When COVID-19 seemingly shut the whole country in March 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau convened experts from five other federal agencies—there are now 21 federal agencies cooperating on the survey—to develop what they called the Household Pulse Survey (HPS). This survey collected crucial information on how Americans and Ohioans were coping and handling hardships during the pandemic.
In a matter of just a few weeks, the HPS was up and running and offering valuable insights into how Ohioans and others around the country were faring. But now, the Census Bureau has announced that the frequency of the survey will be changed to bi-monthly from monthly, and going forward, it will use a smaller sample that won’t allow them to release state-level data.
Census HPS changes are driven by several factors
The primary factors in switching the survey to bi-monthly and no longer allowing for state-level data reporting are funding, as well as some limitations with the current design of the program. One design limitation is that, since the only way to respond to the survey is by completing it online, it doesn’t allow people with no internet access to take part in the survey process. As an aside, this no-internet response bias might have had the effect of underestimating hardships since one might imagine that people without internet access might also lack other resources.
The Census Bureau has also said that the current survey method has a lower-than-average response rate, creating possible added non-response bias issues. The telecommunications industry has also told the Census Bureau that they would no longer allow them to send unsolicited SMS messages to cell phone users, as they had allowed previously.
The Census Bureau is now proposing to use more traditional data collection methods.
The Census Bureau is now proposing to use more traditional data collection methods, which will reduce non-response bias and allow them to collect longitudinal data, which will allow them to examine changes over time. These more traditional data collection methods are more expensive, hence the smaller sample in part due to resulting budget challenges.
What does the Household Pulse Survey measure?
The Household Pulse Survey is a 20-minute online survey that measures how various social, economic, and hardship issues are affecting households across the country. Over the past four years, questions have been both added and removed. The HPS also asks about core demographic household characteristics, as well as the following topics:
- Access to infant formula
- Children’s mental health treatment
- COVID-19 vaccinations and long COVID symptoms and impact
- Education, specifically K-12 enrollment
- Childcare arrangements
- 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
- Feelings of pressure to move from a rental home
- Transportation, including behavioral changes related to the cost of gas
- Health insurance coverage (including Medicaid)
- Social isolation
- Shortage of critical items
- Participation in the arts
- Internet access
- Impact of living through natural disasters
It’s not clear what issues or questions will be asked in the future. Jenny Hunter Childs, Senior Statistician for Demographic Research, Demographic Programs Directorate with the U.S. Census Bureau, recently gave a presentation on the future of the HPS to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Scientific Advisory Committee. She assured the committee that the survey would still seek to measure hardships being experienced. She was responding to concerns raised in a letter from national and state health and human service leaders, who noted that a blog explaining the proposed changes only referenced including “critical elements like spending, inflation, and other social and economic indicators of well-being.”
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) adult populations are living in households with higher rates of food and economic insecurity
HPS broke new ground on data related to sexual orientation and gender identity
The Household Pulse Survey is one of the few Census Bureau surveys that includes sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) questions. At the time, the Movement Advancement Project pointed out that they had “advocated for years to have questions about sexual orientation and gender identity included on federal surveys. Today’s release of data highlighting the experiences of LGBT people is exciting and a reflection of this long-term priority of LGBT advocates.” The Bureau itself said that the data showed that “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) adult populations are living in households with higher rates of food and economic insecurity than non-LGBT Americans.” Alex Dorman, Community Solutions’ Research Fellow, discussed the importance of this data in a blog post on the invisibility of LGBTQ+ communities in data and the role that the Pulse Survey was playing in addressing that challenge. Going forward, it’s not clear whether the SOGI questions will have a sample large enough to allow the data to be used in any meaningful way.
Traditional State-Level Census Products Have Significant Time Lags
Joree Novotny, the Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, observes that “the pace and frequency of economic volatility that a wide swath of Americans faced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has not abated since the public health emergency ended. Traditional Census Bureau data products, while still critical for a variety of reasons, including allocating federal funds, are far too delayed to offer actionable insights.
When it comes to food sufficiency, supply chains and market factors change much more rapidly, and Household Pulse Surveys are instrumental in measuring and monitoring the fluctuating situations of Ohio households.” Adding, “Providers and policymakers alike need Household Pulse Survey data to continue to be able to identify correlational and causal relationships between external factors and household food sufficiency.”
Emily Muttillo, Community Solutions’ Director of Research, Williamson Family Fellow for Applied Research, says, “We typically used Household Pulse Survey data when we were looking for as close to real-time data as we could get about Ohio, and it was extremely useful for that purpose.” Community Solutions recently used HPS data to create a fact sheet for Advocates for Ohio’s Future about pending state legislation, which would have worsened the hardships many Ohioans were facing.
Other examples of how state-level data was used in Ohio
Several Ohio-based organizations and units of government have used data from the Household Pulse Survey. These include:
- The Ohio House Finance Agency, which included HPS data in past statewide housing needs assessments
- The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, which examined eviction trends using data from the Household Pulse Survey. Their findings highlighted the effects of rising rent prices, federal assistance programs, and eviction protections, and how these factors influenced housing stability in Cleveland and other regions
- Policy Matters Ohio used HPS data to underscore the need for more federal aid in Ohio in 2021, pointing out that Ohioans, particularly those of color and those with low incomes, were still struggling to make ends meet
- The Henry County Health Department in Ohio, which used the design of the Household Pulse Survey to create a local household pulse survey and compared the responses of their residents to Ohioans who responded to the Census Bureau survey
- The Ohio Association of Foodbanks, which used HPS data to understand food insecurity in Ohio, pointing out that in one week, “nearly 350,000 Ohio households had reported receiving free food from a food pantry, school, or children’s program, or other sources.”
- The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHIO), which used HPS data in their 2021 "Out of Reach: High Cost of Housing" report, stating that “The U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey in June found 249,000 Ohio households were behind on rent, and 389,000 Ohioans were concerned they wouldn’t be able to pay next month’s rent.”
- The Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) included HPS data in a report they wrote on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences). Amy Rohling McGee, President of HPIO says that the organization “found the household pulse survey useful in terms of tracking trends at the state and local levels”.
What the future holds for the Household Pulse Survey
The Census Bureau’s decision to end the Household Pulse Survey (HPS) is not just another post-pandemic rollback—it signals the loss of a critical, real-time tool that provided a unique window into the hardships faced by millions of Americans at the state level. The rapid availability of state-specific data from the HPS has been invaluable to policymakers and organizations working to address urgent social and economic challenges. Without this data, state governments and advocacy groups will face a significant gap in their ability to respond to fast-changing issues like food insecurity, housing instability, and economic hardship.
While the Census Bureau has announced the relaunch of the survey in January 2025 as the Household Trends and Outlook Pulse Survey (HTOPS), the transition to less frequent data collection and smaller sample sizes risks undermining the ability to measure the nuanced, state-level impacts that have guided policy action for the past four years.
As we move forward, it is essential for decision-makers to consider how to bridge this gap and ensure that the most vulnerable populations are not left unseen in future data collection efforts.
The final release of state level HPS data occurred on October 3rd.
