Niue

Title: Niue Household income and expenditure survey 2002

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Statistics Niue EPDS, Premiers Departement, Government of Niue of P.O.box 40, Alofi, Niue, phone: 683 4219, fax: 683 4219, e-mail: statsniue@mail.gov.nu.
Data have been collected by household survey since 2002.

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
• 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
• those in collective housing (such as long term hospitals, prisons, monasteries, military quarters)
• diplomatic households in the country
• households of other foreigners in the country

The following types of household are excluded in the data collection:

• non-resident households of nationals (households of nationals located abroad)
• 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 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

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 12 months. Visitors (not usual residents) temporarily living in the dwelling are included, if staying continuously for more than 2 weeks. Domestic staff living in same dwelling/compound are not 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.

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
• recognized owner, or responsible for tenancy of dwelling
• responsible for financial maintenance of household/unit
• main income earner
• responsible for decisions on main expenditures
• oldest person

3. Reference periods

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

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

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

• geographical regions

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

• income class

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 504 households or other units and 101 interviews. The overall response rate for the survey was 100 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. 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 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
• cash bonuses and gratuities
• commissions and tips
• remuneration for time not worked, e.g. leave pay
• termination and redundancy payments
• employer social security contributions
• employee social security contributions
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• old age benefits
• other pensions
• family-related allowances
• sickness benefits
• invalidity 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: regular free services

The following receipts are classified as income from paid employment:

• wages and salaries

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

• goods produced for own consumption , gross of inputs
• services produced for own consumption , gross of inputs

The following receipts are classified as property income:

• dividends
• 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:

• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)

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

• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises

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

• goods produced for barter , gross of inputs
• services produced for barter , gross of inputs
• interest received
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• old age benefits
• other pensions
• family-related allowances
• sickness benefits
• invalidity benefits
• other social assistance benefits

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
• employer social security contributions
• employee 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
• profit/loss from unincorporated enterprises (mixed income)
• drawing for own use from unincorporated enterprises
• goods produced for own consumption , gross of inputs
• services produced for own consumption , gross of inputs
• goods produced for barter , gross of inputs
• services produced for barter , gross of inputs
• 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
• regular pensions/annuities from schemes to which employee does not contribute
• retirement pensions from compulsory social security schemes
• old age benefits
• other pensions
• family-related allowances
• sickness benefits
• invalidity 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: regular free services

Income data were collected as an aggregate for the whole unit. Negative values (business losses) were included 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 12 months:
  • other household non-durable goods
  • 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

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

• non-durable goods purchased
• own produced non-durable goods
• own-produced durable goods
• own-produced services
• in-kind goods received from other households
• in-kind services received from other households

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

• durable goods purchased (except housing)
• services of owner-occupied housing
• income in-kind receipts of goods
• income in-kind receipts of services
• services from durables owned (except housing)

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

• 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
• life insurance premiums , 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 , gross of claims
• out of pocket education expenditures , gross of refunds
• out of pocket transport expenditures , gross of refunds

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

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

• non-durable goods purchased
• 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

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

• durable goods purchased (except housing)
• purchase price of owner-occupied housing
• mortgage repayments, including interest
• services of owner-occupied housing
• major repairs, conversions and extensions to owner-occupied housing
• 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
• life insurance premiums , 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 , gross of claims
• out of pocket education expenditures , gross of refunds
• out of pocket transport expenditures , gross of refunds

Classification: A national classification is used for classifying expenditure and has 22 separate categories at the finest level. The classification is consistent with COICOP at the Class (4 digit) 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

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

Non-response: Non-response households (refusals and non-contacts) are substituted.

Reporting errors are reduced using the following measures:

• careful instrument design
• quality control

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

Answers are not pre-coded on data collection forms, but are coded by field supervisors.

The responses are edited by the following:

• field supervisors
• office staff

Extreme values are amended. In-kind receipts and consumption of own production are included in the estimates. In-kind receipts are valued using: the respondent's estimate. Consumption of own production is valued using: the respondent's estimate.

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 by re-visit respondents. 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

Sampling errors: Sampling errors are computed for Total Income/Expenditure aggregates only 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
• sex of reference person or head of household
• occupation of reference person or head of household
• income percentiles
• 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
• income percentiles
• 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: niue Household Income and Expenditure 2002, nov 2002
Published methodological information: methods for compliling household income and expenditure, nov 2002

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are available for public use, free of charge (populations household census 2001). 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, free of charge (only with ministerial approval) and with charges (only with ministerial approval). Files of unidentifiable unit data are not available (or available on request) for public use.