Notice2022-13481
Request for Information on Current Population Survey Disability Supplement 2024
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 24, 2022
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentDisability Employment Policy Office
Abstract
The Department of Labor (Department) is seeking information from the public regarding a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) on disability employment issues, which will be conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau and is expected to be fielded in 2024. The Department is publishing this Request for Information (RFI) to gather information to aid in revising this CPS Disability Supplement and to inform its general disability employment research agenda.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 121 (Friday, June 24, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 121 (Friday, June 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37889-37891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13481]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of Disability Employment Policy
[Agency Docket Number DOL-2022-0002]
RIN 1230-ZA01
Request for Information on Current Population Survey Disability
Supplement 2024
AGENCY: Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department) is seeking information
from the public regarding a supplement to the Current Population Survey
(CPS) on disability employment issues, which will be conducted by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau and is expected
to be fielded in 2024. The Department is publishing this Request for
Information (RFI) to gather information to aid in revising this CPS
Disability Supplement and to inform its general disability employment
research agenda.
DATES: Comments must be received by August 8, 2022.
ADDRESSES: To facilitate the receipt and processing of written comments
on this RFI, the Department encourages interested persons to submit
their comments electronically. You may submit comments, identified by
Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 1230-ZA01, by either of the
following methods:
Electronic Comments: Follow the instructions for submitting
comments on the Federal eRulemaking Portal <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Mail: Address written submissions to David Rosenblum, Senior
Economist, Research & Evaluation, Office of Disability Employment
Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-1313, 200 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: This RFI is available through the Federal Register
and the <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> website. You may also access this
document via the Office of Disability Employment Policy's (ODEP)
website at <a href="http://www.dol.gov/">http://www.dol.gov/</a>odep. All comment submissions must
include the agency name and Regulatory Information Number (RIN 1230-
ZA01) for this RFI. Response to this RFI is voluntary and commenters
need not reply to all questions listed below. The Department requests
that no business proprietary information, copyrighted information, or
personally identifiable information be submitted in response to this
RFI. Submit only one copy of your comment by only one method (e.g.,
persons submitting comments electronically are encouraged not to submit
paper copies). Please be advised that comments received will become a
matter of public record and will be posted without change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information provided. All
comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on the date indicated for
consideration in this RFI; comments received after the comment period
closes will not be considered. Commenters should transmit comments
early to ensure timely receipt prior to the close of the comment
period. Electronic submission via <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> enables
prompt receipt of comments submitted as the Department continues to
experience delays in the receipt of mail in our area. For access to the
docket to read background documents or comments, go to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Rosenblum, Senior Economist,
Office of Disability Employment Policy,
[[Page 37890]]
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-1313, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-7840 or visit <a href="https://www.dol.gov/dol/contact/contactphonecallcenter.htm">https://www.dol.gov/dol/contact/contactphonecallcenter.htm</a> (TTY), for
information about this notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
BLS and the Census Bureau have previously conducted three
supplements to the CPS on disability employment issues, in May 2012,
July 2019, and July 2021. The basic monthly CPS has existed since the
1940s and is the source of official government statistics on the
unemployment rate and other labor market measures. Similar to the
previous versions, the 2024 Disability Supplement will be conducted
alongside the basic monthly CPS, and therefore the same detailed
demographic information collected in the basic monthly CPS will be
available for respondents to the Disability Supplement, allowing for
comparisons across demographic characteristics, including sex, race,
ethnicity, age, and educational attainment. It will also be possible to
create estimates for those who are employed, unemployed, and not in the
labor force. Because the CPS is a rich source of information on the
employment status of the population, it will be possible to examine in
detail the nature of various employment and unemployment situations for
individuals with disabilities.
The CPS began tracking disability status in June 2008 by asking six
questions, with anyone answering affirmatively to at least one question
classified as having a disability. These six questions are also used in
other national surveys such as the American Community Survey and
various other federal surveys. The six questions ask whether a person:
(1) is deaf or has serious difficulty hearing, (2) is blind or has
serious difficulty seeing (even with the assistance of corrective
lenses), (3) has serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or
making decisions, (4) has serious difficulty walking or climbing
stairs, (5) has difficulty dressing or bathing, and (6) has difficulty
doing errands alone.
Data from the basic monthly CPS had revealed large disparities in
labor market outcomes between people with and without disabilities, but
more information was needed to understand the challenges facing people
with disabilities and to improve programs and policies designed to help
people with disabilities. To respond to this need, BLS and the Census
Bureau have conducted three supplements to the CPS on disability
employment issues, in May 2012, July 2019, and July 2021. The first
round was sponsored by ODEP while the subsequent rounds were sponsored
by DOL's Chief Evaluation Office. Given the work-related focus of the
CPS, the Disability Supplement was designed to capture data on specific
issues relating to employment. It aimed to (1) uncover more detail
about the low labor force participation rates for people with
disabilities, (2) understand the effectiveness of existing programs
intended to prepare people with disabilities for employment, (3)
provide more information about the work history of people with
disabilities, (4) identify barriers to employment for people with
disabilities, (5) learn more about workplace accommodations that assist
people with disabilities, and (6) measure the extent and effectiveness
of financial assistance programs. The 2012 Disability Supplement found
that, of people with disabilities who were employed, more than half had
some difficulty completing their work duties due to their disability.
Barriers to employment included lack of education or training, lack of
transportation, need for accommodations at the workplace, and a
person's own disability.
