Current Population Survey Disability Supplement
1220-0186
June 2019
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Necessity of the Information Collected
The purpose of this request for review is for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to obtain clearance for the Disability Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), scheduled to be conducted in July 2019. This supplement was last conducted with the May 2012 CPS. The proposed supplement questions are shown in Attachment A. As part of the CPS, the supplement will survey individuals ages 15 and over from a nationally representative sample of approximately 60,000 eligible U.S. households. The supplement will be sponsored by the Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office (CEO).
The results of this supplement will increase our understanding of the labor market challenges facing persons with a disability. The data are necessary for the Department of Labor and others in planning, funding, and evaluating policies and programs designed to help those with a disability.
The CPS has been the principal source of the official Government statistics on employment and unemployment for over 75 years. Collection of labor force data through the CPS helps BLS meet its mandate as set forth in Title 29, United States Code, Sections 1 through 9 (Attachment B).
2. Needs and Uses
This supplement will gather information on employment of people with disabilities. Information will be collected about barriers to employment, prior work experience, and the use of available career and financial assistance for all people with disabilities. For employed people with disabilities, the survey will gather data on their level of difficulty completing work duties; whether they requested accommodations in the workplace and the nature of the accommodations; modes of commuting; and whether they work at home, have flexible hours, or have temporary jobs. Since the supplement was last collected in 2012, work patterns have changed, policies have changed, and assistive technologies have advanced. Having updated information will be valuable in determining how employment barriers have changed for people with disabilities.
Data gathered in this supplement will help measure the effectiveness of disability employment policies and assist policy makers in developing future policies that further the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The ADA established civil rights protections for individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and Local government services, and telecommunications. Executive Order 13548 and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Add Us In initiative have reiterated a commitment to helping people with disabilities succeed in the workforce.
Because this supplement is part of the CPS, in which detailed demographic data are collected, estimates can be produced for a variety of subpopulations. Given sufficient sample size, comparisons will be possible across characteristics such as sex, age, and educational attainment.
Following is more detail on the subject areas for the proposed supplement and an explanation as to why the proposed data collection is important for policy development purposes.
Learn more about the low labor force participation rates for people with disabilities
Results will be used to target future policy development to important demographic audiences based on information relative to low labor force participation rates. For example, policy might need to be targeted to certain age, education, geographic, or other demographic characteristics.
Better understand the use and effectiveness of current programs designed to prepare people with disabilities for employment
The U.S. Department of Labor is interested in discerning the use and effectiveness of workforce development programs that prepare people with disabilities for employment. Results will be used to determine options for improving workforce development programs, such as enhancing the physical, programmatic, and communications accessibility of the workforce development system.
Learn more about the work history of people with disabilities
Current CPS data gives information on the work history of people with disabilities in the previous month. However, the CPS does not provide comprehensive data on an individual’s work history. Results will be used for improving workforce development programs that address issues of work history for people with disabilities.
Identify the different types of barriers to employment people with disabilities experience
It is widely recognized that people with disabilities experience barriers to employment. However, the CPS does not provide details about specific employment barriers experienced by people with disabilities. Results will be used to inform future policy development and pilot demonstration programs to address barriers to employment faced by people with disabilities.
Determine the types of workplace accommodations that assist people with disabilities; such accommodations include assistive technologies, transportation assistance, flexible work schedules, and alternative work arrangements
With appropriate accommodations, many people with disabilities are able to enter or reenter the workforce. Results will be used for improving workforce development programs by promoting a wide range of workplace accommodations and to inform future policy development and pilot demonstration programs to address barriers to employment faced by people with disabilities.
Measure the use of financial assistance programs among those with disabilities and whether these programs affect the likelihood of working
There are many financial assistance programs, such as SSI/SSDI, Medicare/Medicaid, TANF, and benefits counseling, that assist people with disabilities who are trying to enter or reenter the workforce. There is limited information about the effectiveness of these programs. Results will be used for improving workforce development programs by ensuring that these financial assistance programs are available to people with disabilities who access these centers.
BLS published a summary of the findings from the May 2012 collection in a news release issued in April 2013. (Attachment C.)
3. Use of Information Technology
The Census Bureau, which conducts the actual collection of the CPS data—designing the sample, training and monitoring the interviewers, and conducting a continuing quality control program—uses methods designed to keep respondent burden as low as possible. These interviewing methods, which include the use of computer-assisted interviewing, were improved as part of a complete redesign of the CPS implemented in January 1994. The redesign was preceded by years of wide-ranging discussions, research, and large-scale field tests aimed at long-range improvements in the survey.
The CPS and all of its supplements are collected 100 percent electronically by using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews and Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CATI/CAPI). With the collection of Basic CPS data for January 2007, an updated computer-assisted interviewing software, called Blaise, was introduced for running the data collection instrument. Blaise is a Windows-based survey processing system developed by Statistics Netherlands and licensed by Westat in the United States. The questions in the proposed disability supplement were designed to obtain the required information with minimal respondent burden.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
There are few data sources about the nature of labor market challenges facing people with disabilities. The American Community Survey (ACS) is a very large survey conducted by the Census Bureau that includes a set of 6 questions that were designed to identify whether a respondent has a disability. The 6 ACS disability questions are very similar to those contained in the monthly CPS that are used to identify respondents who have a disability. Because the survey is very large, the ACS provides meaningful data by state and many local areas. However, the ACS provides minimal information about the labor force attachment of those who are neither employed nor unemployed, and the ACS does not collect information about accommodations or participation in assistance programs. Moreover, the ACS provides only limited information on the work activities of those with disabilities; unlike the CPS, the ACS does not collect timely, detailed information on the employment status of the population.
