House prices grew year-on-year in most states in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2024. The District of Columbia was the only exception, with a decline of three percent. The annual appreciation for single-family housing in the U.S. was 0.71 percent, while in Hawaii—the state where homes appreciated the most—the increase exceeded 10 percent. How have home prices developed in recent years? House price growth in the U.S. has been going strong for years. In 2024, the median sales price of a single-family home exceeded 413,000 U.S. dollars, up from 277,000 U.S. dollars five years ago. One of the factors driving house prices was the cost of credit. The record-low federal funds effective rate allowed mortgage lenders to set mortgage interest rates as low as 2.3 percent. With interest rates on the rise, home buying has also slowed, causing fluctuations in house prices. Why are house prices growing? Many markets in the U.S. are overheated because supply has not been able to keep up with demand. How many homes enter the housing market depends on the construction output, whereas the availability of existing homes for purchase depends on many other factors, such as the willingness of owners to sell. Furthermore, growing investor appetite in the housing sector means that prospective homebuyers have some extra competition to worry about. In certain metros, for example, the share of homes bought by investors exceeded 20 percent in 2024.

The rent price index in Australia in the fourth quarter of 2024 was 120.7, marking an increase from the same quarter of the previous year. Rent prices had decreased in 2020; in Melbourne and Sydney, this was mainly attributed to the absence of international students during the coronavirus outbreak. The current state of the rental market in Australia The rental market in Australia has been marked by varying conditions across different regions. Among the capital cities, Sydney and Melbourne have long been recognized for having some of the highest average rents. As of September 2024, the average weekly rent for a house in Sydney was 775 Australian dollars, which was the highest average rent across all major cities in Australia that year. Furthermore, due to factors like population growth and housing demand, regional areas have also seen noticeable increases in rental prices. For instance, households in the non-metropolitan area of New South Wales’s expenditure on rent was around 30 percent of their household income in the year ending June 2024. Housing affordability in Australia Housing affordability remains a significant challenge in Australia, contributing to a trend where many individuals and families rent for prolonged periods. The underlying cause of this issue is the ongoing disparity between household wages and housing costs, especially in large cities. While renting offers several advantages, it is worth noting that the associated costs may not always align with the expectation of affordability. Approximately one-third of participants in a survey conducted in 2023 stated that they pay between 16 and 30 percent of their monthly income on rent. Recent government initiatives such as the 2024 Help to Buy scheme aim to make it easier for people across Australia to get onto the property ladder. Still, the multifaceted nature of Australia’s housing affordability problem requires continued efforts to strike a balance between market dynamics and the need for accessible housing options for Australians.

Abstract

The Household Income and Expenditure Survey is a survey collecting data on income, consumption and expenditure patterns of households, in accordance with methodological principles of statistical enquiries, which are linked to demographic and socio-economic characteristics of households. A Household Income and expenditure Survey is the sole source of information on expenditure, consumption and income patterns of households, which is used to calculate poverty and income distribution indicators. It also serves as a statistical infrastructure for the compilation of the national basket of goods used to measure changes in price levels. Furthermore, it is used for updating of the national accounts.

The main objective of the NHIES 2009/2010 is to comprehensively describe the levels of living of Namibians using actual patterns of consumption and income, as well as a range of other socio-economic indicators based on collected data. This survey was designed to inform policy making at the international, national and regional levels within the context of the Fourth National Development Plan, in support of monitoring and evaluation of Vision 2030 and the Millennium Development Goals. The NHIES was designed to provide policy decision making with reliable estimates at regional levels as well as to meet rural - urban disaggregation requirements.

