[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16828-16830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06653]


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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 Youth 
1979.'' 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 May 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, 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: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,

[[Page 16829]]

202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See Addresses section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) is a 
representative national sample of persons who were born in the years 
1957 to 1964 and lived in the U.S. in 1978. These respondents were ages 
14 to 22 when the first round of interviews began in 1979; they are 
ages 49 to 58 as of December 31, 2013. The NLSY79 was conducted 
annually from 1979 to 1994 and has been conducted biennially since 
1994. The longitudinal focus of this survey requires information to be 
collected from the same individuals over many years in order to trace 
their education, training, work experience, fertility, income, and 
program participation.
    In addition to the main NLSY79, the biological children of female 
NLSY79 respondents have been surveyed since 1986. A battery of child 
cognitive, socio-emotional, and physiological assessments has been 
administered biennially since 1986 to NLSY79 mothers and their 
children. Starting in 1994, children who had reached age 15 by December 
31 of the survey year (the Young Adults) were interviewed about their 
work experiences, training, schooling, health, fertility, self-esteem, 
and other topics. Funding for the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult surveys 
is provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child 
Health and Human Development through an interagency agreement with the 
BLS and through a grant awarded to researchers at the Ohio State 
University Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR). The interagency 
agreement funds data collection for children and young adults up to age 
20. The grant funds data collection for young adults age 21 and older.
    One of the goals of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to produce and 
disseminate timely, accurate, and relevant information about the U.S. 
labor force. The BLS contributes to this goal by gathering information 
about the labor force and labor market and disseminating it to 
policymakers and the public so that participants in those markets can 
make more informed, and thus more efficient, choices. Research based on 
the NLSY79 contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas 
of education, training, employment programs, and school-to-work 
transitions. In addition to the reports that the BLS produces based on 
data from the NLSY79, members of the academic community publish 
articles and reports based on NLSY79 data for the DOL and other funding 
agencies. To date, more than 2,332 articles examining NLSY79 data have 
been published in scholarly journals. The survey design provides data 
gathered from the same respondents 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, thus 
adversely affecting the DOL's ability to perform its policy- and 
report-making activities.

II. Current Action

    The BLS seeks approval to conduct round 26 of the NLSY79 and the 
associated surveys of biological children of female NLSY79 respondents. 
The NLSY79 Child Survey involves three components:
     The Mother Supplement is administered to female NLSY79 
respondents who live with biological children under age 15. This 
questionnaire will be administered to about 285 women, who will be 
asked a series of questions about each child under age 15. On average, 
these women each have 1.12 children under age 15, for a total of 
approximately 320 children.
     The Child Supplement involves aptitude testing of about 
315 children under age 15.
     The Child Self-Administered Questionnaire is administered 
to approximately 275 children ages 10 to 14.
    The Young Adult Survey will be administered to young adults age 15 
and older who are the biological children of female NLSY79 respondents. 
These young adults will be contacted regardless of whether they reside 
with their mothers. Members of the Young Adult sample are contacted for 
interviews every other round once they reach age 30. The NLSY79 Young 
Adult Survey involves interviews with approximately 5,730 young adults 
ages 15 and older.
    During the field period, about 10 main NLSY79 interviews will be 
validated to ascertain whether the interview took place as the 
interviewer reported and whether the interview was done in a polite and 
professional manner.
    The round 26 questionnaire includes a new section on Educational 
Expenditures, as well as several personality inventory and locus-of-
control scales. A new module on Educational Expenditures, which asks 
about spending on private secondary schools and college has been added 
for Round 26. All respondents (male and female) with children in the 
Young Adult age range (turning 15 sometime during the 2014 survey year) 
are asked a series of questions about each of those children. By 
collecting data on how much respondents spent on each child's secondary 
and post-secondary schooling, we hope to inform this area of research 
that examines whether parents invest in their children (via secondary 
and postsecondary educational expenditures). Eight questions on 
Expectations are included in Round 26 and are designed to elicit 
respondents' ``subjective probabilities'' about outcomes related to 
retirement, inheritances, life expectancy, and health. Each question 
asks respondents to report a number between zero and 100 that 
represents their assessment of the likelihood of the outcome.
    These questions have been added to expand our efforts to learn 
about respondents' plans for retirement and expectations about the 
future. The Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI10) has also been added 
for Round 26. Using a scale from 1-7, respondents are asked to judge 
how much they agree that pairs of words representing personality 
characteristics apply to them. The personality characteristics are the 
so-called ``Big Five'' traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, 
neuroticism, openness to new ideas, and extroversion) that are widely 
used by psychologists based on evidence that a minimum of five factors 
is needed to describe individuals' personalities. The Rotter Locus of 
Control, first asked of respondents in 1979, returns in Round 26. The 
measure of ``locus of control'' or self-efficacy obtained by this scale 
has been widely used by researchers, many of whom have asked us to re-
field the scale to determine how individuals' locus of control has 
changed over time.
    The final addition to Round 26 is the inclusion of an Overall Life 
Satisfaction module. Respondents are asked their overall level of 
satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their lives on a scale from 1-7.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    The BLS 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.

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     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: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously 
approved collection for which approval has expired.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.
    OMB Number: 1220-0109.
    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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NLSY79 Round 26 Pretest......             100  Biennially.......             100              60             100
NLSY79 Round 26 Main Survey..           7,300  Biennially.......           7,300              60           7,300
Round 26 Validation                        10  Biennially.......              10               6               1
 Interviews.
Mother Supplement (Mothers of         \1\ 285  Biennially.......             320              20             107
 children under age 15).
Child Supplement (Under age               315  Biennially.......             315              31             163
 15).
Child Self-Administered                   275  Biennially.......             275              30             138
 Questionnaire (Ages 10 to
 14).
Young Adult Survey (Ages 15             1,030  Biennially.......            1030              55             944
 to 20).
Young Adult Survey, Grant               4,700  Biennially.......            4700              60           4,700
 component (Age 21 and older).
                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals \2\...............          13,445  .................           14050  ..............          13,453
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\1\ The number of respondents for the Mother Supplement (285) is less than the number of responses (320) because
  mothers are asked to provide separate responses for each of the biological children with whom they reside. The
  total number of responses for the Mother Supplement (320) is more than the number for the Child Supplement
  (315) because the number of children completing the Child Supplement is lower due to age restrictions and
  nonresponse.
\2\ The total number of 13,445 respondents across all the survey instruments is a mutually exclusive count that
  does not include: (1) The 10 reinterview respondents, who were previously counted among the 7,300 main survey
  respondents, (2) the 285 Mother Supplement respondents, who were previously counted among the main survey
  respondents, and (3) the 275 Child SAQ respondents, who were previously counted among the 285 Child Supplement
  respondents.

    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 19th day of March 2014.
Eric P. Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2014-06653 Filed 3-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P