Federal Register: July 3, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 128)
DOCID: FR Doc 02-16718
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Labor Statistics Bureau
NOTICE: NOTICES
ACTION: Agency information collection activities:
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice.
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the Addresses section below on or before September 3, 2002.
[[Page 44621]]
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 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 Women.'' A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the individual listed in the Addresses section of this notice.
SUMMARY:
Proposed collection; comment request,
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
I. Background
The National Longitudinal Survey of Women (NLSW) has been conducted since the late 1960s. Historically, the NLSW was collected as two surveys, the Survey of Work Experience for Mature Women (which includes women born from April 1, 1922 to March 31, 1937) and the Survey of Work Experience for Young Women (which includes women born in the years 1943 to 1953). In 1995, the Bureau of the Census, which collects the data for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, combined the mature and young women's cohorts into a single survey, a change that has improved the efficiency of survey operations.
The data collected in the NLSW contribute to the knowledge about opportunities and services for women who are in the labor force, want to reenter the labor force, or choose not to participate in the labor force. Survey data also contribute to the knowledge about women's ability to succeed in the job market and how their levels of success relate to educational attainment, vocational training, prior occupational experiences, general and jobspecific experiences, and retirement decisions.
The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to promote the development of the U.S. labor force and the efficiency of the U.S. labor market. The BLS contributes to this mission by gathering information about the labor force and labor market and disseminating it to policy makers and the public so that participants in those markets can make more informed, and thus more efficient, choices. Research based on the NLSW contributes to the formation of national policy in the areas of education, training and employment programs, unemployment compensation, and retirement income from pensions and Social Security. In addition, members of the academic community publish articles and reports based on NLSW data for the Department of Labor (DOL) and other funding agencies. The DOL uses the measurement of changes in the labor market to design programs that would ease employment and unemployment problems. The survey design provides data gathered 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, and the DOL could not perform its policy and report making activities, as described above.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in comments that:
III. Current Actions
The Bureau of Labor Statistics seeks approval to conduct the 2003 NLSW. The 2003 NLSW will document work experience, labor force attachment, participation in educational or training programs, financial status, health, and health insurance coverage. The survey will continue to obtain detailed information on the work history and pension coverage of respondents and their husbands. In addition, the survey will obtain information on intergenerational transfers of time and money between respondents and their children or their spouses' children. Respondents living in longterm care institutions who are mentally competent to answer questions will be interviewed in the 2003 NLSW; institutionalized respondents were considered to be out of scope in prior rounds of the survey. The 2003 NLSW will include contacts with approximately 6,677 women (2,810 ages 66 to 80 and 3,867 ages 49 to 60). A subsample of 50 women will be selected for a pretest to be conducted in January 2003 to ensure that the survey instrument and all procedures are working properly before the main fielding begins in June. Assuming the pretest works successfully, these 50 women will not be interviewed a second time during the main fielding. As in previous administrations of the NLSW, 10 percent of the sample in 2003 will be asked to participate in a brief followup interview that will last approximately 5 minutes. This reinterview is a qualitycontrol tool, in which managers at the Census Bureau ask respondents a few questions to verify that an interview took place.
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 Women.
OMB Number: 12200110.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Average time Estimated
Form Total Frequency Total per response total burden
respondents responses (minutes) (hours)
2003 NLSW Pretest.............................. 50 Biennially............................. 50 70 58
2003 NLSW Main Fielding........................ 6,627 Biennially............................. 6,627 70 7789
Reinterview.................................... 663 Biennially............................. 663 5 55
Totals..................................... 6,677 ....................................... 7,340 .............. 7,902
Note: The difference between the total number of respondents and the total number of responses reflects the fact that 663 respondents will be
interviewed twice, once in either the pretest or the main fielding and a second time in the qualitycontrol reinterview. An additional 58 burden hours
have been included for the main fielding to account for the possibility of having to interview the 50 women selected for the pretest again in the main
fielding in the unlikely event that the pretest fails completely. [[Page 44622]]
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 24th day of June 2002. Jes[uacute]s Salinas,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 0216718 Filed 7202; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 451024P
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, telephone number 2026917628. (See ADDRESSES section.)