Geographic coverage

National Coverage

Analysis unit

Individuals and Households

Universe

Every week of the four weeks period of a survey round all persons in the household were asked if they spent at least 4 nights of the week in the household. Any person who spent at least 4 nights in the household was taken as having spent the whole week in the household. To qualify as a household member a person must have stayed in the household for at least two weeks out of four weeks.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The targeted population of NHIES 2009/2010 was the private households of Namibia. The population living in institutions, such as hospitals, hostels, police barracks and prisons were not covered in the survey. However, private households residing within institutional settings were covered. The sample design for the survey was a stratified two-stage probability sample, where the first stage units were geographical areas designated as the Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) and the second stage units were the households. The PSUs were based on the 2001 Census EAs and the list of PSUs serves as the national sample frame. The urban part of the sample frame was updated to include the changes that take place due to rural to urban migration and the new developments in housing. The sample frame is stratified first by region followed by urban and rural areas within region. In urban areas further stratification is carried out by level of living which is based on geographic location and housing characteristics. The first stage units were selected from the sampling frame of PSUs and the second stage units were selected from a current list of households within each selected PSU, which was compiled just before the interviews.

PSUs were selected using probability proportional to size sampling coupled with the systematic sampling procedure where the size measure was the number of households within the PSU in the 2001 Population and Housing Census. The households were selected from the current list of households using systematic sampling procedure.

The sample size was designed to achieve reliable estimates at the region level and for urban and rural areas within each region. However the actual sample sizes in urban or rural areas within some of the regions may not satisfy the expected precision levels for certain characteristics. The final sample consists of 10 660 households in 533 PSUs. The selected PSUs were randomly allocated to the 13 survey rounds.

Sampling deviation

All the expected sample of 533 PSUs was covered. However a number of originally selected PSUs had to be substituted by new ones due to the following reasons.

Urban areas: Movement of people for resettlement in informal settlement areas from one place to another caused a selected PSU to be empty of households.

Rural areas: In addition to Caprivi region (where one constituency is generally flooded every year) Ohangwena and Oshana regions were badly affected from an unusual flood situation. Although this situation was generally addressed by interchanging the PSUs betweensurvey rounds still some PSUs were under water close to the end of the survey period. There were five empty PSUs in the urban areas of Hardap (1), Karas (3) and Omaheke (1) regions. Since these PSUs were found in the low strata within the urban areas of the relevant regions the substituting PSUs were selected from the same strata. The PSUs under water were also five in rural areas of Caprivi (1), Ohangwena (2) and Oshana (2) regions. Wherever possible the substituting PSUs were selected from the same constituency where the original PSU was selected. If not, the selection was carried out from the rural stratum of the particular region. One sampled PSU in urban area of Khomas region (Windhoek city) had grown so large that it had to be split into 7 PSUs. This was incorporated into the geographical information system (GIS) and one PSU out of the seven was selected for the survey. In one PSU in Erongo region only fourteen households were listed and one in Omusati region listed only eleven households. All these households were interviewed and no additional selection was done to cover for the loss in sample.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The instruments for data collection were as in the previous survey the questionnaires and manuals. Form I questionnaire collected demographic and socio-economic information of household members, such as: sex, age, education, employment status among others. It also collected information on household possessions like animals, land, housing, household goods, utilities, household income and expenditure, etc.

Form II or the Daily Record Book is a diary for recording daily household transactions. A book was administered to each sample household each week for four consecutive weeks (survey round). Households were asked to record transactions, item by item, for all expenditures and receipts, including incomes and gifts received or given out. Own produce items were also recorded. Prices of items from different outlets were also collected in both rural and urban areas. The price collection was needed to supplement information from areas where price collection for consumer price indices (CPI) does not currently take place.

Cleaning operations

The questionnaires received from the regions were registered and counterchecked at the survey head office. The data processing team consisted of Systems administrator, IT technician, Programmers, Statisticians and Data typists.

Data capturing

The data capturing process was undertakenin the following ways: Form 1 was scanned, interpreted and verified using the “Scan”, “Interpret” & “Verify” modules of the Eyes & Hands software respectively. Some basic checks were carried out to ensure that each PSU was valid and every household was unique. Invalid characters were removed. The scanned and verified data was converted into text files using the “Transfer” module of the Eyes & Hands. Finally, the data was transferred to a SQL database for further processing, using the “TranScan” application. The Daily Record Books (DRB or form 2) were manually entered after the scanned data had been transferred to the SQL database. The reason was to ensure that all DRBs were linked to the correct Form 1, i.e. each household’s Form 1 was linked to the corresponding Daily Record Book. In total, 10 645 questionnaires (Form 1), comprising around 500 questions each, were scanned and close to one million transactions from the Form 2 (DRBs) were manually captured.

