[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17496-17498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07033]


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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 of a currently approved collection ``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 31, 2016.

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, 
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 were 
ages 51 to 58 as of December 31, 2015. 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

[[Page 17497]]

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 
22. The grant funds data collection for young adults age 23 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 2,578 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 27 of the NLSY79 and the 
associated surveys of biological children of female NLSY79 respondents.
    The Young Adult Survey will be administered to young adults age 12 
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 grant sample are 
contacted for interviews every other round once they reach age 31. The 
NLSY79 Young Adult Survey involves interviews with approximately 5,445 
young adults ages 12 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.
    BLS has undertaken a continuing redesign effort to examine the 
current content of the NLSY79 and provide direction for changes that 
may be appropriate as the respondents age. The 2016 instrument reflects 
a number of changes recommended by experts in various fields of social 
science and by our own internal review of the survey's content. 
Additions to the questionnaire are accompanied by deletions of previous 
questions so that the overall time required to complete the survey 
should remain about the same or even decline slightly as compared to 
2014.
    The round 27 questionnaire includes new questions on job tasks, as 
well as questions on menopause that will be asked of the female 
respondents. In addition, the assets module that has been asked in odd-
numbered rounds since Round 19 will rotate back into the questionnaire.
    Questions on job tasks will be added to the employment section for 
Round 27. All respondents (male and female) who have held a job since 
their last interview will be asked these questions about their current 
or most recent job (job #1). The items cover job tasks in three key 
domains: Things (physical or repetitive tasks), data (analytic tasks; 
problem solving), and people (interpersonal tasks). Respondents are 
first asked how much of their workday involves carrying out short, 
repetitive tasks, doing physical tasks, and managing or supervising 
other workers. They are next asked how often they engage in problem 
solving on their job, and a separate question asks how often they use 
advanced mathematics on their job. They are also asked about the 
longest document that they typically read as part of their job and how 
often their job involves face-to-face contact with people other than 
co-workers or supervisors.
    Questions will be added to the health section of the NLSY79 in 
order to date the onset of menopause among the female sample members. 
The questions will be asked of all women. We expect that most of the 
women will have reached menopause as the youngest of them will be 52 in 
2016. The menopause questions collect age of last menstrual cycle, 
whether the woman has had a hysterectomy, whether the woman is taking 
hormone replacement therapy, and, if taking HRT, whether she had a 
period in the 12 months prior to beginning HRT.
    The primary change to the Child and Young Adult Surveys is that a 
separate child survey will no longer be conducted. This sample includes 
very few children age 14 and under and so we will no longer conduct a 
separate child survey; children age 12 and older will join the Young 
Adult sample. The Young Adult sample will include 1,205 respondents 
ages 12-22 and 4,240 respondents age 23 and older in Round 27.
    Most of the changes made to the Young Adult questionnaire for 2016 
have been made to streamline questions and sections in order to cut 
down on the amount of time it takes for a respondent to complete an 
interview.

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.
     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 previously approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.

[[Page 17498]]

    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 27 Main Survey...           7,100  Biennially......           7,100              70           8,283
Round 27 Validation Interviews              10  Biennially......              10               6               1
Young Adult Survey (Ages 12 to              45  Biennially......              45              50              38
 13).
Young Adult Survey (Ages 14 to             400  Biennially......             400              66             440
 18).
Young Adult Survey (Ages 19 to             760  Biennially......             760              60             760
 22).
Young Adult Survey, Grant                2,020  Biennially......           2,020              55           1,852
 component (Age 23 to 28),
 interview.
Young Adult Survey, Grant                2,220  Biennially......           2,220              70           2,590
 component (Age 29 and older),
 interview.
                               ----------------                  -----------------------------------------------
    Totals \1\................          12,545  ................          12,555  ..............          13,964
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\1\ The total number of 12,545 respondents across all the survey instruments is a mutually exclusive count that
  does not include the 10 reinterview respondents, who were previously counted among the main and young adult
  survey 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 24th day of March 2016.
Kimberly D. Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2016-07033 Filed 3-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-24-P