[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44620-44622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-16718]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed reinstatement of the ``National Longitudinal Survey of 
Women.'' A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) 
can be obtained by contacting the individual listed in the Addresses 
section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
Addresses section below on or before September 3, 2002.

[[Page 44621]]


ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, telephone number 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
telephone number 202-691-7628. (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Longitudinal Survey of Women (NLSW) has been conducted 
since the late 1960s. Historically, the NLSW was collected as two 
surveys, the Survey of Work Experience for Mature Women (which includes 
women born from April 1, 1922 to March 31, 1937) and the Survey of Work 
Experience for Young Women (which includes women born in the years 1943 
to 1953). In 1995, the Bureau of the Census, which collects the data 
for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, combined the mature and young 
women's cohorts into a single survey, a change that has improved the 
efficiency of survey operations.
    The data collected in the NLSW contribute to the knowledge about 
opportunities and services for women who are in the labor force, want 
to re-enter the labor force, or choose not to participate in the labor 
force. Survey data also contribute to the knowledge about women's 
ability to succeed in the job market and how their levels of success 
relate to educational attainment, vocational training, prior 
occupational experiences, general and job-specific experiences, and 
retirement decisions.
    The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to promote the 
development of the U.S. labor force and the efficiency of the U.S. 
labor market. The BLS contributes to this mission by gathering 
information about the labor force and labor market and disseminating it 
to policy makers and the public so that participants in those markets 
can make more informed, and thus more efficient, choices. Research 
based on the NLSW contributes to the formation of national policy in 
the areas of education, training and employment programs, unemployment 
compensation, and retirement income from pensions and Social Security. 
In addition, members of the academic community publish articles and 
reports based on NLSW data for the Department of Labor (DOL) and other 
funding agencies. The DOL uses the measurement of changes in the labor 
market to design programs that would ease employment and unemployment 
problems. The survey design provides data gathered over time to form 
the only data set that contains this type of information for this 
important population group. Without the collection of these data, an 
accurate longitudinal data set could not be provided to researchers and 
policymakers, and the DOL could not perform its policy- and report-
making activities, as described above.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

III. Current Actions

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics seeks approval to conduct the 2003 
NLSW. The 2003 NLSW will document work experience, labor force 
attachment, participation in educational or training programs, 
financial status, health, and health insurance coverage. The survey 
will continue to obtain detailed information on the work history and 
pension coverage of respondents and their husbands. In addition, the 
survey will obtain information on intergenerational transfers of time 
and money between respondents and their children or their spouses' 
children. Respondents living in long-term care institutions who are 
mentally competent to answer questions will be interviewed in the 2003 
NLSW; institutionalized respondents were considered to be out of scope 
in prior rounds of the survey. The 2003 NLSW will include contacts with 
approximately 6,677 women (2,810 ages 66 to 80 and 3,867 ages 49 to 
60). A subsample of 50 women will be selected for a pretest to be 
conducted in January 2003 to ensure that the survey instrument and all 
procedures are working properly before the main fielding begins in 
June. Assuming the pretest works successfully, these 50 women will not 
be interviewed a second time during the main fielding. As in previous 
administrations of the NLSW, 10 percent of the sample in 2003 will be 
asked to participate in a brief follow-up interview that will last 
approximately 5 minutes. This reinterview is a quality-control tool, in 
which managers at the Census Bureau ask respondents a few questions to 
verify that an interview took place.
    Type of Review: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously 
approved collection for which approval has expired.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Women.
    OMB Number: 1220-0110.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.

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                                                                                                                           Average time      Estimated
                      Form                            Total                     Frequency                      Total       per response    total burden
                                                   respondents                                               responses       (minutes)        (hours)
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2003 NLSW Pretest..............................              50  Biennially.............................              50              70              58
2003 NLSW Main Fielding........................           6,627  Biennially.............................           6,627              70            7789
Reinterview....................................             663  Biennially.............................             663               5              55
                                                ----------------                                         -----------------------------------------------
    Totals.....................................           6,677  .......................................           7,340  ..............          7,902
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Note: The difference between the total number of respondents and the total number of responses reflects the fact that 663 respondents will be
  interviewed twice, once in either the pretest or the main fielding and a second time in the quality-control reinterview. An additional 58 burden hours
  have been included for the main fielding to account for the possibility of having to interview the 50 women selected for the pretest again in the main
  fielding in the unlikely event that the pretest fails completely.


[[Page 44622]]

    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a 
matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 24th day of June 2002.
Jes[uacute]s Salinas,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 02-16718 Filed 7-2-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P