The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) contains questions about the ability to perform a number of activities. If a person reports having a difficulty performing a specific activity, usually a follow-up question determines the severity of the difficulty. Responses to these and related questions are used to derive a measure of disability status. The SIPP data are able to provide some information about employment, recent work history, income, and participation in income assistance programs. However, the SIPP does not ask about accommodations.
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) included the CPS and ACS disability questions in 2017 along with basic questions to establish whether respondents were employed or unemployed; however, this survey does not collect other more detailed data about labor force activities, and therefore cannot address the lack of data concerning the large contingent of those with a disability who are not in the labor force.
5. Minimizing Burden
The data are collected from households; their collection does not involve any small businesses or other small entities.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
Because the CPS Disability Supplement has not been conducted since 2012, there has been a dearth of high quality data in recent years about the nature of labor market challenges facing people with disabilities. This information—in combination with information collected in the monthly CPS, such as demographic characteristics and employment status—will help guide lawmakers to determine if new policies or regulations are needed to protect these and other types of workers. It will also provide data that can be used by the Department of Labor to help evaluate the effectiveness of their assistance efforts.
7. Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances. The CPS data are collected in a manner that is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.
Federal Register Notice/Consultation Outside the Agency
Federal Register Notice
No Comments were received as a result of the Federal Register notice published in 83 FR 66310, on December 26, 2018.
The following people have been in consultation with BLS concerning the development of the survey:
Outside Consultation
Department of Labor
Molly Erwin
Chief Evaluation Officer
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy
Department of Labor
(202) 693-5091
Bureau of the Census
Lisa Clement
Associate Director Demographic Programs
Bureau of the Census
Department of Commerce
(301) 763-5482
In addition to the above, a statement soliciting comments for improving CPS data is prominently placed in all Census Bureau publications that cite CPS data. A similar statement is included in the technical documentation that accompanies the microdata files. Also the CPS advance letter (Attachment D) provides respondents with an address at the Census Bureau to which they can submit general comments on the survey, specifically those regarding respondent burden.
9. Paying Respondents
The Census Bureau does not make any payments or provide any gifts to individuals participating in the CPS.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
The Census Bureau will collect the supplemental data in compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and OMB Circular A-130. Each sample household will receive an advance letter (Attachment D) approximately one week before the start of the initial CPS interview. The letter includes the information required by the Privacy Act of 1974, explains the voluntary nature of the survey, and states the estimated time required for participating in the survey. Field representatives must ask each respondent if he/she received the advance letter and, if not, must provide a copy of the letter to each respondent and allow sufficient time for him/her to read the contents. Also, interviewers provide households with the pamphlet "The U.S. Census Bureau Respects Your Privacy and Protects Your Personal Information," which further states the confidentiality assurances associated with this data collection effort (Attachment E). All information given by respondents to Census Bureau employees is held in strict confidence under Title 13, United States Code, Section 9 (Attachment F). Each Census Bureau employee has taken an oath to that effect and is subject to a jail penalty and/or substantial fine if he/she discloses any information given to him/her.
As is the case with data collection, data released to the public by BLS or Census in tabular form or as microdata files are released in compliance with Title 13. Tabular data released to the public are always in aggregated form. No tabulations of individual survey records are made available to the public. Any microdata files that are released are public use files with all identifying information removed from the records.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
No sensitive questions are asked in this supplement.
12. Estimate of Respondent Burden
The estimated respondent burden for the July 2019 Disability Supplement is 8,833 hours. This is based on an average respondent burden of approximately 5 minutes for each of the approximately 106,000 individuals about whom data is collected in the supplement. About 55,000 respondents will supply the data for 106,000 individuals, themselves and others in their households. Generally, one respondent answers for the household. The actual respondent burden is dependent upon the size of the household and the characteristics of its occupants.
The overall annualized dollar cost to the respondents for collection of the supplement data is $129,227. This estimate assumes a wage rate for all respondents of $14.63 an hour, the median hourly earnings for workers paid by the hour in 2017.
13. Estimate of Cost Burden
Capital start-up costs: $0
Total operation and maintenance and purchase of services: $0
There are no costs to survey respondents other than the time it takes to respond to the questionnaire. Respondents answer questions based on personal experience, which requires no record-keeping or other expenses.
14. Cost to the Federal Government
The total estimated cost of the July 2019 supplement is approximately $700,000. This cost is borne by the Chief Evaluation Office of the Department of Labor and largely represents the charge by the Census Bureau for conducting the supplement. Census activities for this supplement include programming the collection instrument, developing interviewer training materials, collecting and processing data, and creating a public use microdata file. Also included are costs for BLS staff to analyze the supplement data, prepare a news release, and publish estimates.
15. Changes in Respondent Burden
This is a reinstatement of a previously approved collection. Response burden is estimated to be the same as it was in the May 2012 supplement.
16. Time Schedule for Information Collection and Publication
The July 2019 CPS, of which this supplement is a part, will be conducted during the week of July 14-20, 2019. Processing of this supplement will commence in August 2019. Survey results will appear as news releases in 2020.
These news releases will be published in electronic and paper formats. The electronic news releases will be posted on the BLS webpage at www.bls.gov/cps. Additionally, the Census Bureau will release a public use version of the microdata after the publication of the news release.
17. Request to Not Display Expiration Date
The Census Bureau does not wish to display the assigned expiration date of the information collection because the instrument is automated and the respondent, therefore, would never see the date. The advance letter sent to households by the Census Bureau contains Census’s OMB clearance number for the CPS and Census’s version of the failure to comply notice. (See Attachment D.) Copies of this advance letter are stockpiled by the Census Bureau for use as needed; changes to the letter would make the current inventory of letters unusable.
18. Exceptions to the Certification
There are no exceptions to the certification.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT |
| Author | OEUS Network |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-16 |