1 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bl s.gov

Incentives and the American 

Time Use Survey: 

Experimenting with cash

Rachel Krantz-Kent

Program manager

American Time Use Survey (ATUS)

July 16, 2019
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American Time Use Survey (ATUS)

How do 

people 

spend their 

time?
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ATUS Sample

 Select sample of households that 

completed the 8th month of the Current 

Population Survey (CPS)

 Select an individual age 15 and over from 

the household

 Assign a specific day of the week to be 

interviewed about time use, the “diary day”
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ATUS collection 
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$40 debit cards are sent to two groups

 Expanded incentive cases: 

Cases with non-working 

phone numbers

 Regular incentive cases: Individuals living in 

households for which a phone number is not 

available
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ATUS sample, 2014-16

Total

Cases 

with 

phone 

numbers

Regular 

incentive 

cases

Expanded 

incentive 

cases

Number of cases per year 24,596 22,548 1,533 515

Percent of ATUS sample 100.0 91.7 6.2 2.1

Percent of completes 100.0 93.3 5.2 1.6

Response rates 44.7 45.5 37.1 33.4
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Characteristics of incentive cases

Compared to cases with phone numbers, 

incentive cases are more likely to be:

 Younger

 Non-white

 Hispanic

 Less-educated

 Living in households with lower incomes
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Cost of $40 debit cards

Annual cost,

FY 2018

Census’ management costs $82,000 

Funds sent to bank vendor $70,000 

Expired funds, returned to Treasury $45,000 

Cost of cashed debit cards* $25,000 

Total cost of debit cards $152,000 

* Includes face value of debit cards, ATM fees, and associated management fees. 
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Question

 Can we use incentive funds more effectively?
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Incentive literature

 Andrew Mercer, et al. “How much gets you 

how much? Monetary incentives and 

response rates in household surveys,” Public 

Opinion Quarterly, Spring 2015, pp. 105-129.

 Token amounts of 

prepaid incentives are 

effective in securing 

survey response
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Incentive cost comparisons

Expense

Annual cost of sending...

$40 debit 

cards $5 cash $10 cash

Census management costs $82,000 $57,000 $57,000 

Expired funds, returned to U.S. Treasury $45,000 $0 $0 

Cards cashed $25,000 $0 $0 

Mailed cash incentives $0 $13,500 $27,000 

Bank fees for delivering cash $0 $12,000 $12,000 

Total cost of cash incentives $152,000 $82,500 $96,000
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More questions

 Can we use savings to boost survey response 

among under-represented groups? 

 If so, what amount should we send?
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ATUS Response rates by age group

Age group 2003 2017 Change, 2003 to 2017 

(percentage points)

15-19 58.3 33.9 -24.4

20-24 45.9 31.0 -14.9

25-29 48.5 35.2 -13.3

30-34 54.0 38.9 -15.1

35-39 55.3 42.2 -13.1

40-44 57.5 42.9 -14.5

45-49 58.5 42.1 -16.4

50-54 59.4 45.9 -13.5

55-59 63.8 50.9 -12.9

60-64 62.6 51.2 -11.5

65-69 62.4 54.5 -7.9

70 and over 53.9 50.3 -3.6
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Research goal 1

 To test the effectiveness of using $0, $5, and 

$10 cash incentives, where effectiveness is 

measured in terms of survey response

 Regular incentive cases will be assigned to 1 of 

3 groups:

No incentive (control)

$5 incentive 

$10 incentive
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Research goal 2

 To test whether a $5 or $10 cash incentive can 

boost survey response among 15- to 24-yearolds

 15- to 24-year-olds who are not already 

assigned an incentive will be assigned to 1 of 3 

groups:

No incentive (control)

$5 incentive 

$10 incentive
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During the study...

Expanded incentives:

 15- to 24-year-olds will not be eligible to 

become expanded incentive cases

 $5 cash will be sent to cases that are 

converted to incentives after their first week 

in sample
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Timeline for incentive study

 Now: Seeking OMB approval

 Oct. 2019 to Oct. 2020: Data collection

 Jan. 2020 to May 2021: Data processing

 June 2021 to Sept. 2021: Data analysis

 Oct. 2021: Implement incentive plan guided 

by study’s results
Contact Information

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Rachel Krantz-Kent

Program manager

American Time Use Survey

www.bls.gov/tus

202-691-6517

krantzkent.rachel@bls.gov