Serbia and Montenegro

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Federal Statistical Office, phone: 381 11 3617 359, fax: 381 11 3617 359, e-mail: nadas@szs.sv.gov.yu.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1947.

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 disparities among socio-economic groups
• to study consumer behaviour among socio-economic groups
• for general poverty and/or income distribution studies
• to study effects on income and expenditure of policy changes, especially tax changes
• for market research purposes

Lesser importance is attached to:

• to estimate household expenditure for national accounts
• to study income/expenditure patterns of disadvantaged groups, including pensioner households, single parent households, etc

Geographic coverage: National with the following geographic areas excluded: Kosovo .

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

• one person private households
• nomadic and other households difficult to reach: villages in the mountains

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 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

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 meals
  • 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

Unit members: Usual residents temporarily living away from the dwelling are included, if away continuously for less than 6 months. Visitors (not usual residents) temporarily living in the dwelling are included, if staying continuously for more than 6 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, household and household respectively.

Stratification:
Areas/districts were stratified using the following criteria:¹

• geographical regions
• rural/urban
• census enumeration size

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were the list of Census enumeration areas and none respectively. Primary Sampling Units (PSU) were selected using probability proportional to size. The sample size was 2530 households or other units and 260 interviews. Errors/biases were minimized by using replacement.

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 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 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 includes receipts that are not currently available to the unit.

The following receipts are collected separately:

• wages and salaries
• employer social security contributions
• employee social security contributions
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house) , net of expenses
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• education-related allowances
• housing allowances
• 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: free dwelling
• regular inter-household transfers received from: subsidized dwelling
• regular inter-household transfers received from: regular free services

The following receipts are collected but not separately:

• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments
• interest received
• old age benefits
• other pensions
• unemployment benefits
• family-related allowances
• sickness benefits
• invalidity benefits
• survivors benefits
• food subsidies
• medical reimbursements
• other social insurance benefits
• other social assistance benefits
• 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 not collected:

• 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)
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• stock consumed from unincorporated enterprise
• services from owner-occupied dwellings
• services from other consumer durables (net)
• dividends
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
• royalties
• free government dwelling
• subsidized government dwelling
• regular support received from non-profit institutions serving households: cash, e.g. scholarships
• 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

The following receipts are classified as income from paid employment:

• wages and salaries
• employer social security contributions
• employee social security contributions
• interest received
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house) , net of expenses
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• old age benefits
• other pensions

The following receipts are collected using the last 3 months as the reference period:

• wages and salaries
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments
• employer social security contributions
• employee social security contributions
• goods produced for own consumption , net of inputs
• services produced for own consumption , net of inputs
• goods produced for barter , net of inputs
• services produced for barter , net of inputs
• interest received
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house) , net of expenses
• 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
• free government dwelling
• food subsidies
• medical reimbursements
• 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 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: 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

.

6. Expenditure data

Data collection method:

Diaries are not used to collect expenditure data.

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:
  • food
  • other household non-durable goods
  • clothing, footwear
  • other personal non-durable goods
  • housing
  • households services
  • personal services
  • other items

• to expenditures in last 12 months:
  • other durable goods

Classification: A national classification is used for classifying expenditure and has an unspecified number of separate categories at the finest level.

7. Other Data Collection Issues

The following other topics are covered:

• housing characteristics
• savings

Households are not requested to indicate whether durable goods are new or second-hand when their acquisition is recorded.

Non-response:

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

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

Extreme values are deleted. 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 by field staff using market prices.

Treatment of owner-occupied housing: Values of owner-occupied housing are included in the total income/expenditure estimates and are valued using the current market value.

The following information is used in this valuation:

Treatment of selected groups/values in analysis: No households/units are excluded from analysis because of incomplete response. Missing values are imputed always . 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:

• bench-marking

Sampling errors: Sampling errors are computed for quantities, income groups and these sampling errors are published.

Tabulation and Analysis: Statistics are presented showing averages per year² 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, socio-economic status
• income percentiles, deciles
• absolute income groups
• principal source of household income
• expenditure percentiles
• expenditure classes in monetary terms
• household size
• structure of household

The following classifications are used for tabulation and analysis of expenditure 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, socio-economic status
• income percentiles, deciles
• absolute income groups
• principal source of household income
• expenditure percentiles
• expenditure classes in monetary terms
• household size
• structure of household

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: Reports and bulletins

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, free of charge. Separate tables are published for households with wages/salaries as main source of income. Files of unidentifiable unit data are not available (or available on request) for public use.