/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION /
STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Direction E: Social and regional statistics and geographical information system

Doc. HBS/123/99/EN

Working Group

HOUSEHOLD BUDGET SURVEYS

Summary records of the

WP meeting 19 - 20 April 1999

Introduction

§1.The chairman welcomed the participants of all NSIs, the Central-Eastern countries, Mr. Battye (DG5), Mr. Mair (DG24) and Mrs. Hale from Statistics Canada. He thanked the countries for their co-operation on the 1994 data base. The objectives of the meeting were:

  • To finalise the 1994 data;
  • To get support from the Working Party to proceed on harmonisation of the most important variables;
  • To speed up the processing for future waves;
  • To encourage the use of the HBS in the National Accounts;
  • To inform the Working Party about future developments, concerning the new VAT system and the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HCPI).

In order to finalise the 1994 data, Germany, Ireland, France, Norway and Iceland would be contacted outside the meeting. Eurostat informed about the new procedures for Working Party meetings.

I.Adoption of the agenda

§2.The chairman informed the Working Party that presentations by Mr. Battye (DG5) and Mr. Mair (DG24) about the relevance of the HBS for the Commission will be included after agenda item A.2, “Quality of data in HBS 1998”.

§3.The agenda was adopted.

II.Approval of the summary records of the meeting of the Working Group on 3-4November 1997 in Luxembourg (doc. HBS/110/99)

§4.Germany gave a written correction on the description of the survey design, the dissemination of the data and the interviewing costs. Austria also gave a written correction concerning item 4 of the records referring to the Austrian publication on poverty saying: “Austria used expenditure data from the HBS and income data from the ECHP and the Micro Census.” The corrections will be included in the minutes.

Methodology in HBS 1998 – Results from an inquiry to the Member States

(doc HBS/111/99 for discussion)

§5.Eurostat presented the document, mentioning the following objectives:

  • To finalise the 1994 data base.
  • To present the changes with respect to the previous wave.
  • To show differences in practises and definitions.
  • To know whether MSs will use harmonised concepts.
  • To know when the data of the new wave arrive at Eurostat.

In a “tour-de-table” the chairman invited the countries to address methodological issues, to provide corrections to the document and to indicate the date the results of the 1998 (=Eurostat reference year) wave will be available at Eurostat. Concerning the last point, the EU15 countries were also asked to fill in a form with the dates. (This form has been included as an annex to this document.)

§6.The comments from the EU countries were as follows:

Belgium said that the 1997/1998 survey was the last yearly survey.From the beginning of last year Belgium changed to a monthly (continuous) survey. It was mentioned that the description of the 1997/98 survey results transmitted to Eurostat contained some mistakes that were due to the change of the COICOP classification. Before the end of this month, Belgium will provide the revised results of the 1997/98 survey according to the COICOP-HBS. Belgium will try to follow the Eurostat harmonised concepts as close as possible.

Denmark mentioned that they follow the COICOP, contrary to what was put on the slide. In spring of 2001, Eurostat can expect the results of the new wave (reference years 1997-1999).

Germany said that 69.000 households were interviewed in 1998. The survey is on a quarterly basis (was on an annual basis). The results on private consumption for the first quarter in 1998 can be made available to Eurostat at the end of 1999. COICOP will be followed, but expenditures on food will be taken together with all beverages. A more detailed description of this category will be available at a latter date. As regards to net income, the required split up cannot be given because the German tax system does not allow this.

Greece will send the new details on the methodology. Income data will be available on the individual level for the new wave (1998/99), the results of which will be available to Eurostat by November 2000. Provisionnal statistics on expenditure will not be given (only final data).

Spain will send some corrections on the methodology description. By the end of 2000, the data for the new wave (1998) will be send to Eurostat. The results are harmonised according to Eurostat definitions.

France pointed out a mistake in the description of a household: Long-term absentees are not considered to be part of the household, students are included. The French survey starts at the beginning of 2000 and Eurostat can expect the results in September 2001.

Ireland is moving towards the COICOP classification. The household definition is according to Eurostat’s recommendation. The reference person is defined by the household. Ireland also registers the person with the highest income called the chief economic supporter. Accordingly there is no problem to define the reference person according to Eurostat’s recommendation. The same is the case for the definition of a child. The survey will start next month and Eurostat can expect the results in the summer of 2001, probably also somewhat earlier. The ambition for an annual survey cannot be realised in the short term. Ireland expects the 5-year cycle of the survey to continue in the future.

Italy said that there has not been a reduction in the sample size, contrary to what was put in the document. Italy reorganised the survey. The head of household will normally be the reference person. A “child” can be defined according to Eurostat’s recommendations. Italy provides the results of the new wave in July 1999.

Luxembourg informed that the results for the new wave (1998) are available to Eurostat the first quarter of 2000. Luxembourg follows the recommendations of Eurostat.

