[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 139 (Friday, July 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58716-58717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15935]


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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; Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic 
Supplement

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 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) 
to the Current Population Survey, 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 17, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to the Current Population Surveys Branch email address at 
[email protected]. Please reference the Annual Social and Economic 
Supplement (ASEC) in the subject line of your comments. You may also 
submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2024-0018, 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 Kyra Linse, Survey Director, Current Population Surveys via the 
internet at [email protected], or by phone at 301-763-9280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau plans to request clearance from the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for the collection of data concerning the 
Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to be conducted in 
conjunction with the February, March, and April Current Population 
Survey (CPS). The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
sponsor this supplement, which had its beginnings in 1942. This 
collection is authorized under title 13, United States Code, sections 
141 and 182; and title 29, United States Code, sections 1-9. The 
current clearance expires December 31, 2024. The ASEC data collection

[[Page 58717]]

questions and design will remain unchanged from its most recent 
collection in 2024, with the exception of a small number of additional 
questions on childcare. Adding questions on childcare to the ASEC is 
crucial to understanding the childcare landscape in the United States. 
While similar questions are asked on other federal surveys, the ASEC 
includes other measures of economic well-being, such as the official 
poverty and supplemental poverty measures. Including these additional 
questions will allow for more direct policy relevant analyses of the 
respondent group. Data gathered can provide valuable insights into the 
usage, accessibility, and difficulties faced by parents and caregivers, 
informing better policy outcomes. The data gathered would also advance 
research called for by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 
and Medicine to improve the treatment of childcare in the supplemental 
poverty measure. A deeper understanding of these childcare dynamics can 
also help identify gaps and enhance family well-being.
    Information on work experience, personal income, noncash benefits, 
current and previous year health insurance coverage, employer-sponsored 
insurance take-up, and migration is collected through the ASEC. The 
work experience items in the ASEC provide a unique measure of the 
dynamic nature of the labor force as viewed over a one-year period. 
These items produce statistics that show movements in and out of the 
labor force by measuring the number of periods of unemployment 
experienced by people, the number of different employers worked for 
during the year, the principal reasons for unemployment, and part-/
full-time attachment to the labor force. We can make indirect 
measurements of discouraged workers and others with a casual attachment 
to the labor market.
    The income data from the ASEC are used by social planners, 
economists, government officials, and market researchers to gauge the 
economic well-being of the country as a whole, and selected population 
group of interest. Government planners and researchers use these data 
to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of various assistance 
programs. Market researchers use these data to identify and isolate 
potential customers. Social planners use these data to forecast 
economic conditions and to identify special groups that seem to be 
especially sensitive to economic fluctuations. Economists use ASEC data 
to determine the effects of various economic forces, such as inflation, 
recession, recovery, and so on, and their differential effects on 
various population groups.
    The ASEC is the official source of national poverty estimates 
calculated in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget's 
Statistical Policy Directive 14. Two other important national estimates 
derived from the ASEC are real median household income and the number 
and percent of individuals without health insurance coverage.
    The ASEC also contains questions related to (1) medical 
expenditures; (2) presence and cost of a mortgage on property; (3) 
child support payments; and (4) amount of childcare assistance 
received. These questions enable analysts and policymakers to obtain 
better estimates of family and household income, and more precisely 
gauge poverty status.

II. Method of Collection

    The ASEC information will be collected by both personal visit and 
telephone interviews in conjunction with the regular February, March 
and April CPS interviewing. All interviews are conducted using 
computer-assisted interviewing.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0354.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission. Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Affected Public: Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 78,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 25 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 32,500.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0 (This is not the cost of 
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for 
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to 
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services 
required specifically by the collection.)
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, sections 141 and 
182; and title 29, United States Code, sections 1-9.

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. 2024-15935 Filed 7-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P