Kid Health Check: Census Wants Family Insights Again
Published Date: 3/25/2026
Notice
Summary
The Census Bureau is updating its National Survey of Children's Health, which asks families about their kids' health and well-being. Around 127,000 households will take part, spending about 40 minutes each. This update helps keep the survey fresh and useful, with a 30-day public comment period open now—no extra costs for families, just a little time to share their stories!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Households with children: ~40-minute survey
If your household has eligible children, the survey takes about 40–42 minutes in total (about 5 minutes for the screener plus 35–36 minutes for the age-based topical questionnaire). About 126,703 respondents are expected to take part in 2026 and the overall sample frame is ~375,000 addresses.
Short screener card for households without children
Households without children may receive a 1-minute screener card so they do not have to return an 8-page paper screener. This short screener is intended to reduce time and mailing burden for households that do not have children.
$5 unconditional cash incentive to most addresses
The survey program uses a $5 unconditional cash incentive in initial screener and topical mailings; 90% of sampled addresses receive the cash incentive while 10% serve as a control. The incentive is intended to boost response rates.
Collecting contact info to target households with children
The 2026 survey will collect respondent contact information on PAPI screener instruments to better target households with children and send more personalized contact attempts by mail, email, or auto-dialer to those households.
Incentive envelope test for unfinished web starts
A web-targeted secondary unconditional screener incentive envelope test will be used for a subset of people who started the web questionnaire but did not finish; preliminary 2025 results show visible incentive envelopes sent by USPS boost response and cost less than FedEx.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
Related Federal Register Documents
2026-20249, Notice of Data Sharing Activity
Starting October 2, 2026, the Census Bureau will share some business survey data with the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to help make U.S. economic stats more accurate and efficient. This affects businesses that voluntarily provide info in Census surveys, with no legal pressure to share. Only trusted BEA staff sworn to keep data secret will see the info, and there’s no cost impact for businesses.
2026-20155, Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD)
The Census Bureau wants to keep collecting data for the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program, which helps track jobs and workers over time. They’re asking the public to comment by November 30, 2026, before they get final approval from the Office of Management and Budget. This keeps the data flowing without adding extra hassle or cost to businesses and workers.
2026-20167, Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; DOC-Census Workforce Development Collection
The Census Bureau is asking for approval to collect info from 230 workforce training groups linked to Manufacturing USA and two grant programs. This new data will help track how well these training programs work by connecting participant info with Census data. The goal? To make smarter decisions about future workforce investments without adding too much extra work—each group spends just 1-2 hours a year on this.
2026-20153, Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Quarterly Services Survey (QSS)
The U.S. Census Bureau wants to keep running the Quarterly Services Survey for three more years without changes. This survey asks certain U.S. service businesses for info to help track the economy. If you’re involved, you can comment by November 30, 2026, but there’s no new cost or extra paperwork planned.
2026-19301, Proposed Data Sharing Activity
The Census Bureau wants to share some business data with the Bureau of Economic Analysis to help improve economic reports. This change affects businesses whose data is collected and aims to make government info more useful without extra costs. People have until November 23, 2026, to share their thoughts on this plan.
2026-18481, Decennial Census of the Population of Americans; Proposed Residence Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic Questions
The Census Bureau is proposing to add two new parts to the Code of Federal Regulations governing the decennial census of population and housing. First, the Census Bureau is proposing to add a part outlining the residence criteria used for identifying each person's "usual residence," as needed to determine whether and where to count them in the census of the population throughout the United States. Second, the Census Bureau is proposing to add a part establishing standards and restrictions for the inclusion of certain demographic questions on the decennial census short-form questionnaire and any other questionnaire used for the enumeration of the population. The Census Bureau is considering these two additions to better prioritize and fulfill its Constitutional mandate to count for apportionment the "whole number of persons in each State" based on the concept of "usual residence"--a process that factors in an element of allegiance but otherwise should be colorblind and should not be distorted in any way by questions about immaterial personal characteristics, such as race. Although these two parts are somewhat related and complementary, each is being proposed independently based on its own merits. These proposals are intended to ensure fidelity to the Constitution, improve and protect the core decennial census data, and promote efficiency.
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