Netherlands said that there are some minor mistakes in the methodology description. The data of the 1998 survey can be transmitted to Eurostat in July of 2000. The survey is on an annual basis.

UnitedKingdom said that the results of the 1998/99 survey will be available in December 1999. Income of all household members is registered, so that the reference person (Eurostat definition) can be constructed. The UK does not apply COICOP for 1998/99 data collection, but hopes to go to COICOP in 2001. The codes, however, can be made available quite close to COICOP. The UK has an annual survey. In the survey of 1998/99 data of children 7-15 year are included for the first time. The UK will combine the survey with the national food survey from the beginning of 2001.

Sweden said that they will start their 1999 survey this week with about 3.000 households. Food expenditure is collected as a lump sum because of very high non-response rates in earlier surveys. Data on food will be available in detail in some other form. Other government bodies will have a survey on food consumption. More information on how Sweden can deliver the data on food is available soon. The data for 1999 will be published in June 2001. Delays occur because income data are taken from registers. The diary period is decreased from 4 weeks in 1994 to 2 weeks in 1999. Interviews are made by telephone only; there will be no field interviews.

Finland noted that the up-date of the methodology has been sent to Eurostat last week. Finland follows the United Nations’ recommendations of 1977. The COICOP is adapted since last year. The move to an annual survey in 1994 proved to be unsuccessful since the sample size reduction gave rise to an unacceptable increase in standard errors. Therefore, Finland decided to go back to a three-year cycle. At the end of this year, the data on expenditures of the 1998 survey will be available. Income information should be available 3 months later. Eurostat can expect the data by about April 2000. A “child” can be defined according to Eurostat’s recommendations, because the date of birth is known of every member in the household.

Portugal said an e-mail had been sent with the corrections to the description of the methodology. Portugal, basically uses the variables recommended by Eurostat, The COICOP is applied. The results for the 1999/2000 wave will be available at Eurostat by the 2nd half of 2001.

Austria will start the survey in autumn 1999. A private firm will collect the data. In the beginning of 2002 the results can be transmitted to Eurostat. Austria will use the COICOP and the recommended definitions and concepts of Eurostat for the 1999/2000 survey. The 5-year cycle will be maintained.

§7.Information on EFTA countries is summarised as follows:

Iceland was not part of the inquiry. The new survey is planned for next year. It will be conducted in a similar way as in 1995. Data can be transmitted to Eurostat in the beginning of 2002.

Norway was not part of the inquiry. Norway plans to deliver the data of 3 years together (1996-1998) at the beginning of next year.

§8.Information on the PHARE countries is summarised as follows:

The Slovak Republic was not part of the inquiry. The Slovak Republic uses the COICOP from 1996 on.

Romania carries out the so called household integrated survey. It contains a budget module, which was designed in co-operation with the World Bank and a university. A household is defined as a group of 2 to 6 persons living together and sharing income and expenditures. The members of the household declare the reference person as such. The data for 1998 will be published in April 1999.

Poland uses the COICOP. The household is defined according to Eurostat’s definition with one exception: If the main earner is abroad or lives in another town (s)he is included in the household only if (s)he contributes to the households income. There is not a concept of reference person used (according to Eurostat's definition) in Poland but a concept of head of a household who is the person with the highest income from among all the household members with the main source of income the same as the main source of income of the household.

The head of household is defined according to Eurostat's definition of the reference person with one exception : if the main source of income of the person with the highest income is not the same as the main source of income of the household the head is another household member, whose income is the highest from among all the households members with the main source of income the same as the main source of income of the household.

Poland needs 4 months after the survey to get the results but about 6 months to publish them as a yearly publication.

Lithuania has had a continuous survey from 1996 on. The Eurostat recommendations are followed as closely as possible; the COICOP is used. Results for the 1998 survey are available now.

Latvia started the survey in September 1995 and was technically assisted by the World Bank. The survey is harmonised according to the requirements of Eurostat. The survey of 2000 will be redesigned taking into account the experiences of European countries, in particular Statistics Denmark.

Estonia will redesign their survey taking into account the Eurostat recommendations.

Cyprus’s last survey was in 1996/97. The survey is harmonised to a large extent; COICOP is used as well as the Eurostat definitions of other variables.

In the Czech republic 1.800 households are interviewed for the HBS. Quota sampling has been applied as a sampling method. Results are published quarterly and annually. This year the COICOP is used for the first time. Eurostat’s reference person can probably be constructed from the data.

Hungary has an annual HBS. The concept of a household used is similar to the Eurostat concept. The concept of reference person is not used. The head of household is the husband or the oldest active earner. Quarterly data are published since 1996. Hungary is not planning to apply the COICOP classification.

