Household Pulse Survey Standard ICR_SupportingStatementA_rev 123020

Household Pulse Survey Standard ICR_SupportingStatementA_rev 123020.docx

Household Pulse Survey

OMB: 0607-1013

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Household Pulse Survey

During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Request for OMB approval

Revised: December 30, 2020

Supporting Statement Section A

Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

On April 19, 2020, the Office of Management and Budget authorized clearance of an emergency Information Collection Request (ICR) to the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau to conduct the Household Pulse Survey. The emergency clearance enabled the Census Bureau to collect urgently needed data on the experiences of American households as the coronavirus pandemic prompted business and school closures, and widespread stay-at-home orders.

The initial emergency clearance was approved through July 31, 2020. OMB subsequently approved an extension of the emergency clearance for the balance of the duration authorized under 5 CFR Section 1320, Paperwork Reduction Act, specifically 1320.13, Emergency Processing. This extension was granted in light of the continuing pandemic and recognition that the Household Pulse Survey data were widely used and valued by government officials and others managing response and recovery efforts.

The emergency clearance for the Household Pulse Survey will expire on October 31, 2020. In anticipation of a continuing need for Household Pulse Survey data, the Census Bureau is putting forward this request through normal (non-emergency) clearance channels for the purposes of continuing the survey beyond the emergency clearance expiration.

For the purposes of referencing prior ICRs, we refer to the initial approval by OMB to conduct the Household Pulse Survey as “Phase 1” (April – July, 2020), and the period approved for the balance of the emergency clearance as “Phase 2” (August – October, 2020). Phase 1 of the Household Pulse Survey was launched on April 23, 2020 as an experimental effort to produce and disseminate data about the health, social, and economic characteristics of American households as they experience the coronavirus pandemic. It is a rapid response endeavor that leverages the resources of the federal statistical system to address emergent data needs. Given the rapidly changing dynamics of this situation for American households, the Household Pulse Survey has been successful in meeting an acute need for information on changes in employment and income, spending patterns, health and access to care, food and housing security, and educational disruption.

In Phase 1, the Census Bureau worked in collaboration with five other Federal agencies to develop questionnaire content. Subsequently, the Census Bureau was approached by other Federal agencies with requests to include additional content to the Household Pulse Survey, resulting in a revised questionnaire for Phase 2. Also in Phase 2, the Census Bureau refined its strategies for contacting households in a clear and effective manner.

On October 30, 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided clearance to the Census Bureau to conduct Phase 3 of the Household Pulse Survey (OMB No. 0607-1013, expiration 10/31/2023). A condition of that clearance was that the Census Bureau would continue the survey using the Phase 2 instrument through December, 2020, and then take a hiatus in data collection to evaluate the questionnaire content. During the hiatus, the Census Bureau would work with the other Federal agencies who have contributed content to the questionnaire (and other agencies wishing to add new content) to ensure that the Household Pulse Survey continued to produce relevant and meaningful data given the ongoing circumstances of the pandemic. The Census Bureau anticipated a break of approximately two months to determine what changes were needed to the instrument; what content should be eliminated and/or added to maximize data utility in these rapidly changing circumstances; conduct pretesting, if needed; and submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) revision through formal channels for OMB review and approval.

Given current information about the trajectory of the pandemic, however, it seemed imprudent to take the hiatus as planned at the end of December, 2020. Doing so would mean that Household Pulse Survey would not be collecting data in the months of January or February, 2021 when the pandemic is still in an acute stage – and when the data produced by the Household Pulse continues to be useful to the public in understanding how American households are faring during this period.

The Census Bureau therefore submitted a non-substantive request to OMB on December 22, 2020 to request approval for continuing collection of the current Phase 3 instrument through January and February, 2021. Additionally, the Census Bureau proposed adding a brief series of questions to the Phase 3 instrument immediately regarding individuals’ intention to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Given that time is of the essence for these items, we requested approval to include them effective the data collection period starting January 6, 2021. To maintain balance with regard to the estimated burden to the public, we also proposed removing questions from the current survey for which we find utility has declined over time. The revised questionnaire with these changes noted can be found in Attachment A.

