Hong Kong, China

Title: General Household Survey (GHS)

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Census and Statistics Department,HKSAR of 21/F Wanchai Tower, 12 HarbourRoad, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, phone: 852 2887 5506, fax: 852 2508 1501, e-mail: ghs@censtad.gov.hk.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1981.

2. Purpose and coverage

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

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

Lesser importance is attached to:

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

Geographic coverage: Selected areas only, namely the Hong Kong special administrative region with the following geographic areas excluded: marine population.

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

one person private households
private households with more than one person
diplomatic households in the country
households of other foreigners in the country

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)
armed forces residing in private housing within military base
armed forces residing in private housing outside military base
nomadic and other households difficult to reach: persons who are homeless, living on board vessels, or whose address in Hong Kong is not fixed.

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

single structure - detached housing unit
single unit in a structure containing more than one housing unit
multiple structures within a compound (e.g. huts)
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

Data are recorded for the income unit which is characterised by: ¹

two or more people:
- living in the same household

Unit members: 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:

acknowledged as such by other household/unit members

3. Reference periods

This survey is conducted continuously. The statistics are published every monthly.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

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

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

geographical regions
administrative districts
type of housing

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were none and register of addresses and Master sample of blocks respectively. The sample size was 24000 households or other units. ³ The overall response rate for the survey was 90 percent. Errors/biases were minimized by using an updated sampling frame, an increased sample size.

Enumeration procedure: Enumeration uses neither a single round survey design nor a panel design. A smaller set of reporting units is selected from which information on specific issues is gathered or more detailed questions are asked. ⁴

As the rotational replicate sample design is adopted in the survey, about half of the sampled quarters in the current month are cases enumerated three months ago, while another half are newly selected quarters. For thosenewly selected quarters, face-t o-face interviewing is used such that field officers visit the households concerned in person to collect the required information. For those sampled cases in the current month which had been enumerated three months ago, the Computer-Assisted Telephone I nterviewing (CATI) approach is applied to collect their information as far as possible..

DATA COLLECTION, CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS

5. Income data

Income data are collected. Receipts 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
cash bonuses and gratuities
commissions and tips
remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
employee social security contributions
profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises⁶
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
other social assistance benefits
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: cash, e.g. scholarships
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

The following receipts are not collected:

termination and redundancy payments, excluded due to measurement problems
employer social security contributions, excluded due to measurement problems
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: housing, excluded due to measurement problems
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: meals, excluded due to measurement problems
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: car/transportation
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: goods or services produced by employer, excluded due to measurement problems
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: other goods or services , excluded due to measurement problems
goods produced for own consumption, excluded due to measurement problems
services produced for own consumption, excluded due to measurement problems
goods produced for barter, excluded due to measurement problems
services produced for barter, excluded due to measurement problems
stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise, excluded due to measurement problems
services from owner-occupied dwellings, excluded due to measurement problems
services from other consumer durables (net), excluded due to measurement problems
free government dwelling, excluded due to measurement problems
subsidized government dwelling, excluded due to measurement problems
food subsidies, excluded due to measurement problems
medical reimbursements, excluded due to measurement problems
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: goods and services, excluded due to measurement problems
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: free dwelling, excluded due to measurement problems
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: subsidized dwelling, excluded due to measurement problems
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular in-kind gifts, excluded due to measurement problems
regular inter-household transfers received from: free dwelling, excluded due to measurement problems
regular inter-household transfers received from: subsidized dwelling, excluded due to measurement problems
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular free services, excluded due to measurement problems
social transfers in kind: medical services, excluded due to measurement problems
social transfers in kind: public education, excluded due to measurement problems
social transfers in kind: transport subsidies, excluded due to measurement problems
social transfers in kind: cultural and recreational services, excluded due to measurement problems
social transfers in kind: others, excluded due to measurement problems

The following receipts are classified as income from paid employment:

wages and salaries
cash bonuses and gratuities
commissions and tips
remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
employee social security contributions
profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises⁶

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

education-related allowances
housing allowances

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

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
other social assistance benefits
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: cash, e.g. scholarships
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

The following receipts are excluded due to measurement problems:

termination and redundancy payments
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: goods or services produced by employer
employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: other goods or services
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)
free government dwelling
subsidized government dwelling
food subsidies
medical reimbursements
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: 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 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
employee social security contributions
profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises⁶
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 assistance benefits
regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: cash, e.g. scholarships
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

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

Expenditure data are not collected from this source.

7. Other Data Collection Issues

The following other topics are covered:

demographic characteristics
education attainment of members
employment status of members
occupation of members
housing characteristics

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

Non-response is reduced using the following measures:⁵

more than one repeat visits

Reporting errors are reduced using the following measures:

careful instrument design
adequate cues or props for prompting
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 retained without change. Neither in-kind receipts nor consumption of own production is included in the estimates.

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: Some households/units are excluded from analysis because of incomplete response. Missing values are by as non-response cases. 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
non-response
bench-marking

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 and for individuals separately.

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
income percentiles
absolute income groups
household size
structure of household

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: Quarterly Report on General Household Survey, (published two months after the reference quarter)
Published methodological information: Quarterly Report on General Household Survey, (published two months after the reference quarter)

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, free of charge (regular tabulations) and with charges (tailor-made tabulations). Separate tables are published for low income households. Files of unidentifiable unit data are not available (or available on request) for public use.

(1) HH refers to a group of persons who live together and make common essentials provisions for living. (2) The first to the last day in a single month. These data are collec ted the following month. (3) Per three-month period. (4) The special topic enquiry is a supplementary part of the General Household Survey (GHS) and covers half of the GHS sample. It aims at collecting statistical data on selected social issues on an ad hoc basis. (5) Publicity via press release, and the issue of a pre-survey letter to sampled households. (6) "Income from paid employment" and "income from self-employment" were not separately classified. (7) Also office staff code the answers.