Supporting Statement (1220-0050) CE Part A_FINAL

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

OMB Control Number 1220-0050

OMB Expiration Date: November 30, 2023

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR

THE CONSUMER EXPENDITURE SURVEYS

OMB CONTROL NO. 1220-0050

This ICR seeks to obtain clearance for a revision of the Consumer Expenditure (CE) Surveys. This request is seeking continuation of the CE Surveys and the approval to conduct a test of a self-administered Diary. The self-administered Diary test will evaluate the use of a panel sampling design to place the Diary survey through a self-administered role instead of through personal interview. Minor modification are being made to the CE Quarterly Survey which are described in detail in Attachment A(b).

A. Justification

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.

The CE Surveys include the Quarterly Interview Survey (CEQ) and the Diary Survey (CED). Additionally, as part of an ongoing effort to improve data quality, maintain or increase response rates, and reduce data collection costs, CE is seeking clearance to test a self-administered Diary.

The Census Bureau conducts the CE Surveys for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in support of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program. The continuing CE Surveys provide a constant measurement of changes in consumer expenditure patterns for economic analysis, and obtain data for future CPI revisions. The CE also collects point of purchase data in support of the CPI program.

Data for the CE are collected by the Census Bureau field offices using the CE Quarterly Interview Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) instrument. The CEQ CAPI instrument is the major collection tool used for the CEQ and collects the characteristics of the household, consumer unit (CU), and information on the CU’s expenditures including point of purchase through a series of four personal interviews.

The CE requests clearance to remove several point of purchase questions from the CEQ CAPI instrument that are no longer needed by CPI and to add point of purchase questions for gasoline on trips including the name of the gas station or store and the location (city and state) where gasoline on a trip was purchased.

The CE is also seeking clearance to add a ‘consent request’ question to the CEQ. The consent request question will ask respondents for permission to record the interview for quality control purposes. This question will be added to test the impact of the consent request question on respondent behavior, as well as rates of consent, and overall interview duration. The question will be administered to half of the CUs in their fourth wave production interview between October and December 2021. Respondents in this test group will be asked the consent request question. However, no recordings of the interview will actually take place. The results of this Consent Request test will inform CE regarding plans to incorporate Computer Assisted Recording Instrument (CARI) technology into CE for quality control and research purposes. (See testing plans in Supporting Statement part B for additional details on the Computer Assisted Recording Instrument (CARI) technology test.)

For a full list of questions in the CEQ CAPI instrument, see Attachment A(a). For a full list of changes to the CEQ CAPI instrument, see Attachment A(b).

The CED uses both a CAPI instrument (see Attachment B(a) for the 2021 Diary Instrument specifications), and the paper diary CE-801, Record of Your Daily Expenses (Attachment C). While no changes will be made to the CED CAPI instrument or to the paper diary, CE plans to field a test of a self-administered Diary.

The CED CAPI instrument collects information on the household including financial determinancy questions for the purposes of assigning households to a CU (see Supporting Statement Part B for additional information on CUs), demographics, average amount spent on select expenditures, and income questions through a personal interview during which two one week paper diaries are placed.

The CED Diary collects information on CU expenditures by asking each selected sample unit to keep two one-week diaries of all expenditures. The Diary is necessary to collect expenditures that respondents may not be able to recall in a retrospective interview.

For both CEQ and CED, wording is included in the CAPI instruments regarding receipt of the advance letter in order to ensure communication of the confidentiality and Paperwork Reduction Act statements to respondents who may not have received the advanced letter due to disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic. (See Attachment F - Respondent Contact Procedures and Email Template for additional information.)

Before the interviewer’s visit, each CEQ and CED sample household receives an Advance Letter, the CE‑303L1, 2, 3, or 4 (Attachment E(a-d) or CE-803(L) (Attachment E(e)). These letters explain the nature of the information the BLS wants to collect and the uses of the CEQ or the CED data, as appropriate; informs the respondents of the confidential treatment of all identifying information they provide; requests the respondents’ participation in the survey; describes the survey’s compliance with the relevant provisions of the Privacy Act and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) disclosure requirements; and provide a link to the address of the respondent’s informational webpage. Each of the advance letters and several of the brochures in the portfolio are available in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Polish.

