Survey (CPS). Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141, 181, and 182 and Title 29, United States Code, Sections 1-9 authorize the collection of this information.
The CPS has been the source of official government statistics on employment and unemployment for over 50 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau jointly sponsor the basic monthly survey, and the Census Bureau prepares and conducts all the field work. The Census Bureau provides the BLS with data files and tables. The BLS seasonally adjusts, analyzes, and publishes the results for the labor force data in conjunction with the demographic characteristics. In accordance with the OMB's request, the Census Bureau and the BLS divide the clearance request in order to reflect the joint sponsorship and funding of the CPS program. Title 29, United States Code, Sections 1-9, authorizes the collection of labor force data in the CPS. The justification that follows is in support of the demographic data.
The demographic information provides a unique set of data on selected characteristics for the civilian noninstitutional population. Some of the demographic information we collect is age, marital status, gender, Armed Forces status, education, race, origin, and family income. We use these data in conjunction with other data, particularly the monthly labor force data, as well as periodic supplement data. We also use these data independently for internal analytic research and for evaluation of other surveys. In addition, we need these data to correctly control estimates of other characteristics to the proper proportions of age, gender, race, and origin.
The U.S. Census Bureau also requests authorization from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to increase the universe for three of the questions within the Current Population Survey (CPS). The monthly school enrollment question in the Current Population Survey has long been collected for people from age 16 up to the age of 24, but changes in the population dictate a need to increase the universe up to the age of 54. Raising the age of respondents to which the monthly enrollment question is provided will substantially increase the data resources with which analysts and researchers identify the effects of federal education and training policies on key, policy-relevant populations.
This change is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The collection of these data is authorized under Title 13, United States Code, Section 182.
The affected questions are shown in Attachment A. OMB mandated CPS’s packages be separated into two parts, one covering demographics and one covering collection of labor force to accommodate the different sponsors and different needs of the data collection. Upon creating this OMB submission, it was discovered these questions had been inadvertently excluded, even though the respondent hours of burden did include them. Therefore comparison to the original OMB #0607-0049 will not find these questions specifically listed as included in CPS, although they have been included in the interview for years.
This request also asks for clearance for the forms that are used in conjunction with the CPS. These forms include:
Form No. Description Attachment
CPS-263, Advance letters sent to new D-1
CPS-263(SP), households prior to the
first-month interview
CPS-264, Advance letters sent to D-2
CPS-264(SP), returning households prior to
the fifth-month interview.
CPS-266 Thank you cards sent to D-3
households at the conclusion
of the eighth interview.
BC-1433, Fact Sheets for the CPS. E-1
BC-1433(SP)
CPS-692 Monthly Flow of the CPS E-2
BC-1428, How the Census Bureau Keeps E-3
BC-1428(SP) Your Information Strictly
Confidential.
2. Needs and Uses
The primary purpose of collecting the school enrollment data from the CPS is to relate demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, education, occupation, and income) to school enrollment behavior. Federal, state, and local governments; college institutions; research groups; and other private organizations use the school enrollment data collected. Increasing the universe will provide data on how federal investments in education and training are affecting those over 24. Additionally monthly data allows us to measure adult enrollment in education that does not necessarily coincide with typical enrollments in Fall for younger adults. Further, it allows better measurement of how enrollment responds both to changes in the business cycle and government policy -- federal student aid training programs --that is not possible with any other federal data source.
We use the data from the CPS on household size and composition, age, education, ethnicity, and marital status to compile monthly averages or other aggregates for national and sub-national estimates. We use these data in four principal ways: in association with other data, such as monthly labor force or periodic supplement publications; for internal analytic research; for evaluation of other surveys and survey results; and as a general purpose sample and survey.
The demographic data are central to the publication of all labor force data in the BLS' monthly report Employment and Earnings. The data set that results from combining the monthly labor force data with the demographic data provides analysts with the ability to understand labor force patterns of many subpopulation groups. This is particularly important since the federal government often directs initiatives at special groups that historically have not conformed to general labor force participation patterns.
