Oct 26 -- The Census Bureau has asked OMB to approve the addition of four questions to the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS) and invites ASEC data users to submit comments by November 26, 2020.
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 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 groups of interest. This request is to add four questions to the ASEC. The added questions will assist researchers to evaluate the impact of governmental assistance programs on economic well-being, particularly for the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM).
If children in the household are reported to have received school meals, a new follow-up question asks:
○ Did your children continue receiving free/reduced price meals through your school or school district if schools were closed during the Coronovirus-COVID-19 pandemic?”
Three new questions regarding stimulus payments are added for all households.
○ During 2020, did you or anyone receive any stimulus payments or payments received from the Department of the Treasury due to the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic?
○ Who was the stimulus payment for?
○ What was the amount of the stimulus payment you received for all covered adults and children in the household?
Stimulus payment information will allow researchers to estimate the amount of such payments received by households. The coronavirus stimulus payments disbursed in 2020 were based on income from 2018 or 2019, making it nearly impossible to model with only the 2020 income. This information will provide accurate data on stimulus payments received to properly estimate after-tax income for the SPM.
Draft questions:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/DownloadDocument?objectID=105653600
Justification:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/DownloadDocument?objectID=105652000
FR notice inviting comments:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/10/26/2020-23634/agency-information-collection-activities-submission-to-the-office-of-management-and-budget-omb-for
Submit comments to OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov
For AEA members wishing to provide comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806