Czech Republic

Title: Microcensus 1996

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Czech Statistical Office of Sokolovskà 142 186 04 Praha 8, e-mail: kalmus@gw.czso.cz.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1956.

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 obtain weights for consumer price index
to estimate household expenditure for national accounts
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
diplomatic households in the country
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)
armed forces residing in private housing within 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

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 a common budget for (at least) food and housing expenditures
- pooling their income to some extent

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

Unit members: Usual residents are always included as 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 included in the unit. Boarders living in same dwelling/compound are included in the unit.

3. Reference periods

The time period to which income and/or expenditure statistics refer when released/published is from 01/96 to 12/96.These data are collected in the period from 03/97 to 03/97. This survey is conducted 5-yearly. The statistics are published 5-yearly.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

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

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

size of municipality,number of flats in the area/ district

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were the list of Census enumeration areas and list of dwellings respectively. The sample size was 38000 households or other units and 35.824 interviews. The overall response rate for the survey was 76.2 percent.

Enumeration procedure: Enumeration uses a single round survey design in which each reporting unit is enumerated only once. The sample is not divided into representative sub-samples. 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 collected. 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 separately:²

cash bonuses and gratuities
employer social security contributions, excluded for other reasons
employee social security contributions, excluded for other reasons
profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house), gross of expenses
rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
other pensions
unemployment benefits
family-related allowances
sickness benefits
invalidity benefits
education-related allowances
housing allowances
survivors benefits

The following receipts are collected but not separately:²

wages and salaries
remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
termination and redundancy payments
goods produced for own consumption, gross of inputs
services produced for own consumption, gross of inputs
stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
interest received³
dividends
royalties
regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
other social insurance 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
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular in-kind gifts
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular free services

The following receipts are not collected:²

commissions and tips
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
drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
services from owner-occupied dwellings
services from other consumer durables (net)
old age benefits
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: free dwelling
regular inter-household transfers received from: subsidized dwelling
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
cash bonuses and gratuities
remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
termination and redundancy payments

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

profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house), gross of expenses
rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
royalties

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

retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
other pensions
unemployment benefits
sickness benefits

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

family-related allowances
invalidity benefits
education-related allowances
housing allowances
survivors benefits
other social insurance benefits
other social assistance benefits

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

goods produced for own consumption, gross of inputs
services produced for own consumption, gross of inputs
stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
interest received³
dividends
regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
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
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular in-kind gifts
regular inter-household transfers received from: regular free services

The following receipts are excluded for other reasons:

employer social security contributions
employee social security contributions

The following receipts are collected using the last 12 months as the reference period:

wages and salaries
cash bonuses and gratuities
termination and redundancy payments
employer social security contributions
employee social security contributions
profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
goods produced for own consumption, gross of inputs
services produced for own consumption, gross of inputs
stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
interest received³
dividends
rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house), gross of expenses
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
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 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: regular free services

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
ownership of selected durable goods
housing characteristics

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.

Reporting errors are reduced using 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:

field supervisors
office staff

Extreme values are retained without change. ⁴ In-kind receipts are included in the estimates, but consumption of own production is not. In-kind receipts are 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 when it is clear from other data what the value should be. Supplementary sources are used to adjust estimates for under- or over-reporting.⁵ 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 computed for major aggregates and these sampling errors are available on request.

Tabulation and Analysis: Statistics are presented showing averages per year 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
occupation of reference person or head of household
other characteristic of reference person or head of household, education attained
income percentiles
absolute income groups
principal source of household income
household size
structure of household
other characteristic of household
other classification, size of municipality,region

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: mikrocensus 1996, 05/98
Published methodological information: pokyny pro tazatele k provedeni setreni ve vybranych domàcnostech. Mikrocensus 1996, 01/97

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, with charges (via the CZSO's PR Dept.). Separate tables are not published for any special population groups.

(1) Household head is always male in what are called complete families (two partners with or without children). In one-parent families it is mostly the parent. Only in the cases where he/she is inactive, an active childs is the head instead. The head of a non-familiy household is the person with the highest income. (2) Classification of income is based on slightly different criteria. Employee's income, income of the self-employed, social income (transfers), and other income are separately distinguished. The concept of employment-related income is not used. Trans fer income and other income are not distinguished at all in the survey. The classification has been determined intuitively in the responses shown here. The survey does not gather information on employer's social security contributions because they are dete rmined by law and are thus easily imputable. (3) Interest received is classified as "income from self-employment", or as "other income". (4) Or in some cases amended. (5) Wages statistics,statistis on social security published by Ministery of Social Affairs.