Given the historical circumstances posed by the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the Census Bureau in partnership with multiple Federal agencies sought to produce data that could inform in near real time on the social and economic dynamics in this period. The Household Pulse Survey went from idea to fruition approximately 35 days, with input and cooperation from five other federal agencies. Our federal partners included the Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor), the Economic Research Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture), the National Center for Health Statistics (Centers for Disease Control), the National Center for Education Statistics (U.S Department of Education), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Office of Management and Budget approved the Census Bureau’s request for emergency clearance to conduct data collection for this project in accordance with Paperwork Reduction Act regulations.

Given the rapidly changing nature of the Pandemic and its impact on the current environment, the Household Pulse Survey was designed as an experimental project to quickly and efficiently measure how households were experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic, and to report on the most critical issues, as fast as possible.

Together with our Federal partners, we developed the content for the survey using relevant questions from existing surveys and added new content, when necessary. Questions are asked about employment status, consumer spending, food security, housing, education disruptions, and dimensions of physical and mental wellness.

A necessity of the rapid response nature of the Household Pulse Survey is an agile and secure data collection platform. We used the Qualtrics platform for conducting the Household Pulse Survey, which is currently used at the Census Bureau for other research and development surveys and has a proven record of the necessary agility to deploy quickly and securely. Qualtrics was already Fedramped-approved and had Authority to Operate at the Census Bureau.

Each week data are released through an interactive data tool, detailed data tables, and a public use microdata file and can be used to understand how individuals are experiencing significant social and economic changes to American life due to the coronavirus pandemic. Data for the Household Pulse Survey are available at the national and state level, and for the 15 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

All data for the survey can be found here: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html.

For the July 16 – July 21 (Week 12) interviewing period of the survey, we see the following key findings, which indicate how Americans and households have been faring during the pandemic.

51.1% of American adults live in households which have experienced a loss in employment income
12.1% of Americans lived in households where there was either sometimes or often not enough to eat in the previous 7 days
40.1% of adults had delayed getting medical care in the previous 4 weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic
33.9% of respondents reported feeling anxious or nervous more than half the days/nearly every day last week
26.5% of adults either missed last month’s rent or mortgage payment, or had slight or no confidence that their household could make the next payment on time

The first phase of the Household Pulse Survey was planned for 12 weeks of data collection, ending July 21, 2020. Planning for a second phase, expected to run through October 2020, is underway. For more information on experimental data products and the Household Pulse Survey, please visit https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products.html.

For more information you can check out the webinar recording “Taking the Pulse of American Households During COVID-19” on the Census Academy website.

You can stay up-to-date with the Household Pulse Survey weekly data releases by subscribing to the new weekly Pulse Survey Newsletter – SUBSCRIBE HERE

Contingency Planning for the Consumer Expenditure Survey

by Richard Schwartz

Like many other surveys, the Covid-19 pandemic required some creative solutions and a variety of changes to the Consumer Expenditure (CE) Surveys data collection operations. Both the Diary Survey (CED) and the Quarterly Interview Survey (CEQ) are designed as personal visit surveys administered by a Census Bureau Field Representative (FR). In the current environment, the CE Surveys had to resort to telephone-only interviewing. One mitigating factor is that phone numbers were available for many returning CEQ cases that had participated in prior rounds of the survey -- the CEQ consists of four quarterly interviews administered over a 10-month period. Therefore, that left us without phone numbers for about 1/4th of the CEQ sample households.

The CED posed a greater challenge. The CED is a one-time survey with no returning sample, which meant we did not have access to phone numbers for any of the cases. Another limitation was the inability to drop off or pick up the prescribed paper diaries in which respondents record daily expenditures.

To address these challenges, the CE team used many of the same approaches taken with other surveys. The Census Bureau’s regional offices mailed out advance letters and included "Please Call Me" letters to solicit response. At headquarters, we mined our administrative records database for phone numbers associated with sample addresses and provided these phone numbers to the FRs. Unfortunately, many of these phone numbers were often old or disconnected so the FR's began leveraging publicly available address/phone number records, with reasonable success.

In conjunction with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the decision was also made to temporarily release an online diary instrument into production earlier than originally planned. The CE program has tested online diaries in the past and most recently wrapped up a large-scale feasibility test in March 2020. Releasing the web diary provided respondents with another tool to record purchases due to the FRs inability to travel to sample addresses for paper diary delivery and retrieval (normal protocol).

