Family Expenditure Survey, 1971

UKDA study number:3048

Principal Investigator

Department of Employment

Data Collector

Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Social Survey Division

Distributed by

UK Data Archive, University of Essex, Colchester.

August 1993

 

Bibliographic Citation

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Department of Employment, Family Expenditure Survey, 1971 [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], August 1993. SN: 3048 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-3048-1

 

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Copyright:
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland

 

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3048 . Family Expenditure Survey, 1971

 

Depositor:

Department of Employment

Principal Investigator:

Department of Employment

Data Collector:

Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Social Survey Division

Other Acknowledgements:

Prior to 1989 the Department of Employment had responsibility for the Family Expenditure Survey, with the data collection being carried out by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Social Survey Division. In 1989 the Central Statistical Office took over the responsibility for the survey, with the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Social Survey Division remaining responsible for the data collection. With the amalgamation of the Central Statistical Office and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in April 1996, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) became the responsible body, both as principal investigator and data collector.

Abstract:

The Family Expenditure Survey (FES), which closed in 2001, was a continuous survey with an annual sample of around 10,000 households. They provided information on household and personal incomes, certain payments that recurred regularly (e.g. rent, gas and electricity bills, telephone accounts, insurances, season tickets and hire purchase payments), and maintained a detailed expenditure record for 14 consecutive days.

The original purpose of the FES was to provide information on spending patterns for the United Kingdom Retail Price Index (RPI). The survey was a cost-efficient way of collecting a variety of related data that the government departments required to correlate with income and expenditure at the household, tax unit and person levels. The annual FES began in 1957 (with an earlier large scale survey conducted in 1953/54) and was one of the first Department of Employment (DE) systems to be computerised in the early 1960s. The UKDA holds FES data from 1961-2001. The Northern Ireland Family Expenditure Survey (NIFES), which ran from 1967-1998, was identical to the UK FES and therefore used the same questionnaires and documentation. However, starting in 1988, a voluntary question on religious denomination was asked of those aged 16 and over in Northern Ireland. The UKDA holds NIFES data from 1968-1998, under GN 33240.

Significant FES developments over time include: From 2001, the both the FES and the National Food Survey (NFS) (held at the UKDA under GN 33071) were completely replaced by a new survey, the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS). Prior to the advent of the EFS, there had previously been considerable overlap between the FES and NFS, with both surveys asking respondents to keep a diary of expenditure. Thus, the 2000-2001 FES was the final one in the series. The design of the new EFS was based on the previous FES; further background to its development may be found in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 Family Spending reports. From 2008, the EFS became the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF) (see under GN 33334).

Main Topics:

Household Schedule:
This schedule was taken at the main interview. Information for most of the questions was obtained from the head of household or housewife, but certain questions of a more individual character were put to every spender aged 15 or over (or 16 or over from 1973 onwards). Until the introduction of the community charge, information on rateable value and rate poundage was obtained from the appropriate local authority, as was information on whether the address was within a smokeless zone. Information was collected about the household, the sex and age of each member, and also details about the type and size of the household accommodation. The main part of the questionnaire related to expenditure both of a household and individual nature, but the questions were mainly confined to expenses of a recurring nature, e.g.:Income Schedule:
Data were collected for each household spender. The schedule was concerned with income, national insurance contributions and income tax. Income of a child not classed as a spender was obtained from one or other of his parents and entered on the parent's questionnaire. Information collected included: employment status and recent absences from work, earnings of an employee, self-employed earnings, National Insurance contributions, pensions and other regular allowances, occasional benefits - social security benefits and other types, investment income, miscellaneous earnings of a 'once-only' character, tax paid directly to Inland Revenue or refunded, income of a child.

Diary Records:
The diary covered fourteen days. Each household member aged 15 or over (or 16 or over from 1973 onwards) was asked to record all expenditure made during the 14 days. Children aged between 7 and 15 were also asked to complete simplified diaries of their daily expenditure. Data from the children's diaries was included in the survey results for the first time in 1998-99.

Coverage:

Time Period Covered: 1971
Country: United Kingdom
Spatial Units: Standard Regions
Observation Units: Families/households

Universe Sampled:

Location of Units of Observation: National
Population: Private households in the United Kingdom

Methodology:

Time Dimensions: Repeated cross-sectional study
annual
Sampling Procedures: Multi-stage stratified random sample
For specific details of the sampling procedures for individual years, please refer to the annual report.
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Diaries

Language(s) of Written Materials:

Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:

Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions of access for further information.
Availability: UK Data Service
External note: The Archive holds data from 1961 onwards. However the data for 1964-1967, although held for archival purposes, is unusable due to lack of coding information.
During 1992 and 1993 The Data Archive undertook an extensive programme of work to convert the pre-1986 data into SIR databases. This made the data more accessible to users who were already familiar with the new SIR files and enabled the Archive to output data more easily for non-SIR users. This work was extended to the 1961-1963 data so that the FES datasets for 1961-1963 and 1968 to the present can now be supplied in a number of formats.


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Date of First Release:

12 August 1993

Copyright:

Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland


File last updated:

27 August 2013