Response rate

Household response rate: Total number of responding households and non-responding households and the reason for non-response are shown below. Non-contacts and incomplete forms, which were rejected due to a lot of missing data in the questionnaire, at 3.4 and 4.0 percent, respectively, formed the largest part of non-response. At the regional level Erongo, Khomas, and Kunene reported the lowest response rate and Caprivi and Kavango the highest. See page 17 of the report for a detailed breakdown of response rates by region.

Data appraisal

To be able to compare with the previous survey in 2003/2004 and to follow up the development of the country, methodology and definitions were kept the same. Comparisons between the surveys can be found in the different chapters in this report. Experiences from the previous survey gave valuable input to this one and the data collection was improved to avoid earlier experienced errors. Also, some additional questions in the questionnaire helped to confirm the accuracy of reported data. During the data cleaning process it turned out, that some households had difficulty to separate their household consumption from their business consumption when recording their daily transactions in DRB. This was in particular applicable for the guest farms, the number of which has shown a big increase during the past five years. All households with extreme high consumption were examined manually and business transactions were recorded and separated from private consumption.

The foreclosure rate in the United States has experienced significant fluctuations over the past two decades, reaching its peak in 2010 at 2.23 percent following the financial crisis. Since then, the rate has steadily declined, with a notable drop to 0.11 percent in 2021 due to government interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the rate stood slightly higher at 0.23 percent but remained well below historical averages, indicating a relatively stable housing market. Impact of economic conditions on foreclosures The foreclosure rate is closely tied to broader economic trends and housing market conditions. During the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the share of non-performing mortgage loans climbed significantly, with loans 90 to 180 days past due reaching 4.6 percent. Since then, the share of seriously delinquent loans has dropped notably, demonstrating a substantial improvement in mortgage performance. Among other things, the improved mortgage performance has to do with changes in the mortgage approval process. Homebuyers are subject to much stricter lending standards, such as higher credit score requirements. These changes ensure that borrowers can meet their payment obligations and are at a lower risk of defaulting and losing their home. Challenges for potential homebuyers Despite the low foreclosure rates, potential homebuyers face significant challenges in the current market. Homebuyer sentiment worsened substantially in 2021 and remained low across all age groups through 2024, with the 45 to 64 age group expressing the most negative outlook. Factors contributing to this sentiment include high housing costs and various financial obligations. For instance, in 2023, 52 percent of non-homeowners reported that student loan expenses hindered their ability to save for a down payment.

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 25% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN

Surveys related to the family budget are considered one of the most important surveys types carried out by the Department Of Statistics, since it provides data on household expenditure and income and their relationship with different indicators. Therefore, most of the countries undertake periodic surveys on household income and expenditures. The Department Of Statistics, since established, conducted a series of Expenditure and Income Surveys during the years 1966, 1980, 1986/1987, 1992, 1997, 2002/2003, 2006/2007, and 2008/2009 and because of continuous changes in spending patterns, income levels and prices, as well as in the population internal and external migration, it was necessary to update data for household income and expenditure over time. Hence, the need to implement the Household Expenditure and Income Survey for the year 2010 arises. The survey was then conducted to achieve the following objectives: 1. Provide data on income and expenditure to enable computation of poverty indices and determine the characteristics of the poor and prepare poverty maps. 2. Provide data weights that reflect the relative importance of consumer expenditure items used in the preparation of the consumer price index. 3. Provide the necessary data for the national accounts related to overall consumption and income of the household sector. 4. Provide the data necessary for the formulation, follow-up and evaluation of economic and social development programs, including those addressed to eradicate poverty. 5. Identify consumer spending patterns prevailing in the society, and the impact of demographic, social and economic variables on those patterns. 6. Calculate the average annual income of the household and the individual, and identify the relationship between income and different socio-economic factors, such as profession and educational level of the head of the household and other indicators. 7. Study the distribution of individuals and households by income and expenditure categories and analyze the factors associated with it.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Agency were cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major project that started in 2009. During which extensive efforts have been exerted to acquire, clean, harmonize, preserve and disseminate micro data of existing household surveys in several Arab countries.

