New Census Bureau Surveys Will Track Impact of Covid-19 on American Households and Businesses

Shortly after the Great Recession commenced in December 2007, the Federal Reserve Board realized it had a problem. The Feds had just finished interviewing respondents for the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances when the economy went into a tailspin. The triennial Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is the premier source of information on the wealth of American households. The Feds knew the results of the 2007 survey would be woefully out of date before they were even tabulated. What was a government agency charged with steadying the nation's financial wellbeing to do?

Be nimble, of course. Nimble describes the next steps taken by the Federal Reserve Board. The Feds went back into the field in 2009 to reinterview those who had participated in the 2007 survey. In doing so, they collected invaluable historical data in the midst of the deepest economic slump since the Great Depression.

Fast forward to today. The country faces another crisis that threatens not only our health but also our economy. Now it's the Census Bureau's turn to be nimble, and it is rising to the challenge. The bureau is launching two new surveys—the Household Pulse Survey and the Small Business Pulse Survey—to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation's households and businesses. The goal of the Household Pulse Survey is "to measure various sectors impacted by Covid-19: employment status, consumer spending, food security, housing, education disruptions and dimensions of physical and mental wellness." The goal of the Small Business Pulse Survey is to collect "information on location closings, changes in employment, disruptions in the supply chain, the use of federal assistance programs, and expectations concerning future operations." The data from these surveys will be produced and disseminated in near real-time and made available to the public each week.

This is a heads-up. If you receive an email from the Census Bureau asking you to respond to the Household Pulse Survey or the Small Business Pulse Survey, take a moment to admire the nimbleness of this large government agency. Tell the bureau how things are going. You will be doing your patriotic duty by fulfilling "the urgent need for accurate, frequent data at this crucial moment in America's history."

Source: Census Bureau, Pulse Surveys, New Census Survey Provide Near Real-Time Info on Households, Businesses during Covid-19