[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 236 (Thursday, December 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76764-76766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31525]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the
proposed reinstatement of the ``National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
1979.'' A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can
be obtained by contacting the individual listed in the ADDRESSES
section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section below on or before February 6, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080,
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also
may be transmitted by fax to (202) 691-5111 this is not a toll free
number).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
(202) 691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES
section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) is a
representative national sample of persons who were born in the years
1957 to 1964 and lived in the U.S. in 1978. These respondents were ages
14 to 22 when the first round of interviews began in 1979; they will be
ages 47 to 56 when the planned twenty-fifth round of interviews is
conducted in 2012 and 2013. The NLSY79 was conducted annually from 1979
to 1994 and has been conducted biennially since 1994. The longitudinal
focus of this survey requires information to be collected from the same
individuals over many years in order to trace their education,
training, work experience, fertility, income, and program
participation.
In addition to the main NLSY79, the biological children of female
NLSY79 respondents have been surveyed since 1986. A battery of child
cognitive, socio-emotional, and physiological assessments has been
administered biennially since 1986 to NLSY79 mothers and their
children. Starting in 1994, children who had reached age 15 by December
31 of the survey year (the Young Adults) were interviewed about their
work experiences, training, schooling, health, fertility, self-esteem,
and other topics. Funding for the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult surveys
is provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development through an interagency agreement with the
BLS and through a grant awarded to researchers at the Ohio State
University Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR). The interagency
agreement funds data collection for children and young adults up to age
20. The grant funds data collection for young adults age 21 and older.
The BLS contracts with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at
the University of Chicago to conduct the NLSY79 and associated Child
and Young Adult surveys.
One of the goals of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to produce and
disseminate timely, accurate, and relevant information about the U.S.
labor force. The BLS contributes to this goal by gathering information
about the labor force and labor market and disseminating it to
policymakers and the public so that participants in those markets can
make more informed, and thus more efficient, choices. Research based on
the NLSY79 contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas
of education, training, employment programs, and school-to-work
transitions. In addition to the reports that the BLS produces based on
data from the NLSY79, members of the academic community publish
articles and reports based on NLSY79 data for the DOL and other funding
agencies. To date, more than 1,800 articles examining
[[Page 76765]]
NLSY79 data have been published in scholarly journals. The survey
design provides data gathered from the same respondents over time to
form the only data set that contains this type of information for this
important population group. Without the collection of these data, an
accurate longitudinal data set could not be provided to researchers and
policymakers, thus adversely affecting the DOL's ability to perform its
policy- and report-making activities.
II. Current Action
The BLS seeks approval to conduct round 25 of the NLSY79 and the
associated surveys of biological children of female NLSY79 respondents.
The NLSY79 Child Survey involves three components:
The Mother Supplement is administered to female NLSY79
respondents who live with biological children under age 15. This
questionnaire will be administered to about 560 women, who will be
asked a series of questions about each child under age 15. On average,
these women each have 1.12 children under age 15, for a total of
approximately 630 children.
The Child Supplement involves aptitude testing of about
615 children under age 15.
The Child Self-Administered Questionnaire is administered
to approximately 490 children ages 10 to 14.
The Young Adult Survey will be administered to young adults age 15
and older who are the biological children of female NLSY79 respondents.
These young adults will be contacted regardless of whether they reside
with their mothers. Members of the Young Adult sample are contacted for
interviews every other round once they reach age 30. The NLSY79 Young
Adult Survey involves two components:
Interviews with approximately 1,390 young adults ages 15
to 20.
Interviews with approximately 4,530 young adults age 21
and older.
During the field period, about 200 main NLSY79 interviews will be
validated to ascertain whether the interview took place as the
interviewer reported and whether the interview was done in a polite and
professional manner.
The round 25 questionnaire reflects a number of content changes
recommended by experts in various social science fields. The round 25
main NLSY79 questionnaire introduces three new questions on childhood
health and four new questions on childhood adversity to be asked of all
respondents at the end of the health section. The questions on
childhood health ask respondents for an overall rating of their
childhood health and whether they had significant hospitalizations or
illnesses as children. The rationale for including these questions is
that early-childhood health experiences may help to predict adult
health outcomes. The four questions on childhood adversity ask
respondents whether they were raised in environments characterized by
mental illness, alcoholism, physical violence, and parental affection.
These questions have been found in other surveys to predict obesity and
other adult health outcomes. The round 25 questionnaire includes a set
of eight questions designed to identify respondents who have
experienced a serious head injury or suffered a loss of smell.
Traumatic head injury and loss of smell have been linked to subsequent
dementia, and these questions will augment other measures of cognitive
functioning already collected in the NLSY79. The round 25 questionnaire
includes new questions on wills, trusts, and long-term care insurance.
Round 25 includes questions on financial literacy and practices, which
ask respondents about their preparedness for financial emergencies,
their ability to monitor financial matters, and their knowledge of
financial concepts. Round 25 also includes questions about assets,
which have been asked in several previous rounds of the NLSY79, most
recently in round 23.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The BLS is particularly interested in comments that:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility.
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used.
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected.
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
Type of Review: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously
approved collection for which approval has expired.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.
OMB Number: 1220-0109.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
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Average time Estimated
Form Total Frequency Total per response total burden
respondents responses (in minutes) (in minutes)
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NLSY79 Round 25 Pretest...... 100 Biennially....... 100 60 100
NLSY79 Round 25 Main Survey.. 7,550 Biennially....... 7,550 60 7,550
Round 25 Validation 200 Biennially....... 200 6 20
Interviews.
Mother Supplement............ \1\ 560 Biennially....... 630 20 210
(Mothers of children under
age 15).
Child Supplement............. 615 Biennially....... 615 31 318
(Under age 15)...............
Child Self-Administered 490 Biennially....... 490 30 245
Questionnaire.
(Ages 10 to 14)..............
Young Adult Survey........... 1,390 Biennially....... 1,390 51 1,182
(Ages 15 to 20)..............
Young Adult Survey, Grant 4,530 Biennially....... 4,530 56 4,228
component.
(Age 21 and older)...........
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[[Page 76766]]
Totals \2\............... 14,185 ................. 15,505 .............. 13,853
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\1\ The number of respondents for the Mother Supplement (560) is less than the number of responses (630) because
mothers are asked to provide separate responses for each of the biological children with whom they reside. The
total number of responses for the Mother Supplement (630) is more than the number for the Child Supplement
(615) because the number of children completing the Child Supplement is lower due to age restrictions and
nonresponse.
\2\ The total number of 14,185 respondents across all the survey instruments is a mutually exclusive count that
does not include: (1) the 200 reinterview respondents, who were previously counted among the 7,550 main survey
respondents, (2) the 560 Mother Supplement respondents, who were previously counted among the main survey
respondents, and (3) the 490 Child SAQ respondents, who were previously counted among the 615 Child Supplement
respondents.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a
matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC this 5th day of December 2011.
Kimberley D. Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2011-31525 Filed 12-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P