Geographic coverage

The General Census of Population and Housing in 2004 provided a detailed framework for housing and households for different administrative levels in the Kingdom. Where the Kingdom is administratively divided into 12 governorates, each governorate is composed of a number of districts, each district (Liwa) includes one or more sub-district (Qada). In each sub-district, there are a number of communities (cities and villages). Each community was divided into a number of blocks. Where in each block, the number of houses ranged between 60 and 100 houses. Nomads, persons living in collective dwellings such as hotels, hospitals and prison were excluded from the survey framework.

Analysis unit

1- Household/family. 2- Individual/person.

Universe

The survey covered a national sample of households and all individuals permanently residing in surveyed households.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 25% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN

The Household Expenditure and Income survey sample, for the year 2010, was designed to serve the basic objectives of the survey through providing a relatively large sample in each sub-district to enable drawing a poverty map in Jordan. A two stage stratified cluster sampling technique was used. In the first stage, a cluster sample proportional to the size was uniformly selected, where the number of households in each cluster was considered the weight of the cluster. At the second stage, a sample of 8 households was selected from each cluster, in addition to another 4 households selected as a backup for the basic sample, using a systematic sampling technique. Those 4 households were sampled to be used during the first visit to the block in case the visit to the original household selected is not possible for any reason. For the purposes of this survey, each sub-district was considered a separate stratum to ensure the possibility of producing results on the sub-district level. In this respect, the survey framework adopted that provided by the General Census of Population and Housing Census in dividing the sample strata. To estimate the sample size, the coefficient of variation and the design effect of the expenditure variable provided in the Household Expenditure and Income Survey for the year 2008 was calculated for each sub-district. These results were used to estimate the sample size on the sub-district level so that the coefficient of variation for the expenditure variable in each sub-district is less than 10%, at a minimum, of the number of clusters in the same sub-district (6 clusters). This is to ensure adequate presentation of clusters in different administrative areas to enable drawing an indicative poverty map. It should be noted that in addition to the standard non response rate assumed, higher rates were expected in areas where poor households are concentrated in major cities. Therefore, those were taken into consideration during the sampling design phase, and a higher number of households were selected from those areas, aiming at well covering all regions where poverty spreads.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

To reach the survey objectives, 3 forms have been developed. Those forms were finalized after being tested and reviewed by specialists taking into account making the data entry, and validation, process on the computer as simple as possible.

(1) General Form/Questionnaire This form includes: - Housing characteristics such as geographic location variables, household area, building material predominant for external walls, type of tenure, monthly rent or lease, main source of water, lighting, heating and fuel cooking, sanitation type and water cycle, the number of rooms in the dwelling, in addition to providing ownership status of some home appliances and car. - Characteristics of household members: This form focused on the social characteristics of the family members such as relation to the head of the family, gender, age and educational status and marital status. It also included economic characteristics such as economic activity, and the main occupation, employment status, and the labor sector. to the additions of questions about individual continued to stay with the family, in order to update the information at the beginning of the second, third and fourth rounds. - Income section which included three parts · Family ownership of assets · Productive activities for the family · Current income sources

(2) Expenditure on food commodities form/Questionnaire This form indicates expenditure data on 17 consumption groups. Each group includes a number of food commodities, with the exception of the latter group, which was confined to some of the non-food goods and services because of their frequent spending pattern on daily basis like food commodities. For the purposes of the efficient use of results, expenditure data of the latter group was moved with the non-food commodities expenditure. The form also includes estimated amounts of own-produced food items and those received as gifts or in an in-kind form, as well as servants living with the family spending on themselves from their own wages to buy food.

