Russian Federation

Title: Survey of budgets of households

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from State Committee of Russian Federation on Statistics of Moscow, 107450, Myasnitskaya Str.39, phone: 095 207 31 86, fax: 095 207 49 27, e-mail: goncharov@gks.ru.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1952.

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 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 estimate household expenditure for national accounts
• to study effects on income and expenditure of policy changes, especially tax changes
• for market research purposes

Geographic coverage: National with the following geographic areas excluded: areas in conflict .

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

• one person private households
• private households with more than one person
• those in collective housing (such as long term hospitals, prisons, monasteries, military quarters)
• armed forces residing in private housing outside military base

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

• 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

Units: Dwelling units are not used in the sample selection.

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: Visitors (not usual residents) temporarily living in the dwelling are included, if staying continuously for more than 12 months. 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: ¹
The concept of head of household/other unit is used in this survey and is characterised by:

• responsible for financial maintenance of household/unit

3. Reference periods

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

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

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

• rural/urban
• socio-demographic characteristics of households

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were the list of Census blocks and the master sample of households respectively. Primary Sampling Units (PSU) were selected using probability proportional to size and Ultimate Sampling Units (USU) were selected using probability proportional to size. The sample size was 49175 households or other units. The overall response rate for the survey was 75 percent.

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 1 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.

DATA COLLECTION, CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS

5. Income data

Income data are not collected from this source.

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 a mix of recall and using documentation.

Data for the following expenditure items are collected by referring:

• to expenditures in last 3 months:
  • other household non-durable goods
  • clothing, footwear
  • other personal non-durable goods
  • housing
  • other durable goods
  • households services
  • personal services

Data for the following expenditure items are not collected by interview because they are collected by diary:

• food
• other items

Classification: A national classification is used for classifying expenditure and has 482 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
• indebtedness

Households are 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
• quality control

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

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

Extreme values are retained without change. 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 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. No groups are excluded from data analysis.

Weighting:
Weighting factors are used to adjust for:

• sampling

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

Tabulation and Analysis:

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

• expenditure percentiles
• expenditure classes in monetary terms
• household size
• structure of household

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: Statistical Bulletin, (every quarter)
Published methodological information: Methodology of Survey of Budgets of Households in "Methodological Regulations on Statistics", 2000

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, with charges. Separate tables are published for low income households. Files of unidentifiable unit data are not available (or available on request) for public use.