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Reengineering the SIPP: The New Dynamics of Economic

Well-being System

David JohnsonBrookings/Census Roundtable

Brookings InstitutionJune 8, 2006

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Goals for Roundtable

• To describe our progress and options for the new Dynamics of Economic Well-being system.

• To determine users’ needs for a new system, in particular, the components that are necessary to retain from the SIPP as well as the items that users are willing to give up.

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Reengineering the SIPP

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Goals for Dynamics of Economic Well-being system

• The value-added of the dynamics of economic well-being system is in providing a nationally representative sample that can be used to evaluate the annual and sub-annual dynamics of income, the movements into and out of government transfer programs, and the interactions between these items.

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Goals for Dynamics of Economic Well-being system

• The Dynamics of Economic Well-being system will

– include a new survey data collection,

– require fewer resources than the current SIPP program,

– improve processing efficiency,

– be releasable to the public in a timely manner,

– integrate survey data and administrative records data

– make use of the richness of the new data collection in the American Community Survey (ACS).

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• Department of Agriculture

– Model food stamp eligibility and participation

• Department of Health and Human Services

– Measure the economic effects of welfare reform on children and adults,

and determine "triggers" that cause people to go on or to go off

programs.

• Social Security Administration

– Model SSI benefits, and examine the effects of benefits for couples and

surviving spouses.

• Researchers

– Use both the longitudinal and cross-sectional nature of SIPP

• Census Bureau

– Produce P70 reports on Dynamics of Economic Well-being

Current Uses of SIPP

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Purpose of SIPP

• “The two primary goals of SIPP should be to provide improved

information on the distribution of income and other economic

resources for people and families and on eligibility for and

participation in government assistance programs.”

– The Future of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, NAS, 1993

• “... [The SIPP] provides an unprecedented opportunity to

ascertain the nature of income flows and program

participation, both for relatively short periods of time and over

extended periods of time, for individuals and families as they

experience changes in household composition, income, and

labor force participation.”

– Improving National Statistics on Children, Youth and Families, 1984

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SIPP and Administrative data

• “The planners of SIPP are to be congratulated for their intention to combine administrative data with field survey measurements. It is…clear that combining such disparate sources of information provides much richer insights into the status and behavior of individuals.”

- James Smith, Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, 1985

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Planning the new system

• Develop new survey component– Content, Survey design, Survey instrument

• Construct cross-walk between current data needs and administrative records availability

• Develop prototype– National level and State level

• Develop data products• Work with stakeholders to determine users’

needs

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New Survey: Basic versus supplemental products

Basic Topics

Demographics General IncomeLabor Force Health Insurance

Assets EducationProgram Participation

Child Support

Well-being Disability

Wealth

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Possible sample sources

• There are several options for generating a sampling frame:– sampling from the Master Address File;

– sampling directly from ACS interviewed cases;

– sampling directly from administrative data;

– selecting all CPS cases matched from one ASEC to the following year’s ASEC;

– using all CPS cases in outgoing rotations (all months); and,

– using the existing SIPP sample already identified.

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Possible modes of data collection

Mail out/mail back

Paper and pencil CAPI – computer assisted personal interviewing CATI – computer assisted telephone interviewing

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Possible Recall Periods

4 – month recall

• 3 interviews per year

• each interview asks about each of the preceding 4 months

6 – month recall

• 2 interviews per year

• each interview asks about each of the preceding 6 months

12 – month recall (2 options)

• 1 interview per year asking about each of the preceding 12 months

• 1 interview per year and an event history calendar to derive each of the preceding 12 months

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Administrative records successes

Medicare Enrollment Database (MEDB)

Medicare health insurance coverage

Master Beneficiary Record (MBR)

Work disability and source of general income (e.g., Social Security)

IRS 1040, 1099-INT, and 1099-DIV

Asset ownership, income/earnings from a job, profit from a business, unemployment compensation, receipt of alimony

Census Numident Demographic characteristics such as age, race, Hispanic origin, citizenship

SSA SSR Receipt of Federal/state SSI

HUD-TRACS Public housing and receipt of rent subsidies

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Match rates between survey data and administrative SSN

50.2%

36.4%

6.9%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

2001 CPS

SSN Verification Address Search Name Search

94%

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First Prototype: Matching CPS and Medicaid (MSIS) data

MSIS data

Receipt of Medicaid

MSIS

No Medicaid

Match and possible receipt

CPS

Recipient 0.4% 4.5% 6.2%

CPS

Non Recipient

0.4% 84.5% 4.2%

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First Prototype: Matching CPS and Medicaid (MSIS) data

MSIS data

Receipt of Medicaid

MSIS

No Medicaid

Match and possible receipt

CPS

Recipient 0.4% 4.5% 6.2%

CPS

Non Recipient

0.4% 84.5% 4.2%

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First Prototype: Matching CPS and Medicaid (MSIS) data

MSIS data

Receipt of Medicaid

MSIS

No Medicaid

Match and possible receipt

CPS

Recipient 0.4% 4.5% 6.2%

CPS

Non Recipient

0.4% 84.5% 4.2%

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Possible Data Products

CompletePublic Data

Internal filesand RDC

SyntheticData

DEWB

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SIPP ’04 Panel Data Collection

2/04 – 9/06

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

DEWB DataCollection

2009 and on

Prototype Release

2008

DEWB Planning2006 – 2009

SIPP ’04 PanelData Files Released

9/05 – 2/08

Time period covered by

SIPP ’04 Panel data files

2/04 – 9/06

Time period covered by

the prototype

2006 - 2007 Time period covered by DEWB data collection

2008

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URL: http://www.sipp.census.gov/sipp/Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Demographics Survey Division,

Survey of Income and Program Participation branch Created: February 14, 2002 Last revised: May 10, 2006

Census Bureau Links:   Home · Search · Subjects A-Z · FAQs · Data Tools · Catalog · Census 2000 · Quality · Privacy Policy · Contact Us

                                                                                      

Assessing Users’ Needs

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Questions • What aspects of the current SIPP do you feel are

the most important for measuring economic well-being? And In particular, what would you be willing to give up?

• Do you have examples of research (or products) that you regard as “best practices” in the use of SIPP data?

• Do you have needs for both the cross-sectional and longitudinal aspects of the data?

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Additional slides

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Synthetic Data:Means for various retirement income sources using actual admin data are similar to synthetic data for many demographic groups

(SIPP 2004 Panel and Monthly Benefit Amount)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Own Retirement Disability Aged Spouse

Black Males - Admin Black Males - Synthetic

White Males - Admin White Males - Synthetic

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Percent found by SSN verification, ADDRESS, and NAME search (CPS, SIPP and ACS)

67.5%

0.0%

36.4%17.8%

74.4%

7.7%15.1%

50.2%

6.9%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

2001 CPS 2001 SIPP 2001 ACS

SSN Verification Address Search Name Search

94%