Sweden

Title: Icome distribution survey

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Statistics Sweden of 701 89-Örebro, phone: 019 17 68 82, fax: 019 17 70 87, e-mail: asa.karlsson@scb.se.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1975. ¹

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
• for general poverty and/or income distribution studies
• to study effects on income and expenditure of policy changes, especially tax changes

Lesser importance is attached to:

• to study income/expenditure disparities among socio-economic groups
• to study consumer behaviour among socio-economic groups
• 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

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 common budget for (at least) food and housing expenditures

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

• two or more people:
  • living in the same household

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 common budget for (at least) food and housing expenditures

Unit members: ² 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 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:

• main income earner

3. Reference periods

The time period to which income and/or expenditure statistics refer when released/published is from 01/00 to 12/00. These data are collected in the period from 01/01 to 12/01. This survey is conducted annually. The statistics are published annually.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

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

Stratification:

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were total population register and none respectively. The sample size was 15000 households or other units. The overall response rate for the survey was 75 percent. Errors/biases were minimized by using using calibration for the estimates.

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.

Annual survey based on a national sample (SRS) of adaults (18 years of age and over). Data are collected for all individualés living toghether in the same household as the selected person. The data are collected through computeraided telephone intervi ews and administrative data registers..

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. Exceptions are only capital gain. Income excludes receipts that are not currently available to the unit.

The following receipts are collected separately:⁴

• wages and salaries
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• employee social security contributions
• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• interest received
• dividends
• rentals (payment received for produced assets e.g. house)
• rents (payment received for un-produced assets e.g. land)
• unemployment benefits
• family-related allowances
• sickness benefits
• invalidity benefits
• education-related allowances
• housing allowances
• survivors benefits
• other social assistance benefits
• regular inter-household transfers received from: family, e.g. alimony, child/parental support

The following receipts are collected but not separately:⁴

• cash bonuses and gratuities
• commissions and tips
• termination and redundancy payments
• royalties
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• old age benefits
• other pensions
• other social insurance benefits

The following receipts are not collected:⁴

• 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: 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
• 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: 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
• 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 payments
• employee social security contributions

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

• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)

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

• 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
• survivors benefits
• other social insurance benefits
• other social assistance benefits

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

• invalidity benefits
• education-related allowances
• housing allowances
• regular inter-household transfers received from: family, e.g. alimony, child/parental support

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

• interest received
• dividends
• royalties

The following receipts are collected using the last 12 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 social security contributions
• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• 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 insurance benefits
• other social assistance benefits

Income data were collected separately for each person receiving income. Components of income for an individual were collected administrative registers . Negative values (business losses) were included when computing self-employment income.

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:³

• to expenditures in last 12 months:
  • housing

Data for the following expenditure items are not collected:

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

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

• services of owner-occupied housing
• major repairs, conversions and extensions to owner-occupied housing
• non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical) , gross of claims
• out of pocket health expenditure
• housing maintenance, minor repairs

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 'Investment/liability expenditure':

• mortgage repayments, including interest
• interest payments (excluding mortgage interest payments)

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

• 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
• own produced non-durable goods
• own-produced durable goods
• own-produced services
• services from durables owned (except housing)
• in-kind goods received from other households
• in-kind services received from other households
• social transfers in-kind of goods and services from government and non-profit institutions serving households
• financial services (including fees for financial advice, brokerage fees)
• life insurance premiums
• licences and fees (e.g. driver's licence, hunting licence, vehicle registration)
• gambling expenditure
• out of pocket education expenditures
• out of pocket transport expenditures
• regular cash payments to others outside the household
• non-regular cash payments to others outside the household
• purchase of gifts of goods and services given to others outside the household
• second hand goods purchased
• expenditure abroad
• valuables
• investment-related expenditures (e.g. purchase of shares/stocks)
• occupational expenditures
• other business-related expenditures

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

• mortgage repayments, including interest

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

• services of owner-occupied housing
• major repairs, conversions and extensions to owner-occupied housing
• interest payments (excluding mortgage interest payments)
• non-life insurance premiums (e.g. vehicle, housing, other property, medical) , gross of claims
• out of pocket health expenditure
• housing maintenance, minor repairs
• compulsory transfers to governments (e.g. contributions to government old age and disability insurance program, taxes)

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
• savings
• indebtedness

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

Reporting errors are reduced using the following measures:

• adequate cues or props for prompting
• quality control

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

Answers are not pre-coded on data collection forms, but are coded by administrative registers .

⁵ In-kind receipts and consumption of own production are included in the estimates. In-kind receipts are valued using: tax assessment Consumption of own production is valued using: tax assessment

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: No households/units are excluded from analysis because of incomplete response. Missing values are imputed only on some occasions . Supplementary sources are 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

Sampling errors: Sampling errors are computed for major 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 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, type of household, country of birth
• income percentiles
• principal source of household income
• household size
• structure of household

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: income Distribution Survey 2000, may 2002
Published methodological information: beskrivning av statistiken, may 2002

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, with charges. Separate tables are published for households with wages/salaries as main source of income. Files of unidentifiable unit data are available (or available on request) for public use, with charges.