Data collection for Phase 3.7 of the Household Pulse Survey started on December 9, 2022 and is scheduled to continue until February 13, 2023. Phase 3.7 will continue with a two-weeks on, two-weeks off collection and dissemination approach.

The U.S. Census Bureau, in collaboration with multiple federal agencies, is in a unique position to produce data on the social and economic effects of coronavirus and other emergent issues on American households. The Household Pulse Survey is designed to deploy quickly and efficiently, collecting data to measure household experiences during the coronavirus pandemic and recovery. Data will be disseminated in near real-time to inform federal and state response and recovery planning.

If you have been invited to participate in the survey, find more information here.

The Household Pulse Survey is a 20-minute online survey studying how the coronavirus pandemic and other emergent issues are impacting households across the country from a social and economic perspective.

Phase 3.7 includes new questions on the impact of living through natural disasters, and items focused on Medicaid coverage.

The HPS continues asking about core demographic household characteristics (including sexual orientation and gender identity), as well as asking questions about the following topics:

• Access to infant formula
• Childcare arrangements and cost
• COVID-19 vaccinations and long COVID symptoms and impact
• Education, specifically K-12 enrollment
• Employment
• Food sufficiency
• Housing security
• Household spending, including energy expenditures and consumption
• Inflation concerns and changes in behavior due to increasing prices 
• Physical and mental health
• Rental assistance from state and local governments
• Transportation, including behavioral changes related to the cost of gas

The HPS continues to be a collaborative undertaking and is fielded in partnership with the following federal agencies:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
• Department of Defense (DOD)
• Energy Information Administration (EIA)
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS/ASPE)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Food and Drug Administration
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)
• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
• National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
• National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• USDA Economic Research Service (ERS)
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
• The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)
• The White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC)

The data collected will enable the Census Bureau to produce statistics at the national and state levels and for the 15 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (metro areas).

Data releases for Phase 3.7 of the survey are scheduled for January 5, January 25, and February 22, 2023.

Phase 1: April 23, 2020 - July 21, 2020

Phase 2: August 19, 2020 - October 26, 2020

Phase 3: October 28, 2020 - March 29, 2021

Phase 3.1: April 14, 2021 - July 5, 2021

Phase 3.2: July 21, 2021 – October 11, 2021

Phase 3.3: December 1, 2021 – February 7, 2022

Phase 3.4: March 2, 2022 – May 9, 2022

Phase 3.5: June 1, 2022 – August 8, 2022

Phase 3.6: September 14, 2022 – November 14, 2022

The Census Bureau and its federal statistical partners are considered the preeminent source of the nation's most important benchmark surveys.  Many of these surveys have been ongoing for more than 80 years and provide valuable insight on social and economic trends. 

The production of these benchmark surveys is by nature a highly deliberative process.  While efforts are underway to introduce COVID-19 questions into some of these surveys, that process can take months, sometimes years, before data are made publicly available.  

The approach for the Household Pulse Survey is different: it is designed to be a short-turnaround instrument that provides valuable data to aid in the pandemic recovery. The Census Bureau is fielding the Household Pulse Survey as a part of the agency’s Experimental Data Series; as such, data products may not meet some of the Census Bureau’s statistical quality standards. Data are subject to suppression based on overall response and disclosure avoidance thresholds.