[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37838-37839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15865]


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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 revision to the ``American Time Use Survey (ATUS).'' A copy of 
the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by 
contacting the individual listed below in the Addresses section of this 
notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
Addresses section of this notice on or before August 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments 
also may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free 
number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, at 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The ATUS is the Nation's first federally administered, continuous 
survey on time use in the United States. It measures, for example, time 
spent with children, working, sleeping, or doing leisure activities. In 
the United States, several existing Federal surveys collect income and 
wage data for individuals and families, and analysts often use such 
measures of material prosperity as proxies for quality of life. Time-
use data substantially augment these quality-of-life measures. The data 
also can be used in conjunction with wage data to evaluate the 
contribution of non-market work to national economies. This enables 
comparisons of production between nations that have different mixes of 
market and non-market activities.
    The ATUS develops nationally representative estimates of how people 
spend their time. Respondents also report who was with them during 
activities, where they were, how long each activity lasted, and if they 
were paid. All of this information has numerous practical applications 
for sociologists, economists, educators, government policymakers, 
businesspersons, health researchers, and others, potentially answering 
the following questions:
     Do the ways people use their time vary across demographic 
and labor force characteristics, such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, 
employment status, earnings, and education?
     How much time do parents spend in the company of their 
children, either actively providing care or being with them while 
socializing, relaxing, or doing other things?
     How are earnings related to leisure time--do those with 
higher earnings spend more or less time relaxing and socializing?
     Where do people work--at a workplace, in their homes, or 
someplace else?
    The ATUS data are collected on an ongoing, monthly basis, so time 
series data will eventually become available, allowing analysts to 
identify changes in how people spend their time.

[[Page 37839]]

II. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
ATUS. This survey collects information on how individuals in the United 
States use their time. Collection is done on a continuous basis with 
the sample drawn monthly. The survey sample is drawn from households 
completing their final month of interviews for the Current Population 
Survey (CPS). Households are selected to ensure a representative 
demographic sample, and one individual from each household is selected 
to take part in one Computer Assisted Telephone Interview. In this 
interview, respondents are asked to report all of their activities for 
one pre-assigned 24-hour day, which is the day prior to the interview. 
A short series of summary questions and CPS updates follows the core 
time diary collection. After each full year of collection, annual 
national estimates of time use for an average weekday or weekend day 
are available.
    Beginning in January 2011, it is proposed that questions about 
eldercare be added to the ATUS to replace questions currently asked 
about missed days. The eldercare questions are designed to collect data 
on who is providing unpaid eldercare, the time they spend providing 
this care, and the types of eldercare activities they do. The proposed 
addition of eldercare questions will be a permanent change to the ATUS. 
Eldercare is a topic that aligns closely with the ATUS goal of 
collecting information about time spent in unpaid, productive 
activities, and it is a topic of interest to researchers, particularly 
because the U.S. population is aging.
    The proposed eldercare questions will replace questions about 
missed days. The missed-days questions ask respondents for information 
about the number of days they were away from home in the month before 
the interview and the reasons why they were away. The data from these 
questions are under-used and BLS is not aware of any publications that 
have used them. It is proposed that the missed-days questions be 
permanently dropped from the survey.
    Also beginning in January 2011, questions sponsored by the 
Department of Labor's Women's Bureau about workers' access to and use 
of leave are proposed to be added to the ATUS as a Leave module. These 
questions will be included for 12 months (through December 2011). The 
questions will ask employed wage and salary workers about their access 
to paid and unpaid leave, their use of leave in the previous 7 days, 
and their ability to vary their work schedules instead of taking leave. 
Data from the Leave module will provide a richer description of work. 
The data will provide information about the types of leave available to 
workers, the reasons for which workers are able to take leave, their 
leave activity, and information about whether workers can adjust their 
schedules to balance personal and work obligations instead of taking 
leave. The module will also provide more information about the 
relationship between workers' use of leave and their use of time.
    Because the ATUS sample is a subset of households completing 
interviews for the CPS, the same demographic information collected from 
that survey is available for ATUS respondents. Comparisons of activity 
patterns across characteristics such as sex, race, age, disability 
status, and education of the respondent, as well as the presence of 
children and the number of adults living in the respondent's household, 
are possible.

III. 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.
     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.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: American Time Use Survey.
    OMB Number: 1220-0175.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Total Respondents: 13,200 per year.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Total Responses: 13,200.
    Average Time Per Response: 16 minutes for the main ATUS interview, 
with an additional 5 minutes for the proposed Leave module.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,520 hours per year for the main 
ATUS and 4,620 hours per year when the Leave module is included.
    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 2010.
Kimberley Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2010-15865 Filed 6-29-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P