Analysts also use the demographic data in association with all supplement publications. (We describe supplements later in this section.) For example, publications that use these data are Fertility of American Women, School Enrollment--Social and Economic Characteristics of Students and Educational Attainment in the United States (Series P-20). Comparably, researchers are able to characterize the population within the subject area of the many supplements conducted in conjunction with the CPS. For instance, the Annual Social and Economic Supplement identifies which subpopulation groups, as established by the demographic variables, experience the highest incidence of poverty. While we collect and support independently the demographic variables, the labor force data, and the supplement inquiries, their use as a combined data set enhances the utility of each.
The Census Bureau also uses the demographic data extensively for internal analytic work. For example, we use these data to develop estimates of family and household types and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan populations. We use these estimates to identify population trends between decennial censuses and to analyze the growth and distribution of various racial and ethnic groups. We may then use this information in preparing reports on these subjects or in determining the accuracy of population controls used throughout the Census Bureau. As is noted below, we use the demographic data to improve our postcensal population estimates (that is, the components of emigration and undocumented immigration).
Also, we use the CPS as a source for other survey samples. A household remains in the CPS sample for 16 months. Other surveys conducted by the Census Bureau may use a CPS sample when it is no longer part of the CPS. In 2006, the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, sponsored by the Department of the Interior, used retired cases from the CPS samples. The ongoing American Time Use Survey, sponsored by the BLS uses expired CPS sample. By using the CPS demographics to select their samples, other surveys have been able to avoid screening samples and to obtain accurate estimates by demographics.
Another use of the demographic data is in evaluating other survey results. For example, analysts control the results of the National American Housing Survey to the CPS monthly averages of households. Similarly, in order to determine the plausibility of the results of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), analysts continuously compare the data on household and family composition from the SIPP to the CPS monthly household and family composition data.
The Census Bureau often uses the CPS as a model and resource for improving the efficiency and quality of other surveys. For example, the Census Bureau designed some series of items for the SIPP from the CPS. Academicians and researchers have historically used the CPS to better understand the many complexities associated with sample surveys and household interviews in general.
In addition to the collection of demographic and labor force data, the CPS is also a major vehicle for the collection of supplemental questions on various socio-economic topics. In most months of the year we ask supplemental questions after asking the basic labor force questions of all eligible people in a household thereby maximizing the utility of the CPS sample. The Census funding for the CPS and this OMB clearance also provides for annual data on work experience, income, migration (Annual Social and Economic Supplement), and school enrollment of the population (October supplement). In addition we collect biennial, but separately funded, data on the fertility and birth expectations of the women of child-bearing age (June), voting and registration (November) and child support and alimony. The BLS, the Census Bureau, other government agencies, and private groups sponsor the supplements. All of these supplements use the demographic items covered here as classification variables.
Discontinuance of demographic data in the CPS would impair the determination of changes in the country's economy, as these changes differentially affect various subpopulation groups and would lessen the government's ability to react to the changes properly and quickly. Discontinuance also would mean the loss of the benchmark of demographic data for many other surveys.
The basic CPS demographic items (including coverage items and other non-labor force items) are illustrated in Attachment E.
Information quality is an integral part of the pre-dissemination review of the information disseminated by the Census bureau (fully described in the Census Bureau’s Information Quality Guidelines). Information quality is
also integral to the information collections conducted by the Census Bureau and is incorporated into the clearance process required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
3. Use of Information Technology
Since January 1994, we have collected the CPS data using computer-assisted interviewing. We designed the questions to obtain the required information with minimal respondent burden.
The proposed items and interviewer procedures were developed over years of consultation among the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and other government agencies. The use of computer-assisted personal and telephone interviewing is deemed the most appropriate collection methodology given existing available information technology. We are currently examining the use of Internet as a response mode, but the Internet is not feasible at this time.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
The School Enrollment Questions do not duplicate any other monthly information collection with respect to scope, timeliness, or population of interest. There are no comparable data that can be replicated, substituted, or modified for use as described in section A2 above.
