Japan

Title: National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure 1999

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Statistics Bureau, Ministery of Public Management Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications of Wakamatsu-cho 19-1 Shinjuku-ku Tokyo Japan, phone: 81 3 5273 1171, fax: 81 3 5273 1495, e-mail: consumer@stat.go.jp.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1959.

2. Purpose and coverage

The following purposes are considered to be very important or of some importance:

Geographic coverage: National without any specific geographic areas excluded.

Population coverage:
The following types of household are included in the data collection:
The following types of household are excluded in the data collection:

Units: Dwelling units are not used in the sample selection.
Data are recorded for the household unit which is characterised by:

Unit members: Usual residents temporarily living away from the dwelling are included, if away continuously for less than 3 months. Visitors (not usual residents) temporarily living in the dwelling are not included as unit members. Domestic staff living in same dwelling/compound are included in the unit. Renters living in same dwelling/compound are not included in the unit. Boarders living in same dwelling/compound are not included in the unit.

Head of unit:
The concept of head of household/other unit is used in this survey and is characterised by:

3. Reference periods

The time period to which income and/or expenditure statistics refer when released/published is from 09/99 to 11/99. These data are collected in the period from 09/99 to 11/99. This survey is conducted 5-yearly. The statistics are published 5-yearly.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

The Primary, Secondary and Ultimate Sampling Units are none, none and none respectively.1

Stratification:
Areas/districts were stratified using the following criteria:2

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were the list of Census enumeration areas and a separate listing exercise respectively. Primary Sampling Units (PSU) were selected using probability proportional to size. The sample size was 60000 households or other units. The overall response rate for the survey was 100 percent. Errors/biases were minimized by using an updated sampling frame.

Enumeration procedure: Enumeration uses a single round survey design in which each reporting unit is enumerated only once. The sample is not divided into representative sub-samples. No action is taken to select a smaller set of reporting units for more detailed questioning.

DATA COLLECTION, CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS

5. Income data

Income data are collected. Receipts do not have to be regular and recurring to be considered as income. Income excludes receipts resulting from the sale or reduction of assets and/or from incurring liabilities. Income excludes receipts that are not currently available to the unit.

The following receipts are collected separately:5
The following receipts are collected but not separately:5
The following receipts are not collected:5
The following receipts are classified as income from paid employment:
The following receipts are classified as income from self-employment:
The following receipts are classified as property income:
The following receipts are classified as transfer income but not employment-related:
The following receipts are classified as other income but not employment-related:
The following receipts are excluded due to measurement problems:
The following receipts are excluded for other reasons:
The following receipts are collected using the last 3 months as the reference period:
The following receipts are collected using the last 12 months as the reference period:

Income data were collected separately for each person receiving income. Components of income for an individual were collected from one person who reported for all individuals. Negative values (business losses) were excluded when computing self-employment income.

6. Expenditure data

Data collection method:

Diaries are used to collect expenditure on the following items:

Interviews are not used to collect expenditure data.

Classification: A national classification that is not consistent with COICOP is used for classifying expenditure and has 400 separate categories at the finest level.

7. Other Data Collection Issues

The following other topics are covered:

Households are requested to indicate whether durable goods are new or second-hand when their acquisition is recorded.4

Non-response: Non-response households (refusals and non-contacts) are substituted.

Non-response is reduced using more than one repeat visits.
Reporting errors are reduced using the following measures:

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

Answers are not pre-coded on data collection forms, but are coded by office staff.

The responses are edited by the following:

Extreme values are amended. In-kind receipts and consumption of own production are included in the estimates. In-kind receipts are valued using: the respondent's estimate. Consumption of own production is valued using: the respondent's estimate.

Treatment of owner-occupied housing: Values of owner-occupied housing are included in the total income/expenditure estimates and are valued using the rental equivalent net of housing costs usually paid by owners.

The following information is used in this valuation:

Treatment of selected groups/values in analysis: Some households/units are excluded from analysis because of incomplete response. Missing values are imputed only on some occasions yearly income. Supplementary sources are not used to adjust estimates for under- or over-reporting. No groups are excluded from data analysis.

Weighting:
Weighting factors are used to adjust for:4

Sampling errors: Sampling errors are computed for all aggregates and these sampling errors are published.

Tabulation and Analysis: Statistics are presented showing averages per month and statistics are analysed and tabulated for households and for individuals separately.

The following classifications are used for tabulation and analysis of income statistics:
The following classifications are used for tabulation and analysis of expenditure statistics:

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: 1999 National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure (1999), (5)
Published methodological information: reports on 1999 National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure., march 2002

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are not available for public use.

Separate tables are published for the following special population groups:
Files of unidentifiable unit data are not available (or available on request) for public use.


(1) For urbanized areas the Primary, and Ultimate Sampling Units are Enumeration area and Household respectively. For rural areas the Primary, Secondary and Ultimate Sampling Units are Town/Village, Enumeration area and Household respectively. (2) Ratio of non-agricultural households(ratio of non-agricultural two-or more persons households). (3) Three months for two-or-more-persons households, and two months for one-person households. (4) For cars and motorcycles only. (5) Except for "Services from owner-occupied dwellings", all receipts that are collected using the last 3 months as a reference period are also collected using the last 12 months as a reference period. (4) In tabulations of one-person households, bench-marking of one-person populations by region, sex and age group, as given by the Labour Force Survey, was used. (5) Results Concerning Family Assets (May 24, 2001) ; Results Concerning "Family Inco me and Expenditure" and "Savings and Liabilities" (Households with two or more members) (December 26, 2000) ; Results Concerning "Family Income and Expenditure" and "Savings and Liabilities" (One-person Households) (September 29, 2000) ; Results Concerning Major Durable Goods (July 11, 2002). (6) Dual-income households, Households where head is not working, Households with mother and children, Households repaying mortgage, Households with aged persons.