§9.After the tour-de table, the chairman stressed the importance of getting the expenditures from the HBS, because of their use for the weights in the HCPI and in the National Accounts. Eurostat would prefer not to wait for all the HBS data if the expenditure data, which should be of reasonable quality, are available at an earlier date. The data may also be provisional and aggregated. The chairman informed that Eurostat will present a revised version of the methodology before the end of 2000.

§10.The conclusions from this agenda point can be summarised as follows

The Member State delegates:

will make available to Eurostat the observations/corrections of the methodology description for the “1998” HBS presented in document HBS/111/99 by 10/05/99.

informed Eurostat on the date the definitive results for the 1998 survey will be available to Eurostat according to the annex enclosed.

will inform Eurostat by 10/05/99 when provisional statistics on expenditures (12 commodities) can be made available and on what basis.

will send documentation about the survey (codes etc.) to Eurostat if possible by 10/05/99.

Quality of data in HBS 1998 (doc HBS/112/99 for discussion)

§11.Eurostat presented the document mentioning the following objectives:

  • To improve the quality (i.e. comparability and the rapidity of availability to Eurostat) of data for the 1998 survey;
  • To present a proposal for the variables that are of major importance to Eurostat because of their use for community purposes.

§12.In addition to the presentation of the paper, Eurostat mentioned the Eurostat qualitstat project and its consequences for the work on the HBS. The objectives are:

  • To promote the use of standardised procedures for treating the data when they arrive at Eurostat;
  • To improve on the quality of the data (more comparable data, and at least to know about the quality).

On the paper sheets of this presentation these points are elaborated. Eurostat strives at a process time of 2 months per country after receipt of the data. To realise this, Eurostat asks for documentation to be sent well ahead of the data delivery that will help to realise the above mentioned objectives. Moreover, Eurostat will communicate effectively with the Member States. A time-table for the delivery of data will be made available per country.

§13.The chairman emphasised the importance of good quality data (particularly, expenditure data) and asked the countries to participate in the project to reach the quality goals. The chairman stressed the need for more recent data.

§14.Germany offered to provide the data for the first quarter of 1998 by the end of 1999 and also addressed the methodological issue of register time of expenditures. Germany uses a transaction based approach (registration is at the moment the goods/services are bought). For the treatment of non-monetary expenditures, Germany favours a household-friendly approach. For presents; for instance, the receiving household is not asked to indicate a value; the buyer registers the expenditure.

§15.Eurostat answered that consumption is recorded when the consumption is done. The persons who bought the presents record the expenditure.

§16.The chairman concluded that

The Member State delegates agreed upon what Eurostat presented as the most important variables for obtaining good quality according to document HBS/112/99.

Eurostat will communicate intensively with the Member State delegates to reach implementation of the recommendations.

Consumer Policy and need for statistics (for information)

§17.Mr. Mair, responsible for consumer policy (DG 24) and a user of HBS data addressed in his presentation the questions:

  • What are the user data requirements for consumer policy?

Major points were:

  • Statistics are needed to underpin consumer policy.
  • Information is needed on several issues:
  • Who are consumers and what are they consuming?
  • Comparison of consumption data across member state and between social groups.
  • To detect long-term trends in consumer behaviour.
  • How are consumers being satisfied (price, quality, choice, affordability and access).

Mr. Mair would like to have an inventory of available statistics.

Copies of the Commission’s action plan for consumer policies 1999-2001 were available.

§18.Mr. Battye from DG5 (employment and social policy area) accentuated the role of the HBS in the annual reports on social protection in his presentation. DG5 is interested in variables that describe the change of the demand/supply on social services. Moreover, there is a demand for variables determining wealth and poverty ( or “social quality”). In this respect information from the HBS on the household structure and consumer expenditure structure is an important source. Mr. Battye supported the quality improvement initiative of Eurostat to have more comparable data between countries and over time.

Imputed rent- Evaluation of quality in HBS 1994 (doc HBS/113/99 for discussion)

§19.Eurostat presented the document noting the low comparability of data and encouraged the countries to follow the recommendations of the Commission, i.e. to apply the stratification method. Since the imputed rent is such an important variable and it is computed in so many different ways by the countries, harmonisation is really required. Eurostat could compute the imputed rent for the Member State, if the Member State provides the method.

§20.The chairman said that the recommendation is already applied for compilation of the NA and invited the Member States to describe how the imputed rent has been computed and whether they would start using the stratification method or not.

§21.The answers from the EU countries were as follows:

Belgium asked people who live in their own dwelling to make an estimate of the rent. This information is afterwards checked with the national housing register. When there are big differences further analysis is carried out in which the size of the dwelling, location, and the general state of the dwelling play a role. In fact in these cases a sort of stratification method is used.

Denmark uses the stratification method with the three recommended variables and the variables age and quality of the building. Denmark wanted to know whether imputed rent of secondary dwellings and dwellings with reduced rents should be computed according to Eurostat recommendations.