(3) Expenditure on non-food commodities form/Questionnaire This form indicates expenditure data on 11 groups of non-food items, and 5 sets of spending on services, in addition to a group of consumption expenditure. It also includes an estimate of self-consumption, and non-food gifts or other items in an in-kind form received or sent by the household, as well as servants living with the family spending on themselves from their own wages to buy non-food items.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

The data collection phase was then followed by the data processing stage accomplished through the following procedures: 1- Organizing forms/questionnaires A compatible archive system, with the nature of the subsequent operations, was used to classify the forms according to different round throughout the year. This is to effectively enable extracting the forms when required for processing. A registry was prepared to indicate different stages of the process of data checking, coding and entry till forms are back to the archive system. 2- Data office checking This phase is achieved concurrently with the data collection phase in the field, where questionnaires completed in the fieldwork are immediately sent to data office checking phase. 3- Data coding A team was trained to work on the data coding phase, which in this survey is only limited to education specialization, profession and economic activity. In this respect, international classifications were use, while for the rest of the questions, all coding were predefined during

Abstract

The main objectives of the 2018/19 NLSS are: i) to provide critical information for production of a wide range of socio-economic and demographic indicators, including for benchmarking and monitoring of SDGs; ii) to monitor progress in population’s welfare; iii) to provide statistical evidence and measure the impact on households of current and anticipated government policies. In addition, the 2018/19 NLSS could be utilized to improve other non-survey statistical information, e.g. to determine and calibrate the contribution of final consumption expenditures of households to GDP; to update the weights and determine the basket for the national Consumer Price Index (CPI); to improve the methodology and dissemination of micro-economic and welfare statistics in Nigeria.

The 2018/19 NLSS collected a comprehensive and diverse set of socio-economic and demographic data pertaining to the basic needs and conditions under which households live on a day to day basis. The 2018/19 NLSS questionnaire includes wide-ranging modules, covering demographic indicators, education, health, labour, expenditures on food and non-food goods, non-farm enterprises, household assets and durables, access to safety nets, housing conditions, economic shocks, exposure to crime and farm production indicators.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals
• Communities

Universe

The survey covered all de jure households excluding prisons, hospitals, military barracks, and school dormitories.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 2018/19 NLSS sample is designed to provide representative estimates for the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. By extension. The sample is also representative at the national and zonal levels. Although the sample is not explicitly stratified by urban and rural areas, it is possible to obtain urban and rural estimates from the NLSS data at the national level. At all stages, the relative proportion of urban and rural EAs as has been maintained.

Before designing the sample for the 2018/19 NLSS, the results from the 2009/10 HNLSS were analysed to extract the sampling properties (variance, design effect, etc.) and estimate the required sample size to reach a desired precision for poverty estimates in the 2018/19 NLSS.

EA SELECTION: The sampling frame for the 2018/19 NLSS was based on the national master sample developed by the NBS, referred to as the NISH2 (Nigeria Integrated Survey of Households 2). This master sample was based on the enumeration areas (EAs) defined for the 2006 Nigeria Census Housing and Population conducted by National Population Commission (NPopC). The NISH2 was developed by the NBS to use as a frame for surveys with state-level domains. NISH2 EAs were drawn from another master sample that NBS developed for surveys with LGA-level domains (referred to as the “LGA master sample”). The NISH2 contains 200 EAs per state composed of 20 replicates of 10 sample EAs for each state, selected systematically from the full LGA master sample. Since the 2018/19 NLSS required domains at the state-level, the NISH2 served as the sampling frame for the survey.

Since the NISH2 is composed of state-level replicates of 10 sample EAs, a total of 6 replicates were selected from the NISH2 for each state to provide a total sample of 60 EAs per state. The 6 replicates selected for the 2018/19 NLSS in each state were selected using random systematic sampling. This sampling procedure provides a similar distribution of the sample EAs within each state as if one systematic sample of 60 EAs had been selected directly from the census frame of EAs.

