The Current Population Survey (CPS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most well-recognized surveys in the United States.  It is immensely important, providing information on many of the things that define us as individuals and as a society – our work, our earnings, and our education. 

In addition to being the primary source of monthly labor force statistics, the CPS is used to collect data for a variety of other studies that keep the nation informed of the economic and social well-being of its people.  This is done by adding a set of supplemental questions to the monthly basic CPS questions.  Supplemental inquiries vary month to month and cover a wide variety of topics such as child support, volunteerism, health insurance coverage, and school enrollment.  Supplements are usually conducted annually or biannually, but the frequency and recurrence of a supplement depend completely on what best meets the needs of the supplement’s sponsor.

The CPS data collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Number 0607-0049).  Without this number, we could not conduct this survey.