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Labour market and income data guide
December 2000
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Survey of Household Spending

Description: The Survey of Household Spending merges the Family Expenditure Survey (FAMEX) and the Household Facilities and Equipment Survey. It provides information on the expenditures, income, dwelling characteristics, household equipment, and other characteristics of families and individuals living in private households in Canada.

Who/what is surveyed: families and individuals living in private households in the ten provinces and territories, excluding persons living on Indian reserves, families of official representatives of foreign countries living in Canada, members of religious and other communal colonies, persons living full time in institutions (for example, inmates of penal institutions or chronic care patients living in hospitals and nursing homes).

How the data is collected: personal interviews in January, February and March following the reference year

Geographic detail: Canada, provinces and territories, selected metropolitan areas, size of area of residence (urban/rural)

Demographic detail: age, sex and marital status of reference person and spouse, relationship to reference person

Information collected:
1. dwelling characteristics
2. heating and cooking equipment and fuel
3. water supply facilities and plumbing equipment
4. household appliances and equipment
5. home audio-visual equipment (e.g., TVs, VCRs, Radios)
6. owned vehicles
7. communications equipment (e.g., telephone, Internet)
8. expenditures for detailed categories of consumer goods and services (e.g., food, shelter, communications, child care, furniture, household equipment, clothing, transportation, health care personal care, recreation, reading materials, education, tobacco and alcohol, games of chance, taxes, insurance payments, pension contributions, and gifts and donations)
9. change in assets
10. annual income, detailed for various sources (for example, wages and salaries, net income from self-employment, interest, dividends, pension, social programs)

Frequency: annual since 1997

Sample size: 24,000 households in 1997; 20,000 households in 1998

Data availability: before 1997, refer to the Family Expenditure Survey (FAMEX) and the Household Facilities and Equipment Survey

Reference period: previous calendar year for expenditure data and December 31 of the reference year for household facilities and equipment data

Release dates: end of calendar year in which survey is conducted

Response rates: 76.4% in 1998

What makes the data valuable:
 1. the only source of detailed household expenditures by household characteristics
2. the only source of household facilities and equipment data
3. the only annual source of data on dwelling characteristics

Related surveys or data:
1. Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics
2. Family Expenditure Survey
3. Homeowner Repair and Renovation Survey
4. Household Facilities and Equipment Survey

Products and services:
1. Spending Patterns in Canada (Catalogue no 62-202-XPB or 62-202-XIB)
2. Standard data tables (62F0031, 62F0032, 62F0033, 62F0034, 62F0035, 62F0041, 62F0042, 62F0043, 62F0044, 62F0045)
3. Public Use Microdata File (62M0004XCB)
4. Custom tabulations

Responsible division: Income Statistics


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Date Modified: 2003-11-07 Important Notices