Interview Survey
For the Interview Survey, each consumer unit is interviewed once per quarter, for four consecutive quarters. This survey is designed to capture large purchases, such as spending on rent, property, vehicles and expenses that occur on a regular basis such as rent or utilities. Since April 2003, data have been collected using a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI). Prior to that, interviews were administered using paper and pencil. An example of the most recent CAPI instrument is available on the Consumer Expenditure Survey website.Diary Survey
The Diary Survey is self-administered, and each consumer unit keeps a diary for two one-week periods. This survey is meant to capture small, frequently purchased items and allows respondents to record all purchases such as spending for food and beverages, tobacco, personal care products, and nonprescription drugs and supplies. The most recent Diary Survey form is available on the Consumer Expenditure Survey website.Consumer Unit
A consumer unit consists of any of the following: (1) All members of a particular household who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements; (2) a person living alone or sharing a household with others or living as a roomer in a private home or lodging house or in permanent living quarters in a hotel or motel, but who is financially independent; or (3) two or more persons living together who use their incomes to make joint expenditure decisions. Financial independence is determined by spending behavior with regard to the three major expense categories: Housing, food, and other living expenses. To be considered financially independent, the respondent must provide at least two of the three major expenditure categories, either entirely or in part. The terms consumer unit, family, and household are often used interchangeably for convenience. However, the proper technical term for purposes of the Consumer Expenditure Survey is consumer unit.Integrated Results
Data from the Interview Survey and the Diary Survey are combined to provide a complete account of expenditures and income. In some cases data are unique to a particular survey. For example, the Diary Survey provides greater detail of food expenditures than the Interview Survey, and the Interview Survey collects data on automobile repairs which are not found in the Diary Survey. For items collected in both surveys the BLS selects which data to use by statistical methods.Survey Sample
The Consumer Expenditure Survey is designed to be representative of the entire U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population, and includes both urban and rural areas. The primary sampling frame is the Census Bureau’s Master Address File (MAF). That file has all residential addresses identified in the 2010 census and is updated twice per year with the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File. The data are collected for the BLS by theConfidentiality
Personal information such as names, addresses, and phone numbers are never published. Data collected from the survey are protected by Title 13 of the United States Code. Each person with access to confidential information, including US Census Bureau field representatives and BLS employees, are sworn for life to protect this information. Violations of the law are a felony punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000.Data
Recent Data
According toUses of Survey Data
These data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey are used in a number of different ways by a variety of users. One important use of the survey is for the periodic revision of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI). The Bureau uses survey results to select new market baskets ofLimitations
Both the Diary and Interview Surveys utilize a representative sample to measure the buying habits of American consumers. Only a small percentage of the U.S. population is surveyed, and therefore the data are subject to sampling errors. The division publishes standard error tables on their website. Non-sampling errors include, but are not limited to, respondents who are either unwilling or unable to provide accurate answers, mistakes made in collecting or recording obtained data, and estimation of missing data.Microdata
Detailed annual data -- 1980 through 2019 -- for individual household/consumer units in both the Diary and Interview surveys are available for free download at the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey website. The data are protected for confidentiality. The Consumer Expenditure Surveys Division also hosts a free research symposium and summer microdata users' workshop at BLS headquarters in Washington, DC. The 2021 symposium followed by the workshop will be held July 20 through 23, 2021.History
The Consumer Expenditure Survey was first collected over 130 years ago in 1888. It became a continuous survey in 1980. From the late 1800s until 1980 the survey had been administered at approximately ten-year intervals. More information about the history of the Consumer Expenditure Survey is available on the program'See also
*References
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