While the survey continues, the Census Bureau will proceed with the efforts requested by OMB as part of the October 30, 2020 clearance. Specifically, the Census Bureau will evaluate the continued utility of items on the Phase 3 instrument as described above. Further, it will execute a thorough non-response bias analysis to supplement the Source & Accuracy Statements that accompany each bi-weekly data release (an example of which is included in Attachment B). This non-response bias work will further the Census Bureau’s commitment to transparency in helping data users understanding the quality and limitations of the Household Pulse Survey.

To keep the participant burden low and encourage response, the Bureau will give priority to questions that generate data that are most suited to and consistent with the purpose and design of the Household Pulse Survey. The Census Bureau will submit a request to OMB including 30 days of public comment announced in the Federal Register to receive approval to make any substantive revisions to the content or methods of the Household Pulse Survey subsequent to December, 2020.

The launch of new content will be considered a new data collection cycle under Phase 3 as approved by OMB (e.g., Phase 3.1, Phase 3.2, etc.). To facilitate the introduction of new content and a new data collection cycle, the Census Bureau may take a break in data collection. Such breaks will be anticipated and communicated via the Census Bureau’s website. In circumstances that meet the requirements for Emergency Clearance under 5 CFR 1320.13, Census may request OMB approval to receive public comment concurrent with the collection of new or revised items or methods.

The Census Bureau commits to continuous evaluation of the need for the continuation of the survey in response to the coronavirus pandemic in consultation with OMB. Depending on the pandemic and the degree to which the Household Pulse Survey data continue to be useful in response and recovery efforts, the Census Bureau may conclude data collection activities prior to the clearance expiration date.

With rare exception (typically to make a clarification or correction), the Census Bureau will not introduce revisions to the questionnaire in the middle of a collection cycle. Rather a revised questionnaire would be deployed as part of a designated new cycle. This ensures that the revised instrument includes question and response items that have been tested, and that collection and processing activities are set up to result in timely and reliable data releases. The Census Bureau will monitor the trajectory of the pandemic and continue its engagement with OMB, other agencies, and stakeholders to determine when additional collection cycles make sense to remain responsive to evolving data needs.

The proposed questionnaire that includes the new Intent to Vaccinate questions and marks existing questions slated for deletion can be reviewed in Attachment A. The statement to respondents related to the Privacy Act and Paper Reduction Act is included in Attachment C. The language we propose to use to contact respondents, including invitations to participate via email and SMS text, is in Attachment D.

The collection is authorized under Title 13 United States Code, Sections 8(b), 182 and 196.

Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

Phase 3 of the Household Pulse Survey will continue as an experimental endeavor in cooperation with other federal agencies to produce near real-time data to understand how individuals are experiencing business curtailment and closures, stay-at-home orders, school closures, access to health care, and other dimensions of daily living that may have been changed by the pandemic.

At the outset, Phase 3 will carry forward the same questionnaire content as Phase 2. Content has been provided by the Census Bureau (Census); the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA/ERS); the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS); the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the Social Security Administration (SSA); and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Domains include employment status, capacity to telework, income loss, consumer spending, application and receipt of benefits, food and housing security, education disruptions (K-12 and post-secondary), travel practices, dimensions of physical and mental wellness, and access to care. Effective January 6, 2021, a new set of questions on respondents’ intentions to vaccinate will be added, and questionnaire items that have been deemed no longer useful for relevant have been eliminated (see Attachment A).