For a full list of all questions in the 2021 CEQ Interview Instrument, please see the Interview Instrument Specifications – Attachment A(a). For a full list of all questions in the 2021 CED Interview Instrument, please see the Diary Instrument Specifications – Attachment B(a). For an updated Diary Survey form, please see Diary Form - Attachment C.

A subsample of approximately 12 percent of households in the Quarterly Interview Survey and 10 percent in the Diary Survey will participate in an additional CAPI interview, referred to as reinterview, for the purpose of instituting quality control over the performance of the interviewing staff. There are no changes to the 2021 Interview CAPI Reinterview instrument (See Attachment G - Final CEQ RI Instrument Specs). The Diary Reinterview Instrument for 2020 will not change, nor have changes been made since 2004. (See Attachment H - CED RI Instrument Specs and Attachments).

A separate Information Booklet is used for each survey. Changes have been made to both the Quarterly Interview Survey Information Booklet CE‑305 (Attachment I) and to the Diary Interview Survey Information Booklet CE-805 (Attachment J) to support the above changes to the CEQ and CED.

At the first interview for both the CEQ and the CED, the field representative (FR) gives the respondent a portfolio filled with information on CE, CPI and the Census Bureau (Attachment K). Also available to respondents is the respondent Web page, expenditure summaries showing expenditures by various characteristics (Attachment L), and an endorsement from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (Attachment M). The respondent web page contains information about the CE surveys, frequently asked questions, and links to the most recent CE data. The respondent handouts contain spending summaries for various demographic characteristics and expenditures on pets. Additional respondent handouts containing spending summaries may be made available. A non-substantive change request will be made if this occurs. Respondents who participate in the Interview Survey are also provided with a “Home File” in which to save their bills and receipts for use at the next CEQ interview.

After each interview for the CEQ or after completion of the week 2 Diary, each participating household receives a Thank You letter, CE‑303(L)6 or CE-803(L)6 (Attachment N (a-b)) as well as a certificate of appreciation, CE-900 (Attachment O).

As appropriate, Census Field representatives may also provide supplemental flyers on the Quarterly Interview or the Diary Survey (Attachments P and Q).

In addition to standard production procedures, to limit exposure of staff and respondents in response to the coronavirus pandemic, procedures for the CEQ and CED will continue to be modified on an as needed basis. In CED, these modifications include emailing a link to a Diary form, telephone transcription of expenditures from the Diary (up to three additional collection interviews for telephone transcription), and the availability of an online Diary. In CEQ, these modifications include telephone interviews in lieu of in-person interviews. (See Attachment D for a detailed description of CED procedures to mitigate issues resulting from the coronavirus pandemic including an email template for sending the Diary electronically. See Attachment B(b) and Attachment B(c) for screenshots of the Online Diary.)

The BLS conducts the CE Surveys under the authority of Title 29, Section 2 of the United States Code. The Census Bureau collects information in the CE Surveys under the authority of Title 13, United States Code, Section 8b, that allows the Census Bureau to undertake surveys for other agencies.

While no changes are being made to the production CED CAPI instrument or Diaries, CE is requesting clearance to test a self-administered Diary. In lieu of the production procedures for an in-person interview in which FRs place the diaries and train respondents on how to record the household’s daily expenditures, the Self-Administered Diary test will entail Diary placement and collection of sample unit, demographics, income, and select expenditure data through the Household Screener Survey. Additionally, instead of the CED paper Diary, respondents will use an Online Diary.

The purpose of the Self-Administered Diary test is to determine the sampling and measurement error by comparing the sample composition of those that complete an online diary to that of the BLS CE diary production sample to determine the differences in representativeness for various population subgroups. Additionally, response and cooperation rates, as well as deviations in data quality will be evaluated. The test will be administered from October through December, 2021.