A fresh listing of households was conducted in the EAs selected for the 2018/19 NLSS. Throughout the course of the listing, 139 of the selected EAs (or about 6%) were not able to be listed by the field teams. The primary reason the teams were not able to conduct the listing in these EAs was due to security issues in the country. The fieldwork period of the 2018/19 NLSS saw events related to the insurgency in the north east of the country, clashes between farmers and herdsman, and roving groups of bandits. These events made it impossible for the interviewers to visit the EAs in the villages and areas affected by these conflict events. In addition to security issues, some EAs had been demolished or abandoned since the 2006 census was conducted. In order to not compromise the sample size and thus the statistical power of the estimates, it was decided to replace these 139 EAs. Additional EAs from the same state and sector were randomly selected from the remaining NISH2 EAs to replace each EA that could not be listed by the field teams. This necessary exclusion of conflict affected areas implies that the sample is representative of areas of Nigeria that were accessible during the 2018/19 NLSS fieldwork period. The sample will not reflect conditions in areas that were undergoing conflict at that time. This compromise was necessary to ensure the safety of interviewers.

HOUSEHOLD SELECTION: Following the listing, the 10 households to be interviewed were selected from the listed households. These households were selected systemically after sorting by the order in which the households were listed. This systematic sampling helped to ensure that the selected households were well dispersed across the EA and thereby limit the potential for clustering of the selected households within an EA.

Occasionally, interviewers would encounter selected households that were not able to be interviewed (e.g. due to migration, refusal, etc.). In order to preserve the sample size and statistical power, households that could not be interviewed were replaced with an additional randomly selected household from the EA. Replacement households had to be requested by the field teams on a case-by-case basis and the replacement household was sent by the CAPI managers from NBS headquarters. Interviewers were required to submit a record for each household that was replaced, and justification given for their replacement. These replaced households are included in the disseminated data. However, replacements were relatively rare with only 2% of sampled households not able to be interviewed and replaced.

Sampling deviation

Although a sample was initially drawn for Borno state, the ongoing insurgency in the state presented severe challenges in conducting the survey there. The situation in the state made it impossible for the field teams to reach large areas of the state without compromising their safety. Given this limitation it was clear that a representative sample for Borno was not possible. However, it was decided to proceed with conducting the survey in areas that the teams could access in order to collect some information on the parts of the state that were accessible.

The limited area that field staff could safely operate in in Borno necessitated an alternative sample selection process from the other states. The EA selection occurred in several stages. Initially, an attempt was made to limit the frame to selected LGAs that were considered accessible. However, after selection of the EAs from the identified LGAs, it was reported by the NBS listing teams that a large share of the selected EAs were not safe for them to visit. Therefore, an alternative approach was adopted that would better ensure the safety of the field team but compromise further the representativeness of the sample. First, the list of 788 EAs in the LGA master sample for Borno were reviewed by NBS staff in Borno and the EAs they deemed accessible were identified. The team identified 359 EAs (46%) that were accessible. These 359 EAs served as the frame for the Borno sample and 60 EAs were randomly selected from this frame. However, throughout the course of the NLSS fieldwork, additional insurgency related events occurred which resulted in 7 of the 60 EAs being inaccessible when they were to be visited. Unlike for the main sample, these EAs were not replaced. Therefore, 53 EAs were ultimately covered from the Borno sample. The listing and household selection process that followed was the same as for the rest of the states.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Two sets of questionnaires – household and community – were used to collect information in the NLSS2018/19. The Household Questionnaire was administered to all households in the sample. The Community Questionnaire was administered to the community to collect information on the socio-economic indicators of the enumeration areas where the sample households reside.

Household Questionnaire: The Household Questionnaire provides information on demographics; education; health; labour; food and non-food expenditure; household nonfarm income-generating activities; food security and shocks; safety nets; housing conditions; assets; information and communication technology; agriculture and land tenure; and other sources of household income.

