19.4 Consumer Expenditure

• A consumer unit: “a single person, or group of person who live together and who share responsibilities for most major expenditures.”

• The “Reference Person” is the first person named when the respondent is asked, “Who is responsible for owning or renting this home?”

• 2 components to the Consumer Expenditure:

  • Interview survey

    • for “big ticket” and recurring expenditures, and global estimates on others
    • every three months for four quarter
    • rotating-panel survey
    • 6,000 consumer units each quarter

  • Diary survey

    • small-ticket, frequently purchased items

    • independent from the interview survey

    • about 14,000 diaries within families each year

• Table format

  • annual

    • Jan to Dec: since 1984

    • July to June: since 2013

  • two-year (Jan year 1 - Dec year 2)

    • since 1986

• Experimental research

  • all consumer units (available on request)

  • E.g., income tables, generational groups (e.g., millennial, gen X)