The self-administered Household Screener Survey will differ from the CED CAPI instrument in that housing characteristics questions that are based on the observation of the sample unit by the FR will be simplified and converted to self-administered respondent questions; questions designed to identify the consumer unit or group of individuals who are related or share financial expenses will be eliminated and comparisons to production data will be performed at a household level instead; modifications will be made to questions to remove references to the Infobook and instead display information for the respondent on the screen; additional variables such as some demographic information will only be collected for the primary respondent instead of all household members; rostering questions will be added to collect the number of children and adults living in the household; and a question will be added notifying the respondents of the receipt of an incentive for completion of the Household Screener Survey, soliciting participation in the Online Diary, and notifying the respondent that they will receive an additional incentive for completing each of their two-week Online Diaries. (See Attachment Y(a-d) for additional information on the Self-Administered Diary including the Household Screener Survey questions and screenshots.)

Instead of a paper Diary, the respondent will report expenditures using an online diary. The online Diary will differ from the production online Diary in that the meal type question will be replaced with a vendor question; minor cosmetic changes will be made; and a respondent introduction screen will be added. This introduction screen will include brief instructions for the Online Diary, links to the user guide, and links to the video tutorials. (See Attachment Y(b) for screenshots of the Self-Administered Online Diary. See Attachment Y(c) for the Household Characteristics Survey Specifications and Attachment Y(d) for Household Characteristics Survey Screenshots.)

To maximize the survey cooperation rate respondents will receive an advance notification email, an invitation email, and up to three email reminders for the Household Screener Survey.

The advanced notification email for the Household Screener Survey will notify respondents of the pending study, provide a basic description of the study purpose, and inform them that they should expect an invitation email in the near future. The invitation email will serve as the official invitation to the Household Characteristics Survey. The invitation email will inform panel members of the basic study purpose and provide a link to the survey. Subsequent email reminders will encourage non-responding panel members to participate in the study, reiterate the basic study purpose, and provide them with a link to the survey. The reminder emails will be sent on the fourth, eighth, and twelfth days of the field period. The public burden statement and confidentiality assurances will be provided at the start of the Household Screener Survey.

The day after completing the Household Screener Survey, the respondents will receive an invitation email that will serve as the official invitation to the Online Diary. The invitation email will inform panel members of the basic study purpose, define full study participation, provide brief reporting instructions, notify them of the $50 cash equivalent incentive, and provide a link to the Online Diary. Subsequent email reminders will contain custom text with slightly altered wording encouraging all panel members to continue participating in the study, reiterate the basic study purpose, define full study participation, provide brief reporting instructions, notify them of the $50 cash equivalent incentive, and provide a link to the Online Diary. The final reminder will explicitly indicate to panel members that their two-week Online Diary period is over, while encouraging them to report information for all days within this time period and providing them with the information found within the previous reminders.

The BLS-approved contractor (Ipsos) will use a national online panel that is representative of the U.S. adult population with recruitment to the panel via address-based sampling. KnowledgePanel® (KP) includes about 60,000 US residents (age 18 and older) representing 247,431,811 adults (age 18 and older) in the overall universe.

The Household Characteristics Survey and Consumer Expenditure Online Diary will be administered to a nationally representative sample of 2,000 persons (age 18 and older), with surveys conducted in English. Weighting the entire KP to U.S. Census Bureau benchmarks secured from the latest American Community Survey (ACS) and the most recent March supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS) along several dimensions including gender, age, race/Hispanic origin, education, Census Region, income, home ownership status, household size, and metropolitan area will be done. For additional information on sampling for this study, see Supporting Statement part B and the Self-Administered Diary test Overview - Attachment Y(a).

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

The Census Bureau conducts the CE Surveys for the BLS in support of the CPI program. The continuing CE Surveys provide a constant measurement of changes in consumer expenditure patterns for economic analysis, and obtain data for future CPI revisions.

