[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 138 (Thursday, July 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46736-46737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15442]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information 
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information 
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the 
proposed revision of the Survey of Income and Program Participation 
(SIPP), prior to the submission of the information collection request 
(ICR) to OMB for approval.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before September 18, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference SIPP OMB Comments in 
the subject line of your comments. You may also submit comments, 
identified by Docket Number USBC-2023-0003, to the Federal e-Rulemaking 
Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of 
the public record. No comments will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after the comment period 
has closed. Comments will generally be posted without change. All 
Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do 
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information. You may submit attachments to electronic 
comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Hyon B. Shin, Assistant Division Chief, by phone (301-763-6169) or 
email ([email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The U.S. Census Bureau plans to request clearance from the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for the collection of data concerning 
the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). The SIPP is a 
household-based survey designed as a continuous series of national 
panels.
    The SIPP represents the primary source of information about annual 
and sub-annual dynamics of income, family and household content, 
movement into and out of government programs, and interactions of these 
topics in a single, unified dataset allowing for in-depth, informed 
analyses. Government domestic policy formulators and evaluators depend 
heavily upon the information collected in the SIPP in their analyses of 
the distribution of income received either directly as money or 
indirectly as in-kind benefits and the effect of tax and transfer 
programs on that distribution. They also rely on the SIPP data to 
provide improved and expanded information on the dynamics of income and 
the general economic and financial situation of the U.S. population, in 
the context of the household situation, which the SIPP has provided on 
a continuing basis since 1983. The SIPP has measured levels of economic 
well-being and permitted measurement of sub-annual and annual changes 
in these levels over time.
    The SIPP is a household-based survey designed as a continuous 
series of national panels. Each panel features a nationally 
representative sample of addresses whose household members are 
interviewed over a multi-year period lasting approximately four years. 
Starting with the 2019 survey year, the Census Bureau introduced a 
sample design scenario of overlapping panels where new representative 
addresses are sampled and added to the workload each year. This means 
that there will be a new household sample introduced each year whose 
occupants will be reinterviewed over the subsequent three years, 
creating the overlapping sample design.
    The 2024 SIPP Panel Wave 1 cases will be interviewed about the 
previous calendar year, 2023, as the reference period, and will proceed 
with annual interviewing going forward. Calendar year 2024 SIPP will 
also have returning Wave 4 cases from sample year 2021, returning Wave 
3 cases from 2022, and Wave 2 cases from sample year 2023, each being 
interviewed about their experience during reference year 2023.
    The overlapping panel model will provide approximately 20,000 
interviewed housing units every year to give the best design for both 
cross-sectional and longitudinal estimates. We will continue to provide 
monthly and longitudinal weights where monthly weights will incorporate 
all the panels in the field at that time and longitudinal weights will 
depend on individual panels. We estimate that each household contains 
2.0 people aged 15 and above, yielding approximately 40,000 person-
level interviews per calendar year. Completing the SIPP interview will 
take approximately 50 minutes per adult on average; consequently, the 
total annual burden for 2024 SIPP interviews will be 33,330 hours.
    The 2024 SIPP will continue to use the same interviewing method as 
previous SIPP Panels, in which adults (aged 15 years and older) who 
move from the prior wave household will be followed. Consequently, 
future waves will incorporate data collected from the prior wave 
interview brought forward to the current interview as a way to reduce 
respondent burden and improve data quality.
    The Census Bureau also plans to continue to use Computer Audio-
Recorded Interview (CARI) technology as part of the SIPP interviewing 
process. CARI is a tool used during data collection to capture audio 
along with response data. After an introduction that notifies 
respondents that the interview may be recorded for quality assurance, a 
portion of each interview is recorded unobtrusively, and both the sound 
file and screen images are returned with the response data to Census 
Headquarters for evaluation. Census staff may review the recorded 
portions of the interview to improve questionnaire design and for 
quality assurance purposes.
    The SIPP questionnaire uses an Event History Calendar (EHC) that 
facilitates

[[Page 46737]]

the collection of dates of events and spells of coverage. The EHC is a 
tool to assist the respondent's ability to recall events accurately to 
the beginning of the reference period and provide increased data 
quality and inter-topic consistency for dates reported by respondents. 
The EHC is intended to help respondents recall information in a more 
natural ``autobiographical'' manner by using events from one topic as 
triggers to recall additional details and the timing in other topics.
    SIPP is seeking clearance to make the following changes:
     Revised questionnaire content--The 2024 SIPP questionnaire 
removes some latent COVID-19 pandemic content that are no longer 
relevant. The questionnaire also updates some questions for better 
clarity and to reduce respondent burden. SIPP is also updating the 
retirement lump-sum content and medical- and jointly-held-debts section 
based on cognitive testing. The final set of proposed new and modified 
content will be included in the full OMB ICR for the 2024 SIPP.
     Reduction in Sample--The SIPP overlapping panels began 
with the 2018 SIPP. From 2018 through 2022, SIPP sent a list of 
approximately 53,000 designated housing units to be interviewed in the 
field each year, including new panel sample cases. Starting in 2023, 
SIPP reduced that number from 53,000 to approximately 35,000 housing 
units in the annual sample. The new 2024 panel size is 35,000 housing 
units minus the total of eligible housing units from earlier panels.

II. Method of Collection

    The SIPP uses the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) 
method of data collection. The household interview collects one 
interview per person per year. Each interview will reference a period 
that begins with the beginning of the reference period and extends to 
the interview month of the current year. A field representative will 
conduct the interview in person with all household members 15 years old 
or over, using regular proxy-respondent rules. Children under 15 years 
old have information collected by proxy interviews with the household 
respondent. In the instances where the residence is not accessible or 
the respondent makes a request, the field representative will conduct 
the interview by telephone.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-1000.
    Form Number(s): SIPP CAPI Automated Instrument.
    Type of Review: Regular submission. This is a revision of a 
currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 40,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 50 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 33,330.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0 There are no costs to the 
respondents other than their time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141 and 
182.

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-15442 Filed 7-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P