5. Efforts to Minimize Burden on Small Business
The collection of the school enrollment information does not involve small businesses or other small entities.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
Less frequent collection would reduce the ability to track changes over time and lessen the quality of the school enrollment time series.
7. Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances. We collect the CPS data in a manner that is consistent with the OMB guidelines.
8. Consultations Outside the Agency
The Census Bureau published a notice in the Federal Register on August 6, 2012, Vol. 77, No.151, pp. 46683, inviting public comment on our plans to submit this request. We received one comment in response to that notice. The comment was deemed irrelevant to the collection.
Over the past year, we have consulted the following people concerning the expansion of the universe for these questions:
Tom Weko Sharon Boivin
National Center for National Center for
Education Statistics Education Statistics
Tom.Weko@ed.gov Sharon.Boivin@ed.gov
The result of these consultations is the expanded universe for these questions. Furthermore, a statement soliciting comments for improving the CPS data is prominently placed in all the Census Bureau publications that cite the CPS data. We include a similar statement in the technical documentation that accompanies the microdata files. Finally, the CPS advance letter (see Attachments D) provides respondents with an address at the Census Bureau and at the OMB to which they can submit general comments on the survey, specifically those regarding respondent burden.
9. Paying Respondents
The Census Bureau does not make any payments or provide any gifts to individuals participating in the CPS.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
The Census Bureau will collect the data in compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and the OMB Circular A-130. Each sample household receives an advance letter approximately one week before the start of the initial CPS interview (see Attachments D). The letter includes the information required by the Privacy Act of 1974, explains the voluntary nature of the survey, and states the estimated time required for participating in the survey. Interviewers must ask if the respondent received the letter and, if not, provide a copy and allow the respondent sufficient time to read the contents. Also, interviewers provide households with the pamphlet The U.S. Census Bureau Respects Your Privacy and Protects Your Personal Information, which further states the confidentiality assurances associated with this data collection effort and the Census Bureau's past performance in assuring confidentiality (see Attachment C).
All information given by respondents to Census Bureau employees is held in strict confidence under Title 13, United States Code, Section 9. Every Census Bureau employee has taken an oath to that effect and is subject to a jail penalty and/or substantial fine if they disclose any information given to them.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
The School Enrollment Questions are not of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimate of Hour Burden
Using previous months collection numbers and results from the October 2011 School Enrollment supplement, we are able to estimate approximately 53,000 more people will need to be asked the main question and approximately 3,000 more will need to answer the two follow up questions. The original estimated hours for the Basic Demographic Questions was 18,013 hours total. The estimated additional respondent burden is 1,334 hours. The new total estimated burden hours is now 18,347 hours.
13. Estimate of Cost Burden
There are no costs to respondents other than that of their time to respond.
14. Cost to Federal Government
The estimated cost for this expansion is $45,000 per year. The costs are to be borne by National Center for Education Statistics.
15. Reasons for the Change in Burden
The change in burden is due the expanded universe of asking people these three questions.
16. Project Schedule
Starting in January CPS, these questions will be conducted during the week of CPS interviewing. They will be included in all months through the expiration of the Demographic OMB Approval. (OMB#0607-0049, expires 04/30/2014). Data from these questions will be included in the public use file released every month approximately two weeks after closeout of interviewing.
17. Request to Not Display Expiration Date
Respondents’ length of participation in the CPS is not likely to coincide with the expiration date of this clearance. To avoid confusion that may arise from this fact and given that the CPS has been in place for over 50 years and the basic CPS interview has remained relatively unchanged over the past 10 years, we request a waiver of the requirement to display the expiration date.
18. Exceptions to the Certification
There are no exceptions to the certification.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | woods009 |
| Last Modified By | back0002 |
| File Modified | 2012-11-15 |
| File Created | 2012-07-23 |