Finland

Title: The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2001/2002

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Statistics Finland of 00022 Tilastokeskus, Finland, phone: 359 173 43412, fax: 359 173 43264, e-mail: kristi.ahlqvist@stat.fi.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1908.

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
• 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: 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
• 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

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

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 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 reference person is used in this survey and is characterised by:

• main income earner

3. Reference periods

The time period to which income and/or expenditure statistics refer when released/published is from 03/01 to 04/02. These data are collected in the period from 03/01 to 04/02. 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 none, none and household respectively.

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

• geographical regions
• rural/urban

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were a set of administrative registers (or combination of such registers) and none respectively. Primary Sampling Units (PSU) were selected using probability proportional to size.¹ The sample size was 5500 households or other units and 5500 interviews. The overall response rate for the survey was 62.5 percent. Errors/biases were minimized by using an updated sampling frame, an increased sample size.

Enumeration procedure: Enumeration uses a single round survey design in which each reporting unit is enumerated only once. The sample is divided into 26 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 excludes receipts resulting from the sale or reduction of assets and/or from incurring liabilities. 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
• 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
• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• goods produced for own consumption
• services from owner-occupied dwellings
• interest received
• dividends
• royalties
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• old age benefits⁴
• other pensions⁵
• unemployment benefits⁶
• family-related allowances
• sickness benefits
• invalidity benefits
• education-related allowances
• housing allowances
• survivors benefits⁷
• medical reimbursements , excluded for other reasons
• 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: free dwelling
• regular inter-household transfers received from: subsidized dwelling

The following receipts are collected but not separately:

• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments³
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house) , net of expenses
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)

The following receipts are not collected:

• employer social security contributions
• employee social security contributions
• employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: other goods or services
• services produced for own consumption
• goods produced for barter
• services produced for barter
• stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
• services from other consumer durables (net)
• free government dwelling
• subsidized government dwelling
• food subsidies
• 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: 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
• 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
• commissions and tips
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments³
• 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

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

• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• goods produced for own consumption
• royalties

The following receipts are classified as property income:

• services from owner-occupied dwellings
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute

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

• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• old age benefits⁴
• other pensions⁵
• unemployment benefits⁶
• sickness benefits
• survivors benefits⁷

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

• family-related allowances
• invalidity benefits
• education-related allowances
• housing allowances
• 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: free dwelling
• regular inter-household transfers received from: subsidized dwelling

The following receipts are excluded for other reasons:

• medical reimbursements

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

• goods produced for own consumption
• services from owner-occupied dwellings

The reference period for:

• wages and salaries was calendar year
• cash bonuses and gratuities was calendar year
• commissions and tips was calendar year
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments³ was calendar year
• employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: housing was calendar year
• employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: meals was calendar year
• employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: car/transportation was calendar year
• employee income in-kind provided free or subsidized: goods or services produced by employer was calendar year
• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• interest received
• dividends
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house) , net 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
• old age benefits⁴
• other pensions⁵
• unemployment benefits⁶
• family-related allowances
• sickness benefits
• invalidity benefits
• education-related allowances
• housing allowances
• survivors benefits⁷

Income data were collected separately for each person receiving income. 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)
• personal services (such as driving lessons, haircuts)

Diaries are not 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)
• 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:²

• to expenditures in last 12 months:
  • housing
  • other durable goods
  • households services

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

• food
• other household non-durable goods
• clothing, footwear
• other personal non-durable goods
• personal services

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

• non-durable goods purchased
• durable goods purchased (except housing)
• services of owner-occupied housing
• income in-kind receipts of services
• own produced non-durable goods
• in-kind goods received from other households
• interest payments (excluding mortgage interest payments)
• financial services (including fees for financial advice, brokerage fees)
• non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical) , gross of claims
• licences and fees (e.g. driver's licence, hunting licence, vehicle registration)
• gambling expenditure , gross of winnings
• out of pocket health expenditure , net of claims
• out of pocket education expenditures , gross of refunds
• out of pocket transport expenditures
• housing maintenance, minor repairs
• second hand goods purchased
• expenditure abroad

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

• compulsory transfers to governments (e.g. contributions to government old age and disability insurance program, taxes)

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

• other business-related expenditures

The following types of expenditure items are classified as 'Investment/liability expenditure':

• purchase price of owner-occupied housing
• mortgage repayments, including interest
• major repairs, conversions and extensions to owner-occupied housing
• life insurance premiums
• investment-related expenditures (e.g. purchase of shares/stocks)

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

• income in-kind receipts of goods
• own-produced durable goods
• own-produced services
• services from durables owned (except housing)
• in-kind services received from other households
• social transfers in-kind of goods and services from government and non-profit institutions serving households

The following types of expenditure items are excluded for other reasons:

• purchase of gifts of goods and services given to others outside the household

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

• non-durable goods purchased
• durable goods purchased (except housing)
• own produced non-durable goods
• in-kind goods received from other households
• second hand goods purchased

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

• interest payments (excluding mortgage interest payments)
• financial services (including fees for financial advice, brokerage fees)
• non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical) , gross of claims
• licences and fees (e.g. driver's licence, hunting licence, vehicle registration)
• gambling expenditure , gross of winnings
• out of pocket health expenditure , net of claims
• out of pocket education expenditures , gross of refunds
• out of pocket transport expenditures
• housing maintenance, minor repairs
• expenditure abroad

The following types of expenditure items are collected on some other basis:

• services of owner-occupied housing
• income in-kind receipts of services

Classification: COICOP is used for classifying expenditure and has 639 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
• 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.

Non-response is reduced using the following measures:

• more than one repeat visits
• other incentives : calculator

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

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

Extreme values are retained without change. Consumption of own production is included in the estimates, but in-kind receipts are not.

Treatment of owner-occupied housing: Values of owner-occupied housing are included in the total income/expenditure estimates and are valued using the rental equivalent net of housing costs usually paid by owners.

The following information is used in this valuation:

• imputed based on housing and rent data

Treatment of selected groups/values in analysis: Some 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
• non-response
• bench-marking

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

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 expenditure statistics:

• age of reference person or head of household
• other characteristic of reference person or head of household, socio economic group of reference person
• income percentiles
• household size
• structure of household
• other classification, regional classifications

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: changes in Household Consumption Expenditure in 1985/2001/02, 08/03
Published methodological information: quality Report, 12/04

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