[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58805-58806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20431]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: 2008 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program 
Participation, Core Questions and Wave 1 Topical Modules.
    Form Number(s): SIPP 28105(L) Director's Letter; SIPP/CAPI 
Automated

[[Page 58806]]

Instrument; and SIPP 28003 Reminder Card.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Burden Hours: 95,535.
    Number of Respondents: 94,500.
    Average Hours Per Response: 30 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests authorization from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct the 2008 Panel of 
the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). This clearance 
request is to accommodate the core instrument for the life of the 2008 
Panel, the topical modules for the Wave 1 (February through May 2008) 
interviews, and the reinterview instrument, which will be used during 
the life of the 2008 Panel. The reinterview instrument will be used for 
quality control analysis of data collected by the SIPP field 
representatives (FRs).
    The SIPP represents a source of information for a wide variety of 
topics and allows information for separate topics to be integrated to 
form a single and unified database so that the interaction between tax, 
transfer, and other government and private policies can be examined. 
Government domestic policy formulators depend heavily upon the SIPP 
information concerning the distribution of income received directly as 
money or indirectly as in-kind benefits and the effect of tax and 
transfer programs on this distribution. They also need improved and 
expanded data on the income and general economic and financial 
situation of the U.S. population. The SIPP has provided these kinds of 
data on a continuing basis since 1983, permitting levels of economic 
well-being and changes in these levels to be measured over time.
    The survey is molded around a central ``core'' of labor force and 
income questions that remain fixed throughout the life of a panel. The 
core is supplemented with questions designed to answer specific needs, 
such as estimating eligibility for government programs, examining 
pension and health care coverage, and analyzing individual net worth. 
These supplemental questions are included with the core and are 
referred to as ``topical modules.''
    The topical modules for the 2008 Panel Wave 1 are Recipiency 
History and Employment History. These topical modules were previously 
conducted in the SIPP 2004 Panel Wave 1 instrument. The 2008 Panel Wave 
1 interviews will be conducted beginning February 1, 2008 and 
concluding on May 31, 2008.
    The SIPP is designed as a continuing series of national panels of 
interviewed households that are introduced every few years, with each 
panel having durations of 3 to 4 years. The 2008 Panel is scheduled for 
three years and will include nine waves, which will begin February 1, 
2008. All household members 15 years old or over are interviewed using 
regular proxy-respondent rules. They are interviewed a total of nine 
times (nine waves), at 4-month intervals, making the SIPP a 
longitudinal survey. Sample people (all household members present at 
the time of the first interview) who move within the country and 
reasonably close to a SIPP primary sampling unit (PSU) will be followed 
and interviewed at their new address. Individuals 15 years old or over 
who enter the household after Wave 1 will be interviewed; however, if 
these people move, they are not followed unless they happen to move 
along with a Wave 1 sample individual.
    Data provided by the SIPP are being used by economic policymakers, 
the Congress, state and local governments, and federal agencies that 
administer social welfare or transfer payment programs, such as the 
Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of 
Agriculture.
    The knowledge gained from these ``core'' items will be of limited 
value without information about how the respondents reached their 
status at the time of the Wave 1 interview. The core, therefore, is 
also supplemented with questions designed to answer specific needs, 
such as estimating eligibility for government programs, examining 
pension and health care coverage, and analyzing financing of 
postsecondary education. These supplemental questions are included with 
the core and are referred to as ``topical modules.'' The questions in 
these topical modules will help us reduce, if not eliminate, the 
``left-censoring'' analysis problem that occurs in nearly all 
longitudinal surveys and cited as a serious concern by our data users. 
Left-censoring refers to the experiences of individuals (or other units 
of longitudinal analysis) prior to the start of the longitudinal study 
period.
    The questions for these topical modules address major policy and 
program concerns. Each component is intended to provide explanatory 
data describing likely relationships between earlier life-course 
experiences and current socioeconomic status. Personal history data, 
when linked with data derived from the panel interviews, yield a 
powerful set of explanatory indicators, which help analysts more fully 
understand associations between social, demographic, and economic 
events.
    The following is a description of the topical modules for Wave 1 
and their uses:

Recipiency History

    The Recipiency History topical module will help determine if and 
for how long people not currently receiving benefits from selected 
programs received such aid. Data from these questions will measure the 
extent to which individuals and households have depended on government 
transfer programs and will help evaluate the effectiveness of the 
programs.

Employment History

    The Employment History topical module will enable us to analyze 
individuals' past labor force patterns and relate them to their current 
employment status and their degree of reliance on government programs.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Every 4 months.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 182.
    OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB Desk Officer either by fax (202-395-7245) 
or e-mail ([email protected]).

    Dated: October 11, 2007.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E7-20431 Filed 10-16-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P