ATLANTA REGIONAL OFFICE
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
Mr. James Holmes, Director
101 Marietta St., NW, Ste 3200
Atlanta, GA 30303-2700
Telephone: 404-730-3832
CB03-R.61
For Immediate Release
Census Bureau Survey Gauges Household Wealth
Field representatives of the U.S. Census Bureau will visit 37,500
households beginning in October for the Survey of Income and Program
Participation (SIPP). One question they hope to answer: Is the median net
worth of U.S. households still climbing?
The last time this measure was published for 2000 the results showed
that U.S. households had a median net worth of $55,000 (measured in 2000
dollars), up from $49,932 in 1998.
"The SIPP provides not only current and accurate national income
statistics, but also data on household net worth, which is the value of
assets, minus debts," said James Holmes, director of the Census Bureau's
Atlanta regional office. "The information on household wealth paints a
detailed statistical portrait for analysts and policy-makers of the
economic resources available to households at a given point in time."
The survey also tracks changes in the type of work people perform,
whether they are actively looking for work and their educational level.
Respondents also may be asked about other topics such as how they finance
their own or their children's college education, retirement and pension
plan coverage, child-care arrangements, payments made for adults living in
another household or an institution (such as an elderly parent in a
nursing home), visits to a medical doctor, the cost of work-related
expenses and fertility history. Since SIPP is designed to measure change
over time, selected households will remain in the survey through 2003.
By law, the Census Bureau keeps all information about survey respondents
and their households confidential. Households selected for the survey will
receive a letter from Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. The field
representatives who conduct the interviews carry official photo
identification cards. Most of the follow-up interviews will be conducted
by telephone.
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October 2003
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