[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 148 (Friday, July 31, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46187-46189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16653]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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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. 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 the ``National 
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.'' 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 September 29, 2020.

[[Page 46188]]


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 email to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, 
202-691-7268 (this is not a toll free number). (See Addresses section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) is a 
nationally representative sample of persons who were born in the years 
1980 to 1984. These respondents were ages 12-17 when the first round of 
annual interviews began in 1997; starting with round sixteen, the 
NLSY97 is conducted on a biennial basis. Interim supplemental 
interviews will occur from February 2021 to April 2021. The Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS) contracts with a vendor to conduct the NLSY97. 
The primary objective of the interim supplement is to collect 
information about labor market and health disruptions due to the novel 
coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the establishment and 
development of careers and families. 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.
    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 NLSY97 contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas 
of education, training, work experience, fertility, income, and program 
participation. In addition to the reports that the BLS produces based 
on data from the NLSY97, members of the academic community publish 
articles and reports based on NLSY97 data for the DOL and other funding 
agencies. To date, approximately 750 articles examining NLSY97 data 
have been published in scholarly journals. The survey design provides 
data gathered from the same respondents over time to form the only 
dataset that contains this type of information for this important 
population group. Without the collection of these data, an accurate 
longitudinal dataset 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 Office of Management and Budget approval to conduct 
interim supplement interviews between rounds 19 and 20 of the NLSY97. 
Respondents of the NLSY97 will undergo an interview of approximately 12 
minutes on average, during which they will answer questions about labor 
market experiences, health, and income.
    The interim supplemental survey will be a conducted by internet and 
by telephone. We anticipate that approximately one-third of interviews 
will be self-administered by internet, with the remaining interviews 
being interviewer-administered by telephone.
    The BLS plans to record randomly selected segments of the 
interviews collected by telephone. Recording interviews helps the BLS 
and its contractors to ensure that the interviews actually took place 
and interviewers are reading the questions exactly as worded and 
entering the responses properly. Recording also helps to identify parts 
of the interview that might be causing problems or misunderstanding for 
interviewers or respondents. Each respondent will be informed that the 
interview may be recorded for quality control, testing, and training 
purposes. If the respondent objects to the recording of the interview, 
the interviewer will confirm to the respondent that the interview will 
not be recorded and then proceed with the interview.
    The interim supplemental survey will consist of approximately 35 
questions. Similar questions have appeared in previous rounds of the 
NLSY97, the Current Population Survey, or the Census Household Pulse 
survey. The content covers household composition, current employment 
for the respondent and spouse/partner, changes in employment/earnings 
during the past 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, time spent 
teaching children under age 18, health, health insurance, having 
contracted the coronavirus, medical care deferred due to the 
coronavirus pandemic, mental health, income, and earnings.
    During the fielding period for the interim supplemental interviews, 
no more than 2 percent of respondents will be asked to participate in a 
brief validation interview a few weeks after the initial interview. The 
purpose of the validation interview is to verify that the initial 
interview took place as the interviewer reported and to assess the data 
quality of selected questionnaire items.

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.
    Title of Collection: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.
    OMB Number: 1220-0157.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    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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Main NLSY97: September 2017-             5,220  One-time........           5,220              12           1,044
 May 2018.
Validation interview: October              105  One-time........             105               2             3.5
 2017-June 2018.
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[[Page 46189]]

 
    Totals *..................           5,220  ................           5,325  ..............         1047.5
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* The difference between the total number of respondents and the total number of responses reflects the fact
  that about 5,220 are expected to complete the main interview. In addition, about 105 respondents may be
  interviewed twice, once in the interim supplemental survey and a second time in the 2-minute validation
  interview.

    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 28th day of July 2020.
Mark Staniorski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems.
[FR Doc. 2020-16653 Filed 7-30-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P