The BLS will use data collected in the CE Surveys to 1) provide data required for updating cost-weights used to calculate the CPI; 2) provide a continuous flow of data on income and expenditure patterns for use in economic analysis and policy formulation; and 3) provide a flexible consumer survey vehicle that is available for use by other Federal Government agencies. Public and private users of price statistics, including Congress and the economic policymaking agencies of the executive branch, rely on data collected in the CPI in their day‑to‑day activities. Data users and policymakers widely accept the need to regularly update the weights used in the CPI.

1. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also, describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

Since April 2003, the CEQ is collected using CAPI. The CAPI laptop instrument has streamlined the interviewing process and improved accuracy by eliminating the need for interviewers to make difficult decisions about correct branching and skip patterns during the interview. Where appropriate, screening questions in the instrument are used to determine eligibility for the administration of more detailed questions to each respondent. CAPI implementation for the Diary Household Characteristics Survey occurred in January 2004. Edit checks alert the Field Representative to irreconcilable data during the interview so that the correct data can be obtained and verified by the respondent. Additionally, online Diaries were introduced as part of the Large Scale Feasibility test in April 2020 and implemented in production as needed due to the coronavirus pandemic in April 2021. (See Attachment D for additional information on the Coronavirus procedures.)

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item A.2 above.

To our knowledge, no other Federal agency is collecting this information.

Similar information with or without modifications does not exist. The CPI requires consumer expenditure data in order to produce item cost‑weights estimates for the U.S. urban population, and for several major metropolitan areas. Additionally, to estimate cost weights for the population covered by the “CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers,” the BLS needs occupation and income from respondents to determine if we should use their expenditures in this index.

The only data source that approaches the CPI needs is the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. However, these data do not allow the BLS to tabulate by the demographic characteristics and geographic areas necessary for producing estimates of cost weights for indexes published by the BLS as well as for many other analytical uses of the data. The PCE estimates, in addition to being too aggregated and lacking the statistical qualities of the CE, also cover the institutional population that is out‑of‑scope for the CPI.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

Not applicable: the collection of information on the CE questionnaires involves individuals or households, not small businesses.

6. Describe the consequence to federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

Before 1979, the BLS collected consumer income and expenditure data every 10 to 15 years as a major component of large‑scale periodic projects to update and revise the CPI. By conducting the consumer expenditure surveys continuously, the BLS is able to provide, more frequent, up to date data, thereby increasing the overall quality and efficiency of the CPI revisions. If the BLS does not conduct the CE Surveys on a continuing basis, current information necessary for timely and accurate updating of the CPI would not be available. In addition, the BLS would not be able to respond to the continuing demand‑from the public and private sectors‑for current information on consumer spending and income.

Data from the CE are the basis for determining the market basket of the CPI. The CPI market basket is updated approximately every two years and the updated market basket is two years old at the time of introduction.

In addition, the current sample sizes for the CE and rapid data processing allow the BLS to produce superlative measures of consumer price trends of an acceptable degree of reliability and on a basis much closer to real time than would be possible in the absence of a large sample. Such indexes are widely regarded as closer approximations to a cost-of-living index than the current CPI.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

• requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

• requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;

• requiring the use of statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confidentially that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

• requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentially to the extent permitted by law.

The CED requests that each selected sample unit keep two one-week diaries of expenditures over two consecutive weeks. The CED collects information on small, relatively inexpensive items that respondents may not be able to recall in a retrospective survey. Given the type of data collected, the BLS requests Diary Survey respondents to record responses in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it.

8. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden.

Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

Consultation with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained or those who must compile records should occur at least once every 3 years -- even if the collection-of-information activity is the same as in prior periods. There may be circumstances that may preclude consultation in a specific situation. These circumstances should be explained.

One comment was received on the Federal Register Notice published in 86 FR 9086 on February 11, 2021. The comment, which was emailed to BLS on February 15th, expressed the opinion that the survey is collected too frequently and wasteful.

The Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey is designed as a rotating panel consisting of 4 interviews of a given household at 3 month intervals.  There are several advantages to the panel nature of the survey including the ability to measure year to year changes in income, assets, and liabilities; the measurement of changes to expenditure behavior over time; measurement of infrequently purchased items; as an aid in recall; and to eliminate reported expenditures that are out of scope.  Measurements of changes in income, assets, and liabilities require recollection of these items at a 12 month interval.  Though the interview is repeated every three months, respondent burden is minimized as income, assets, and liabilities are only collected at the first and final interviews.  Likewise, measurements of changes to expenditure behavior over time requires repeated measurement of the same household in order to correlate changes in a given household’s spending over time.  Additionally, purchases of durable goods may be missed by surveying only at a particular moment in time as compared to a panel survey.  Furthermore, misreports of expenditure data can be corrected in subsequent interviews.  Errors in recollection as to the exact timing of expenditures can lead to reporting of expenditures outside of the reference period.  By using a panel survey, these out of scope expenditures can be eliminated.   Other benefits include the familiarity that respondents gain with collection and instructions provided on collecting records, enabling respondents to prepare for subsequent interview. 

CE carefully weighed the impact of longer recall periods and collection of infrequently purchased items to arrive at the current 3 month recall period over four interviews. CE continues to investigate methods to reduce respondent burden and costs, including an analysis of CE survey methods.  As a result, CE recently eliminated the first bounding interview resulting in a decrease of the number of interviews required from five to four. The continuing CE Surveys are necessary to provide a constant measurement of changes in consumer expenditure patterns for economic analysis, and obtain data for future CPI revisions.

In the past year, the BLS has consulted with the following persons by correspondence and telephone conversations:

Jennifer Epps

Associate Director for Demographic Programs – Survey Operations

Census Bureau

John Gloster

Associate Director for Demographic Programs – Survey Operations

Census Bureau

Richard Schwartz

Associate Director for Demographic Programs – Survey Operations

Census Bureau

Stephen Ash

Demographic Statistical Methods Division

Census Bureau

Susan Hostetter

Demographic Statistical Methods Division

Census Bureau

David S. Johnson

Population Studies Center

University of Michigan

Consultations with these persons continue as specific problems arise.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

As part of the self-administered Diary test, respondents will receive survey points redeemable for cash, merchandise, gift cards or game entries worth the equivalent of $2 cash for completing the Household Characteristics Survey and survey points redeemable for cash, merchandise, gift cards or game entries worth the equivalent of $50 cash for entering at least one expense in each of the two one-week diaries or marking a checkbox indicating they had no expenses during the week.    (See Attachment Y(a) for additional information on incentives associated with the Self-Administered Diary test.)

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

The Census Bureau collects data on behalf of CE. The Census Bureau interviewers, Census Bureau employees, and BLS employees with access to CE data hold all information that respondents provide in strict confidence in accordance with Title 13, United States Code, Section 9. Census Bureau interviewers, Census Bureau employees, and BLS employees with access to CE data have each taken an oath to this effect, and if convicted of disclosing any information given by the respondent may be fined up to $250,000 and/or imprisoned up to 5 years.

In addition, Title 13 prohibits Census Bureau interviewers, Census Bureau employees, and BLS employees with access to CE data from disclosing information identifying any individual(s) in the CE Surveys to anyone other than sworn Census or BLS employees. Before the interviewer’s visit, CEQ or CED respondents will receive the CE-303(L) or CE-803(L) Advance Letters respectively, signed by the Director of the Census Bureau and informing them of the confidentiality of the survey data.