The Covid-19 environment also affected the CEQ questionnaire. The BLS added questions related to the stimulus payments that were sent out to qualifying American taxpayers. This was not the first time the CE was asked to collect data on money provided to taxpayers to stimulate the economy. During the 2008 recession, questions were added to ask about the use of the tax rebates that were sent out to all taxpayers with the intent on increasing consumer spending and fueling the struggling economy.

We have now added similar questions to the June 2020 CEQ questionnaire and they will continue to be asked through November 2020. Sampled households who received a stimulus payment will be asked the type of payment received, amount, how it was used, etc.

New Questions Added to the CPS in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

by Tim J. Marshall and Taylor Smith

What is the CPS

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey sponsored jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It is the source of the national unemployment rate, along with a wide range of information about employment, unemployment, and people not in the labor force. The CPS also collects extensive demographic data that complement and enhance our understanding of labor market conditions in the nation overall, among many different population groups and geographic areas.

BLS Request to Add Questions on Covid-19

As the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic began to affect our everyday lives earlier this year, researchers at BLS realized the need for an understanding of the effects on the U.S labor market. BLS recognized that the CPS was an excellent vehicle to collect additional information and developed five questions that could be added. CPS staff were asked by BLS to add the extra questions to the May 2020 CPS, and to include them in every monthly collection until further notice. The information collected will assist research into how the pandemic is affecting the labor market by providing additional data about telework, earnings for missed work, and job search behavior.

One question, contributed by the National Center for Health Statistics, will also gather information about how many people did not get needed medical care due to the pandemic.

Question Details

There are five survey questions constructed to analyze the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) on the labor force. Each of the following questions are answered with a Yes or No response:

At any time in the LAST 4 WEEKS, did (you/name) telework or work at home for pay BECAUSE OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC?
At any time in the LAST 4 WEEKS, were (you/name) unable to work because (your/his/her) EMPLOYER CLOSED OR LOST BUSINESS due to the Coronavirus?
Did (you/name) receive any pay from (your/his/her) EMPLOYER for the hours (you/he/she) DID NOT work in last 4 weeks?
Did the Coronavirus pandemic prevent (you/name) from looking for work in the LAST 4 WEEKS?
At any time in the last 4 weeks, did you or anyone in your household need medical care for something other than Coronavirus, but not get it because of the Coronavirus pandemic? Please include all adults and children in the household.
If Yes, Who?

Results from these questions will provide information on how the recent pandemic has affected certain health and labor force aspects of the United States.

Instrument Testing and Release for May CPS

Immediately after receiving the final questions from BLS, the CPS instrument authoring staff began programming them into the Blaise instrument. CPS staff tested the development instrument to ensure the questions were as intended and were asked of the correct subgroups of the sample universe. The extra questions were first included in the May CPS, as planned. CPS staff also developed edit specifications for processing the resulting data. CPS Programming Branch programmed the edit, and together with CPS staff, verified its accuracy using a test deck. Once we were satisfied the edit performed as specified, full May production data processing took place, and an extract file was delivered to BLS at the end of May.

Release plans to the public

As of this newsletter’s publishing, BLS is currently evaluating the quality of the data collected through the new questions, developing additional edits, and analyzing the results. Check the website https://www.bls.gov/bls/measuring-the-effects-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-using-the-current-population-survey.htm for publication plans, as BLS will update this page as information regarding these new questions becomes available.

Articles/Blogs from Census Internet

How Resilient Are Communities to Disasters?

For the first time, using newly developed experimental estimates, the U.S. Census Bureau has created a tool to help measure the degree of a community’s resilience in the face of disasters and other emergencies. The Community Resilience Estimates (CRE) is a resilience measure that identifies a community’s ability to endure, respond and recover from the impact of disasters.

The Risks Children Face during Pandemic

Households with children continue to be hit harder by the financial pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experimental Household Pulse Survey. Nationally, 24.7 million adults in mortgaged or rented households reported a late or deferred housing payment in May. This includes one in eight adults in mortgaged households and one in six adults in rental households. Adults in households with children report higher proportions.

Self-Employed Adults Hit Harder By Pandemic-Related Business Downturns in Hardest-Hit States

Self-employed workers in states where businesses are hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic are more likely to face economic hardships, according to new findings from the U.S. Census Bureau’s experimental Household and Small Business Pulse surveys. Creating jobs and running small businesses are just a couple of examples of the vital roles self-employed workers play in the U.S. economy.

Working Age Population Not Keeping Pace with Growth in Older Americans

The surge in the number of Americans aged 65 and older this decade has outpaced the growth in the working-age population. In counties across the United States, the dependency ratio has increased, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates released in June.