Data collected in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Household Pulse Survey have been in high demand and widely praised as a demonstration of the Federal statistical system’s ability to respond quickly to collect and disseminate high-frequency data products that inform response and recovery efforts in urgent circumstances like the pandemic. Some of the ways in which the data have been put to use include:

Federal, State and Local Agencies

National Center for Health Statistics

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm

Dept of Housing & Urban Development

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr-edge-spotlight-article-092820.html

National Center for Education Statistics

https://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/post/new-education-data-from-the-household-pulse-survey

USDA Economic Research Service

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=98778

North Carolina Triangle J Council of Governments

https://www.tjcog.org/data-resources-2020-census/2020-household-pulse-survey

Academics and NGOs

University of Utah Gardner Policy Institute

https://gardner.utah.edu/covid-19/household-pulse-data-tool/

Annie E. Casey Foundation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6OD0JwpQw; data incorporated into AEC's KIDS COUNT Data Center

Brookings Institution

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2020/06/22/unequally-disconnected-access-to-online-learning-in-the-us/

Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies

https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/using-the-census-bureaus-household-pulse-survey-to-assess-the-economic-impacts-of-covid-19-on-americas-households

Media

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/census-surveys-pandemic-impact/2020/05/27/b7b55854-a027-11ea-9590-1858a893bd59_story.html

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/yes-unemployment-fell-but-the-recovery-seems-to-be-slowing-down/

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-05-20/one-fifth-of-americans-couldnt-pay-may-rent-or-mortgage-government-survey-finds

All results from the Household Pulse Survey will continue to be disseminated from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Experimental Data Products Series (https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products.html. This and additional information on the Household Pulse Survey available on to the public on census.gov can be found in Attachment E.

Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction

The Census Bureau will conduct this information collection online using Qualtrics as the data collection platform. Qualtrics is currently used at the Census Bureau for research and development surveys and provides the necessary agility to deploy the Household Pulse Survey quickly and securely. It operates in the Gov Cloud, is FedRAMP authorized at the moderate level, and has an Authority to Operate from the Census Bureau to collect personally identifiable and Title 13-protected data.

Qualtrics is an online data collection platform that allows survey invitations to be distributed electronically via email and/or SMS. All survey initiations for the Household Pulse Survey will be distributed to sampled participants via email and SMS, and data collection will occur entirely on the web. The data collection platform is optimized for use on a mobile device, so may be used via any type of internet access.

Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

The Census Bureau and its sponsoring survey partners have initiated efforts to incorporate pandemic response-related questions into the existing benchmark surveys, but those efforts are longer term. Other polls and surveys fielded to track the pandemic and its effect have been well-cataloged by the Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN) at https://covid-19.parc.us.com/client/index.html#/.

The Household Pulse Survey does not duplicate these efforts. First, the sample of the Household Pulse Survey is very large relative to these other efforts, sufficient in size to produce estimates at the state level as well as for 15 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Secondly, the sample frame is the Master Address File (MAF), which is the gold standard frame for U.S. statistics and provides sampled respondents all of the strict confidentiality protections afforded them under Title 13 U.S.C. The statistical infrastructure at the Census Bureau, and within the federal statistical system, enables the use of the MAF coupled with auxiliary and administrative data to allow for extensive procedures to ensure the ability to understand and improve the representativeness of the survey results. Thirdly, the questionnaire has been designed with input from multiple federal agencies, including BLS; USDA/ERS; HUD; CDC and NCHS; NCES; SSA; BTS; and the Census Bureau. As such, it is a comprehensive, omnibus instrument that efficiently produces data on multiple sectors impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and associated response. Lastly, the data will carry the imprimatur of the federal statistical system and its standards for data stewardship, objectivity and transparency.

Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

The collection of this information does not involve small businesses or other small entities.

We designed the survey questions to obtain the required information with minimal respondent burden. Further, there are no legal issues that influence respondent burden.

Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue, and as such, it would be imprudent to cease administration of the Household Pulse Survey at the end of October, 2020 when the emergency clearance expires. The Census Bureau thus submits this ICR seeking regular (non-emergency) clearance from OMB to continue the survey beginning in November, 2020. This clearance would allow the Census Bureau to complete the collection cycle started in Phase 2, and to consider future collection cycles, as needed. Continuing this collection helps track changes since the early days of the pandemic in the U.S. (April, 2020) and inform recovery from this unprecedented experience for our country.

The Census Bureau proposes a data collection cycle that allows publication of results on a biweekly basis. As discussed above, the frequency and timeliness of the Household Pulse Survey is a key component of its ability to meet the needs of policymakers. The Census Bureau will review all existing and new items to ensure that the burden created by this frequency of collection is justified by the value of producing biweekly estimates.

Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

Collection of these data is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5. We note two special circumstances related to this collection, specifically:

Due to the design of the Household Pulse Survey and its purpose in providing data on a near-time basis to inform on response and recovery efforts associated with the pandemic, survey respondents are asked to complete the survey within a period of 13 days from their receipt of communication from the Census Bureau requesting their participation. After 13 days, the data collected in that period is processed and released within two weeks. A new sample of households is released every two weeks.

The Census Bureau randomly selects households in numbers sufficient to produce and disseminate statistics at a state level. Generally speaking, the sample is selected in a manner such that no household would be selected to participate in the Household Pulse Survey more than once; however, it is possible that this may occur in states with very small populations in order to continue producing data for those states. In those limited cases, it is possible that a given household may be asked to respond to the survey more than once in a calendar quarter.

Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside the Agency

As a condition of receiving OMB’s 90-day emergency clearance on April 19, 2020, the Census Bureau published a Federal Register Notice informing the public of the Household Pulse Survey on May 19, 2020. A second Federal Register Notice was published on June 3, 2020 in recognition of a growing demand for Household Pulse Survey data beyond the initial emergency expiration date of July 31, 2020. In response to these two Notices, the Census Bureau received 29 comments from organizations and private citizens. The comments are available in Attachment F, and summarized as follows:

Of the 29 comments, 28 comments offered positive feedback conveying the value of the Household Pulse Survey in terms of its timeliness and the breadth of data made available; one comment offered negative feedback, indicating that the government and its data cannot be trusted.
Twenty-six comments explicitly requested that the Household Pulse Survey be continued; one commenter believed it should not be continued.
Twelve comments indicated a desire to include additional content on the questionnaire focused on child care; one comment indicated a similar desire for content relating to other dependent care demands (e.g., older parents, family member with disabilities)
Twelve comments indicated a desire for the survey to collect age ranges for children under 18.
Three comments indicated an interest in more information on the impacts the pandemic has had on children.
One comment indicated a desire for additional questions on educational reopenings.
One comment indicated a desire for the survey to collect information on household relationships.
One comment recommended improvements to the health insurance questions currently on the survey.
One comment recommended content on work conditions and employees’ sense of feeling safe and protected at the workplace relative to availability of PPE, social distancing and other practices designed to slow contagion.
One comment expressed interest in the survey including questions on households’ access and use of P-EBT benefits.
One comment expressed concerns that the survey’s online data collection mode could present a participation barrier for respondents, particularly those in the Latino community, given the “digital divide” in the U.S., and encouraged the Census Bureau to consider additional modes of collection.

One commenter requested additional data tables that crosstab gender and race, gender and households with and without children, and other gender-based data points.
One commenter requested more guidance on how the use the data and its limitations through the posting of additional documentation.

The Census Bureau appreciates the feedback received and has taken these important comments and recommendations under advisement. As indicated above, Phase 3 will start using the same questionnaire as was used during Phase 2. As additional collection cycles within Phase 3 are considered, we will evaluate the content and propose deletions, additions and revisions to the questionnaire in light of evolving data needs expressed in these comments and from other agencies and stakeholders. It is the goal of the Census Bureau and its Federal agency partners contributing to this effort that the survey continue to meet as broad a range of data needs as possible while managing household burden.

With regard to consult with outside agencies, the content and design of the Household Pulse Survey was developed initially to serve the needs of five agencies and the Census Bureau, as well as to serve as a data resource for the public benefit. Representatives of these agencies have been involved in the development of the content of the survey and in the dissemination of findings. Since its inception, interest in the survey has only grown, with additional agencies requesting content to support their data needs in supporting pandemic response. The following list contains analysts, researchers, economists, and organizational leaders who have collaborated with the Census Bureau and contributed content to the Household Pulse Survey:

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, including the National Center for Health Statistics

Brian Moyer

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Household Pulse Survey Standard ICR_SupportingStatementA_rev 123020