As part of the Self-Administered Diary test, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, its employees, agents, and partner statistical agencies, hold all information that respondents provide in strict confidence in accordance with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act and other applicable Federal laws. The information provided will be used for statistical purposes. Additionally, per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, Federal information systems are protected from malicious activities through cybersecurity screening of transmitted data. Respondents will be assured of confidentiality in the Household Characteristics Survey.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

The CE Surveys do not include any questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. The statement should:

• Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. Unless directed to do so, agencies should not conduct special surveys to obtain information on which to base hour burden estimates. Consultation with a sample (fewer than 10) of potential respondents is desirable. If the hour burden on respondents is expected to vary widely because of differences in activity, size, or complexity, show the range of estimated hour burden, and explain the reasons for the variance. General, estimates should not include burden hours for customary and usual business practices.

• If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories. The cost of contracting out or paying outside parties for information collection activities should not be included here. Instead, this cost should be included in Item 14.

CE expects the average length of the CEQ interview to remain unchanged at 67 minutes based on the removal of several point of purchase questions; the elimination of several point of purchase questions (screener, city, and state of purchase) for a small subset of respondents based on geographic data is offset by the addition of a new point of purchase question (for a subset of respondents who purchased) and the consent request question.

BLS will conduct the CEQ at approximately 52,700 designated addresses, which will result in an estimated 19,700 completed interviews.  Reinterviews will be conducted on approximately 12 percent of the completed interviews, for a total of 2,364 completed reinterviews yearly.  The average time to complete the survey is 67 minutes for the regular interview, and 10 minutes for the reinterview.  This results in an annual response burden (in terms of interview length) of 22,392 hours yearly.

Response Burden for the Interview Survey
	Total Respondents	Frequency	Total Responses
Activity				Average Time per Response (minutes)	Estimated Total Burden (hours)
Interview	4925	4	19,700	67	21,998
Reinterview1	2,364	1	2,364	10	394
TOTALS	4925	/////////	22,064	////////	22,392
1Reinterviews are done on a subset of the original respondents

The BLS will conduct the CED at approximately 17,800 designated addresses per year, resulting in an estimated 6,700 completed interviews and diaries.  Respondents complete 2 weekly diaries, resulting in 13,400 weekly diaries being completed per year.  Reinterviews will be conducted on approximately 10 percent of the weekly diaries for a total of 1,340 reinterviews.  Respondents spend approximately 70 minutes completing each weekly diary, for a total of 15,633 hours of record-keeping.  In addition to record-keeping, it takes an average of 19 minutes for respondents to complete each of the interviews. Respondents who are interviewed using the standard production Diary procedures will complete two interviews. Respondents using the modified coronavirus telephone transcription procedures (an estimated 10% of cases) will have 3 additional interviews in which Diary entries are transcribed via telephone. This results in a total of 4,880 hours of interviewing. This average is calculated based on the number of expected respondents to complete the regular two 20 minute interviews (90%) and those expected to complete both the two regular interviews and 3 additional 5 minutes interviews as a result of the coronavirus (10%). Additionally, an estimated 10% of respondents (for each week) will be contacted for reinterviewing resulting in an additional 223 hours of reinterviewing. 

As part of the Self-Administered Diary test, approximately 4,102 panel members will be invited to complete the Household Screener resulting in an estimated 2,666 completed Household Screener Surveys. Additionally, an expected 75% of those 2,666 respondents who completed the Household Screener Survey will complete the Online Diary, resulting in 2,000 completed Online Diary Surveys. Total burden hours for the Diary Survey including the Self-Administered Diary is approximately 26,247 per year.

Response Burden for the Diary Survey
	Total Respondents	Frequency	Total Responses	Average	Estimated
Activity				Time per Response (minutes)	Total
					Burden (hours)
Record-keeping	6,700	2	13,400	70	15,633
Interview	6,700	2.3	15,410	19	4,880
Reinterview	1,340	1	1,340	10	223
Self-Administered Diary Test Household Screener	2,666	1	2,666	19	844
Self-Administered Diary Test Record-keeping	2,000	2	4,000	70	4,667
TOTALS	9,366	/////////	36,816	////////	26,247

Activity	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Total Responses	Average Burden (minutes)	Total Burden (hours)	Hourly Wage Rate*	Total Burden Cost
Quarterly	4,925	4.48	22,064	60.89195	22,392	7.25	$162,342
Diary	9,366	3.93	36,816	42.77542	26,247	7.25	$190,290.75
	14,291	--	58,880	--	48,639	7.25	$352,632.75

*Based on the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14).

