Moldova, Rep. of

Title: Household budget survey

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Department of Statistics and Sociology of Chisinau, Hincesti Street, 53, phone: 3732 24 15 01, fax: 3732 22 61 47, e-mail: ala.negruta@statistica.md.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1954.

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
• for general poverty and/or income distribution studies
• for estimation of whole commodity circulation

Lesser importance is attached to:

• to study consumer behaviour among socio-economic groups
• 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
• 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
• households of other foreigners in the country
• armed forces residing in private housing within military base
• nomadic and other households difficult to reach: there is not such categories of population

Units:
Dwelling units are used in the sample selection and are characterised by:

• street address

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
  • pooling their income to some extent

Unit members: ¹ Usual residents temporarily living away from the dwelling are included, if away continuously for less than 4 weeks. 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 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:

• acknowledged as such by other household/unit members
• responsible for financial maintenance of household/unit
• main income earner
• oldest person

3. Reference periods

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

The Primary, Secondary and Ultimate Sampling Units are enumeration area/district, address and household respectively.

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

• rural/urban
• urban areas are divided into large and small towns

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were none and polling lists respectively. The sample size was 6300 households or other units. The overall response rate for the survey was 96 percent. Errors/biases were minimized by using an updated sampling frame.

Enumeration procedure: Enumeration uses a panel design in which each reporting unit is enumerated more than once. The sample is not divided into representative sub-samples. The panel has an expected lifetime of 4 years, and each reporting household/unit is enumerated 4 times in total. If a reporting household/unit drops out from the panel, it is replaced. If changes occur in composition of the reporting household/unit during the lifetime of the panel, then it continues in the panel. No action is taken to select a smaller set of reporting units for more detailed questioning.

From the total of interviewed households every fourth household is included in the panel..

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 includes receipts that are not currently available to the unit.

The following receipts are collected but not separately:

• wages and salaries
• cash bonuses and gratuities
• commissions and tips
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments
• employee social security contributions
• employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: goods or services produced by employer
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• goods produced for own consumption
• goods produced for barter
• stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
• 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
• 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 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

The following receipts are not collected:

• employer 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: other goods or services
• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• services produced for own consumption
• services produced for barter
• services from owner-occupied dwellings
• services from other consumer durables (net)
• free government dwelling
• subsidized government dwelling
• food subsidies
• medical reimbursements
• 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: 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
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments

The following receipts are classified as income from self-employment:

• goods produced for own consumption
• goods produced for barter

The following receipts are classified as property income:

• interest received
• dividends
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house)
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
• royalties

The following receipts are classified as employment-related transfer income:

• cash bonuses and gratuities
• commissions and tips

The following receipts are classified as transfer income but not employment-related:

• 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
• other social insurance benefits
• other social assistance benefits
• regular inter-household transfers received from: family, e.g. alimony, child/parental support

The following receipts are classified as other income but not employment-related:

• employee social security contributions
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
• 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 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

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

• wages and salaries
• cash bonuses and gratuities
• commissions and tips
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments
• employee social security contributions
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• goods produced for own consumption
• goods produced for barter
• stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
• 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
• 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 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

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 included when computing self-employment income.

6. Expenditure data

Data collection method:
Diaries are used to collect expenditure data and are maintained for one month.

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)
• expenditure on health, education, entertainment

Interviews are not used to collect expenditure data.

Classification: A national classification is used for classifying expenditure and has 12 separate categories at the finest level. The classification is consistent with COICOP at the Group (3 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
• indebtedness

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

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

Reporting errors are reduced using the following measures:

• careful instrument design
• bounding interview
• adequate cues or props for prompting
• quality control
• training of interviewers and supervisors

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

The responses are edited by the following:

• interviewers, data collectors
• field supervisors

Extreme values are retained without change. 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 not included in the total income/expenditure estimates.

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. Etnic groups are excluded from data analysis.

Weighting:
Weighting factors are used to adjust for:

• sampling

Sampling errors: Sampling errors are not computed.

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

The following classifications are used for tabulation and analysis of income 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, Education level
• income percentiles, deciles and quintiles
• principal source of household income
• expenditure percentiles
• expenditure classes in monetary terms
• household size
• other characteristic of household, Number of earners in the household
• other classification, urban and rural

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, Education level
• income percentiles, deciles and quintiles
• principal source of household income
• expenditure percentiles
• expenditure classes in monetary terms
• household size
• other characteristic of household, Number of earners in the household
• other classification, urban and rural

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: Aspects of Living Standard in the Republic of Modova, Published annually in April
Published methodological information: methodological information is included in survey reports

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, free of charge (government bodies and ministeries) and with charges (private individuals and other institutions). Separate tables are published for households with wages/salaries as main source of income. Files of unidentifiable unit data are available (or available on request) for public use, free of charge.