Cameroon

Title: Enquête Camerounnaise auprès des ménages 2001

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Direction de la Statistique of BP 660 Yaoundé, phone: 00237 222 04 45, fax: 00237 223 24 37, e-mail: jtedou@cenadi.cm.
Data have been collected by household survey since 2001.

2. Purpose and coverage

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

to obtain weights for consumer price index
to estimate household expenditure for national accounts
to study the general structure of household incomes/expenditures
to study income/expenditure patterns of disadvantaged groups, including pensioner households, single parent households, etc
to study income/expenditure disparities among socio-economic groups
to study consumer behaviour among socio-economic groups
for general poverty and/or income distribution studies

Lesser importance is attached to:

to study effects on income and expenditure of policy changes, especially tax changes
for market research purposes

Geographic coverage: National without any specific geographic areas excluded.

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

one person private households
private households with more than one person
households of other foreigners in the country
armed forces residing in private housing outside military base

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

those in collective housing (such as long term hospitals, prisons, monasteries, military quarters)
non-resident households of nationals (households of nationals located abroad)
diplomatic households in the country
armed forces residing in private housing within military base

Units:

Data are recorded for the household unit which is characterised by:

one person units
two or more people living together:
- sharing a single dwelling or compound
- sharing meals
- sharing a common budget for (at least) food and housing expenditures

Unit members: Usual residents temporarily living away from the dwelling are included, if away continuously for less than 6 months. Visitors (not usual residents) temporarily living in the dwelling are not included as unit members. Domestic staff living in same dwelling/compound are not included in the unit. Renters living in same dwelling/compound are not included in the unit. Boarders living in same dwelling/compound are included in the unit.

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

acknowledged as such by other household/unit members
responsible for financial maintenance of household/unit
responsible for decisions on main expenditures

3. Reference periods

These data are collected in the period from 09/01 to 12/01. This survey is conducted continuously.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

The Primary, Secondary and Ultimate Sampling Units are enumeration area/district, none and household respectively.

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

geographical regions
rural/urban

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were the list of Census enumeration areas and none respectively. Primary Sampling Units (PSU) were selected using probability proportional to size and Ultimate Sampling Units (USU) were selected using equal probability. The sample size was 12000 households or other units. The overall response rate for the survey was 95 percent. Errors/biases were minimized by using an updated sampling frame.

DATA COLLECTION, CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS

5. Income data

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

The following receipts are collected but not separately:

wages and salaries

The following receipts are not collected:

cash bonuses and gratuities
commissions and tips
remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
termination and redundancy payments
employer social security contributions
employee social security contributions
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: housing
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: meals
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: car/transportation
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: goods or services produced by employer
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: other goods or services
profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
goods produced for own consumption
services produced for own consumption
goods produced for barter
services produced for barter
stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
services from owner-occupied dwellings
services from other consumer durables (net)
interest received
dividends
rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house)
rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
royalties
regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
old age benefits
other pensions
unemployment benefits
family-related allowances
sickness benefits
invalidity benefits
education-related allowances
housing allowances
survivors benefits
free government dwelling
subsidized government dwelling
food subsidies
medical reimbursements
other social insurance benefits
other social assistance benefits
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: cash, e.g. scholarships
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: goods and services
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: free dwelling
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: subsidized dwelling
regular inter-household transfers received from: family, e.g. alimony, child/parental support
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular inheritances or trusts
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular cash gifts
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular in-kind gifts
regular inter-household transfers received from: free dwelling
regular inter-household transfers received from: subsidized dwelling
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular free services
social transfers in kind: medical services
social transfers in kind: public education
social transfers in kind: transport subsidies
social transfers in kind: cultural and recreational services
social transfers in kind: others

The following receipts are classified as income from paid employment:

wages and salaries

The following receipts are collected using the last month as the reference period:

wages and salaries

The following receipts are collected using the last 3 months as the reference period:

social transfers in kind: others

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

6. Expenditure data

Data collection method:
Diaries are used to collect expenditure data and are maintained for two weeks.

Diaries are used to collect expenditure on the following items:

food
alcohol, tobacco
other household non-durables (such as newspapers, batteries)
clothing, footwear
other personal non-durables (such as perfumes)
household services (such as plumber)
personal services (such as driving lessons, haircuts)

Interviews are used to collect expenditure data with the respondent completing the interview by recall only.