• The cost estimate should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start up cost component (annualized over its expected useful life); and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of service component. The estimates should take into account costs associated with generating, maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information. Include descriptions of methods used to estimate major cost factors including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, the discount rate(s), and the time period over which costs will be incurred. Capital and start-up costs include, among other items, preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and software; monitoring, sampling, drilling and testing equipment; and record storage facilities.

• If cost estimates are expected to vary widely, agencies should present ranges of cost burdens and explain the reasons for the variance. The cost of purchasing or contracting out information collection services should be a part of this cost burden estimate. In developing cost burden estimates, agencies may consult with a sample of respondents (fewer than 10), utilize the 60-day pre-OMB submission public comment process and use existing economic or regulatory impact analysis associated with the rulemaking containing the information collection, as appropriate.

• Generally, estimates should not include purchases of equipment or services, or portions thereof, made: (1) prior to October 1, 1995, (2) to achieve regulatory compliance with requirements not associated with the information collection, (3) for reasons other than to provide information or keep records for the government, or (4) as part of customary and usual business or private practices.

There are no capital and start-up costs and no operational, maintenance, or service costs required of respondents.

14. Provide estimates of the annualized cost to the Federal Government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from Items 12, 13, and 14 into a single table.

The annual cost to the Federal Government of collecting, processing, reviewing, and publishing the data collected in the CE Surveys is approximately $45 million in fiscal year 2021. This included approximately $32 million in costs incurred by the Census Bureau for collecting and processing the data, operational costs associated with maintaining the survey, and development costs. The BLS portion of approximately $13 million was for costs incurred by the BLS in personnel and other related costs associated with managing the survey, processing the data upon receipt from the Census Bureau, reviewing, and publishing the data, and for research and development including approximately $0.7 million for the Self-Administered Diary test.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.in Respondent Burden

Reporting burden has decreased from 50,741 to 48,639 due to the following: 1) the addition of the Self-Administered Diary test and 2) full implementation of the Diary sample approved in a previous package. The increase in burden from the self-administered diary test was offset by a decrease in response rates. (See Supporting Statement Part B for additional information on decreases in response rate.)

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulations, and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

Data collection activities for the continuing surveys began in September 1979 for the Diary Survey and in October 1979 for the Quarterly Interview Survey.  The Census Bureau delivered the first edited and weighted data tape to the BLS in April 1981.  Delivery is now scheduled with Quarterly Interview Survey data to be delivered three weeks after the interview month and Diary Survey data to be delivered two months after the interview month.

In May 1983, the BLS published the first tables from the continuing CE Surveys and selected data from the 1980‑81 Diary Surveys.  Also, microdata on public use tapes were made available for the first time in June 1983 for the Diary Survey and in October 1984 for the Interview Survey.

The BLS released the midyear July 2019 through June 2020 tabular data in April 2021.  The 2020 annual tabular data and Diary and Quarterly Interview Survey public use microdata are scheduled to be released in September 2021.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

The BLS requests not to display the expiration date of the information collection because the Quarterly Interview and the Diary Household Characteristics instruments are automated; the respondent, therefore, never sees the date. The OMB control number for the CE Surveys is included in the advance letter given to respondents (see Attachment E). For the Diary CE-801 there is a significant costs savings in printing a large quantity of forms at one time due to the set up costs involved in printing for the survey instrument. By not printing the date on the form the BLS will be able to continue to use forms in stock, assuming no form changes, once the OMB clearance date has expired and a new expiration date has been approved. The BLS would save both time and money by not having to destroy the old questionnaires and printing new ones.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

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