Kazakhstan

Title: Sampling survey of households

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Agency on Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 125, Abay Prospect, Almaty, 480008, phone: 7 3272 427383, e-mail: efstafiev@statbase.kz.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1997. ¹

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

Lesser importance is attached to:

• for general poverty and/or income distribution studies

Geographic coverage: National with the following geographic areas excluded: remote or inaccessible areas .

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

• one person private households
• private households with more than one person

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
• armed forces residing in private housing outside military base

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 family unit which is characterised by:

• two or more people:
  • living in the same household
  • sharing a single dwelling unit or compound
  • related:
    • by blood
    • by marriage
    • by adoption
    • by consensual union
  • sharing a common budget for (at least) food and housing expenditures
  • pooling their income to some extent

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

• two or more people:
  • living in the same household
  • sharing a single dwelling or compound
  • pooling their income to some extent

Data are recorded for the consumer unit, expenditure unit or spending unit which is characterised by:

• two or more people:
  • living in the same household
  • sharing a single dwelling or compound
  • 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 2 months. Visitors (not usual residents) temporarily living in the dwelling are included, if staying continuously for more than 2 months. 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

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:

• geographical regions
• rural/urban

Households/Consumption Unit, Income Unit, Family Unit were stratified using the following criteria:

• size of houshold

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were the list of Census enumeration areas and the master sample of households respectively. The sample size was 12000 households or other units and 400 interviews. The overall response rate for the survey was 3.3 percent.

Enumeration procedure: Enumeration uses a panel design in which each reporting unit is enumerated more than once. 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. A smaller set of reporting units is selected from which information on specific issues is gathered or more detailed questions are asked.

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 excludes receipts resulting from the sale or reduction of assets and/or from incurring liabilities. ² Income excludes receipts that are not currently available to the unit.

The following receipts are collected 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 income in-kind provided free or subsidized: housing
• goods produced for own consumption
• services produced for own consumption
• services from owner-occupied dwellings
• services from other consumer durables (net)
• interest received
• dividends
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house) , gross of expenses
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
• royalties
• 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 insurance benefits
• other social assistance benefits
• regular inter-household transfers received from: family, e.g. alimony, child/parental support
• 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:

• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
• social transfers in kind: medical services

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
• termination and redundancy payments
• employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: housing
• services from owner-occupied dwellings
• services from other consumer durables (net)
• interest received
• dividends
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
• royalties

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

• goods produced for own consumption
• services produced for own consumption

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

• 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 inter-household transfers received from: family, e.g. alimony, child/parental support
• regular inter-household transfers received from: regular cash gifts

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

• other social insurance benefits
• regular inter-household transfers received from: regular in-kind gifts

The following receipts are collected using the last 3 months 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 income in-kind provided free or subsidized: housing
• goods produced for own consumption
• services produced for own consumption
• services from owner-occupied dwellings
• services from other consumer durables (net)
• interest received
• dividends
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house) , gross of expenses
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
• royalties
• 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 insurance benefits
• other social assistance benefits
• regular inter-household transfers received from: family, e.g. alimony, child/parental support
• regular inter-household transfers received from: regular cash gifts
• regular inter-household transfers received from: regular in-kind gifts

Income data were collected as an aggregate for the whole unit. 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 a mix of recall and using documentation.

Data for the following expenditure items are collected by referring:

• to expenditures in last 3 months:
  • 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 household non-durable goods

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

• non-durable goods purchased
• durable goods purchased (except housing)
• income in-kind receipts of goods
• income in-kind receipts of services
• services from durables owned (except housing)
• gambling expenditure
• out of pocket health expenditure
• out of pocket education expenditures
• housing maintenance, minor repairs
• second hand goods purchased
• valuables

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

• purchase price of owner-occupied housing
• services of owner-occupied housing

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

• non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical)
• life insurance premiums
• licences and fees (e.g. driver's licence, hunting licence, vehicle registration)
• regular cash payments to others outside the household
• non-regular cash payments to others outside the household

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

• mortgage repayments, including interest

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

• non-durable goods purchased
• durable goods purchased (except housing)
• purchase price of owner-occupied housing
• income in-kind receipts of goods
• income in-kind receipts of services
• non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical)
• life insurance premiums
• licences and fees (e.g. driver's licence, hunting licence, vehicle registration)
• gambling expenditure
• out of pocket health expenditure
• out of pocket education expenditures
• housing maintenance, minor repairs
• regular cash payments to others outside the household
• non-regular cash payments to others outside the household
• second hand goods purchased
• valuables

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

• services of owner-occupied housing

Classification: COICOP is used for classifying expenditure and has 2 separate categories at the finest 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: There is no substitution for non-response, whether by non-contact or by refusal.

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

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

Extreme values are amended. In-kind receipts and consumption of own production are included in the estimates. In-kind receipts are valued using: the imputed by field staff using market prices. Consumption of own production is valued using: the imputed in office processing using market prices.

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 imputed only on some occasions . 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
• bench-marking

Sampling errors: Sampling errors are not computed.

Tabulation and Analysis: Statistics are presented showing averages per year³ and statistics are analysed and tabulated for households only.

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

• other characteristic of reference person or head of household, on the average on one person of the household
• income percentiles, deciles, quintiles
• absolute income groups
• principal source of household income
• expenditure percentiles
• household size
• structure of household

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

• other characteristic of reference person or head of household, on the average on one person of the household
• income percentiles, deciles, quintiles
• absolute income groups
• principal source of household income
• expenditure percentiles
• household size
• structure of household

Documentation and Dissemination:

Published methodological information: methodology of conducting of households'survey in the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2000/2001

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 available (or available on request) for public use, with charges.