Data for the following expenditure items are collected by referring:

to expenditures last week:
- food

to expenditures in last one month:
- other household non-durable goods

to expenditures in last 3 months:
- housing

to expenditures in last 6 months:
- clothing, footwear
- other personal non-durable goods
- other durable goods
- households services
- personal services

The following types of expenditure items are classified as 'Household consumption expenditure':

non-durable goods purchased
income in-kind receipts of goods
income in-kind receipts of services
own produced non-durable goods
own-produced durable goods
own-produced services
services from durables owned (except housing)
in-kind goods received from other households
social transfers in-kind of goods and services from government and non-profit institutions serving households
non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical)
licences and fees (e.g. driver's licence, hunting licence, vehicle registration)

The following types of expenditure items are classified as 'Non-consumption household expenditure':

purchase price of owner-occupied housing
services of owner-occupied housing
out of pocket health expenditure
out of pocket education expenditures
out of pocket transport expenditures
housing maintenance, minor repairs
second hand goods purchased
valuables

The following types of expenditure items are excluded due to measurement problems:

mortgage repayments, including interest
in-kind services received from other households
life insurance premiums
gambling expenditure

The following types of expenditure items are excluded for other reasons:

major repairs, conversions and extensions to owner-occupied housing
interest payments (excluding mortgage interest payments)
financial services (including fees for financial advice, brokerage fees)
regular cash payments to others outside the household
non-regular cash payments to others outside the household
purchase of gifts of goods and services given to others outside the household
expenditure abroad
compulsory transfers to governments (e.g. contributions to government old age and disability insurance program, taxes)
investment-related expenditures (e.g. purchase of shares/stocks)
occupational expenditures
other business-related expenditures

The following types of expenditure items are collected on an 'acquisitions' basis:

non-durable goods purchased
durable goods purchased (except housing)
own produced non-durable goods
own-produced durable goods

The following types of expenditure items are collected on a 'use' basis:

purchase price of owner-occupied housing
services of owner-occupied housing
income in-kind receipts of goods
income in-kind receipts of services
own-produced services
services from durables owned (except housing)
in-kind goods received from other households
in-kind services received from other households
social transfers in-kind of goods and services from government and non-profit institutions serving households
valuables

The following types of expenditure items are collected on a 'payments' basis:

non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical)
licences and fees (e.g. driver's licence, hunting licence, vehicle registration)
out of pocket health expenditure
out of pocket education expenditures
out of pocket transport expenditures
housing maintenance, minor repairs

The following types of expenditure items are collected on some other basis:

mortgage repayments, including interest
major repairs, conversions and extensions to owner-occupied housing
interest payments (excluding mortgage interest payments)
financial services (including fees for financial advice, brokerage fees)
life insurance premiums
gambling expenditure
regular cash payments to others outside the household
non-regular cash payments to others outside the household
purchase of gifts of goods and services given to others outside the household
expenditure abroad
compulsory transfers to governments (e.g. contributions to government old age and disability insurance program, taxes)
investment-related expenditures (e.g. purchase of shares/stocks)
occupational expenditures
other business-related expenditures

Classification: A national classification is used for classifying expenditure and has 10 separate categories at the finest level. The classification is consistent with COICOP at the Class (4 digit) level.

7. Other Data Collection Issues

The following other topics are covered:

demographic characteristics
education attainment of members
employment status of members
occupation of members
ownership of selected durable goods
housing characteristics
savings

Households are not requested to indicate whether durable goods are new or second-hand when their acquisition is recorded.

Non-response: There is no substitution for non-response, whether by non-contact or by refusal.

Non-response is reduced using more than one repeat visits.

Reporting errors are reduced using the following measures:

careful instrument design
quality control

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

Answers are pre-coded on data collection forms to the extent possible.

The responses are edited by the following:

interviewers, data collectors
field supervisors
office staff

Extreme values are amended. In-kind receipts are included in the estimates, but consumption of own production is not. In-kind receipts are 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

Treatment of selected groups/values in analysis: No households/units are excluded from analysis because of incomplete response. Missing values are retained without change . 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:

sampling
bench-marking

Sampling errors: Sampling errors are not computed.

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

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

age of reference person or head of household
sex of reference person or head of household
occupation of reference person or head of household
other characteristic of reference person or head of household
income percentiles
expenditure percentiles
expenditure classes in monetary terms
household size
structure of household
other characteristic of household
other classification

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: profil de pauvreté et conditions de vie au Cameroun en 2001, aout 2002
Published methodological information: document de méthodologies, fevrier 2003

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, free of charge. Separate tables are not published for any special population groups. Files of unidentifiable unit data are available (or available on request) for public use, free of charge.