The 2019 CPS Disability Supplement, which included the same set of
questions as the 2012 version, was conducted to capture the effects of
changes in the intervening seven years in work patterns, assistive
technologies, and public policies on employment barriers for people
with disabilities. Of people with disabilities who were not employed,
almost half reported at least one barrier to employment, such as a
person's own disability, lack of education or training, lack of
transportation, or the need for job accommodations.
The third CPS Disability Supplement was conducted in July 2021
during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the same set of questions from the
prior versions of the survey. This update provided information about
how barriers to employment for people with disabilities may have
changed as a result of the pandemic. The 2021 survey showed, of persons
with a disability who were not employed, there had been a small
decrease in the proportion of those reporting some type of barrier to
employment, relative to the 2019 CPS Disability Supplement.
A fourth CPS Disability Supplement is being prepared, to be
conducted in 2024. This Disability Supplement provides an opportunity
to reconsider the questions asked in the survey in light of the
socioeconomic changes that have taken places since the development of
the current set of questions more than ten years ago.
Interested parties can find the most recent questionnaire at
Attachment 8 of: <a href="https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsjul21.pdf">https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsjul21.pdf</a>.
Request for Information
Through this RFI, we are soliciting feedback from interested and
affected parties on the data collection that will be undertaken via the
fourth CPS Disability Supplement, for addressing disability employment
related issues addressed in the previous three Disability
Supplements.\1\ Comments to this RFI will inform decisions regarding
the topics, questions, and response options included in the Disability
Supplement. We encourage commenters to provide detail about why they
recommend certain revisions, which could include, but are not limited
to, informing policy, identifying a relevant subpopulation of the
disability community, reducing respondent burden, or making the
questions clearer to survey respondents. This RFI notice is for
internal planning purposes only and should not be construed as a
solicitation or as an obligation on the part of DOL or any
participating federal agencies.
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\1\ Technical documentation for the 2021 CPS Disability
Supplement can be downloaded at <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/cps/cps-supp_cps-repwgt/cps-disability.html">https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/cps/cps-supp_cps-repwgt/cps-disability.html</a>. The supplement begins on page 113 of the PDF file.
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We ask commenters to address the following questions in the context
of the preceding discussion in this document. Commenters do not need to
address every question and should focus on those that relate to their
expertise or perspective. To the extent possible, please clearly
indicate the question(s) addressed in your response.
Questions
Work History
1. Should the question about difficulty completing current work
duties (location 1003-1004) be rephrased in any way? Should the
response options be altered?
2. Should there be more extensive questions about past work
experience than the single one (location 1005-1006) previously used?
3. Should the question on departure from a job (location 1007-1008)
due to disability distinguish between voluntarily leaving a job and
being terminated from a job in the response options?
Barriers to Employment
4. Should the set of questions about barriers to employment
(locations 1009-
[[Page 37891]]
1010 through--1025-1026), also be asked of those currently employed
and/or those who are not identified as having a disability?
5. Should the categorization of barriers (locations 1009-1010
through 1025-1026) be altered in any way, whether by adding to,
removing, or rephrasing the existing categories?
6. Should the question asking about ability to work in the absence
of barriers (location 1027-1028) consist of a set of questions, with
the response to each recorded separately for each type of barrier
identified in the preceding set of questions?
Employment Services and Vocational Rehabilitation
7. Should the categorization of employment services (locations
1029-1030 through 1055-1056) be altered in any way, whether by adding
to, removing, or rephrasing the existing categories?
8. Should the response options be altered for the corresponding set
of questions (locations 1031-1032, 1035-1036, 1039-1040, 1043-1044,
1047-1048, 1051-1052, and 1055-1056) asking, of those who received
assistance from a particular type of employment service, how helpful
these services were?
Job Accommodations
9. Should the categorization of job accommodations (locations 1059-
1060 through 1075-1076) be altered in any way, whether by adding to,
removing, or rephrasing the existing categories?
10. Should there be any questions asked about past requests for job
accommodations, prior to the job in the current workplace?
Commuting and Work Hours
11. Should the categorization of transportation commuting modes
(locations 1079-1080 through 1099-1100) be altered in any way, whether
by adding to, removing, or rephrasing the existing categories?
12. Should there be any questions about how telework/work-at-home
options have changed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic?
13. Should the categorization of reasons for work-at-home
(locations 1109-1110 through 1127-1128) be altered in any way, whether
by adding to, removing, or rephrasing the existing categories?
Financial Assistance
14. Should the categorization of financial assistance programs
(locations 1133-1134 through 1151-1152) be altered in any way, whether
by adding to, removing, or rephrasing the existing categories?
15. Should the question asking about having worked less due to a
constraint from a financial assistance program (location 1153-1154)
instead consist of a set of questions, with the response to each
recorded separately, for each type of financial assistance program
identified in the preceding set of questions?
General
16. Are there any gaps in existing information about disability
employment that have not been addressed by the questions contained in
the past disability supplements but that could be considered for this
future CPS Disability Supplement?
17. Which existing questions or sets of questions, if any, should
be removed from the survey? Please include a reason for your suggested
removal. Some possible reasons for suggesting removal may include: lack
of practical utility (or lesser utility compared with potential new
questions), challenges to collecting accurate data through a household
survey, or socioeconomic or policy changes obviating the continued need
for a previously important question.
Signed at Washington, DC this 17th day of June, 2022.
Taryn Williams,
Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy.
[FR Doc. 2022-13481 Filed 6-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FK-P
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