Community Questionnaire: The Community Questionnaire solicits information on access to transported and infrastructure; community organizations; resource management; changes in the community; key events; community needs, actions and achievements; and local retail price information.

Cleaning operations

CAPI: The 2018/19 NLSS was conducted using the Survey Solutions Computer Assisted Person Interview (CAPI) platform. The Survey Solutions software was developed and maintained by the Development Economics Data Group (DECDG) at the World Bank. Each interviewer and supervisor was given a tablet

Abstract

IHLCA-II is a nationwide quantitative survey of 18660 households with two rounds of data collection (December 2009/January 2010 and May 2010).

IHLCA surveys should support the system of economic statistics that is the basis for modern National Accounts by providing much needed data on value added in household (informal sector) production. IHLCA data will make it possible to estimate the GDP share of private consumption from the use side or alternatively in terms of household production's share of the GDP from the production side.

The main objectives of the survey have been formulated: - To obtain an accurate and holistic assessment of population well-being by measuring a number of indicators related to living conditions from an integrated perspective; - To provide reliable and updated data for identifying different levels of poverty in order to help better focus programmatic interventions and prioritize budget allocations; - To provide quantitative and qualitative data for better understanding the dimensions of wellbeing and poverty in Myanmar and the endogenous and exogenous factors behind the observed patterns and trends in living conditions; - To provide baseline information for monitoring progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other national and international targets; - To develop a rigorous and standardized methodology for establishing a framework for monitoring living conditions and conducting future time-trend analysis.

Given the breadth of information that was to be generated by the survey and the range of stakeholders involved in the project, there were also a number of secondary objectives including: - The compilation of updated statistics for a series of indicators that were also addressed in previous surveys in Myanmar for comparative time-trend analyses on specific aspects of living conditions where appropriate; - The compilation of precise statistics on the spatial distribution of poor and non-poor households for poverty mapping; - For economic and social analysis, improved data for monitoring differentials in living conditions by urban-rural residence, gender and other population sub-groups; - For policy and programmatic formulation, comprehensive data on the population’s perceptions of living conditions, in particular prioritization in terms of their preferences to improve wellbeing and reduce poverty across regions of the country.

The IHLCA-II results have been used to prepare three separate reports: - Poverty Profile - MDG Data Report - Poverty Dynamics Report

In addition two supplementing reports have been prepared: - Technical Report (Survey Design and Implementation) - Quality Report

Sampling procedure

Sampling design

The main focus of the IHLCA-II was to assess the changes in the living conditions of people in Myanmar since IHLCA-I. The national research team considered that the survey design, sampling units and other survey instruments therefore should be as similar as possible to those used in the IHLCA-I.

A stratified multi-stage sample design was used for the IHLCA-I survey with 62 districts as the strata.

Given their special importance, Yangon City and Mandalay City were treated as separate strata. The selection plan in each stratum was as follows. Townships across all districts were used as first stage sampling units (FSU). The sampling frame for the first stage was an official list of townships with their estimated number of households in each district.

The estimated number of households in the excluded 45 townships and from other wards/village tracts represented 5% of the total population.

The second stage sampling unit (SSU) was the ward (urban) or village tract (rural) within the selected townships. The sampling frame for the second stage was the list of wards and villages in the selected townships along with their estimated numbers of households. All wards and village tracts in each selected township within a particular district were grouped into urban/rural substrata. A predetermined number of wards/villages tracts were then drawn with PPES systematic random selection from those township frames.

Listings of Street segments in selected wards (urban) and villages in selected village tracts (rural) with the number of households were made prior to the household survey. Moreover, the survey teams of supervisors drew sketch maps of the street segment inwards and villages prior to the data collection activities and selected the sample households in each community. With the predetermined path in the community on the sketch map and the sampling interval calculated using the total number of household and the fixed sample size, a unique systematic sample could then be drawn conforming to the random selection with a known selection probability.

The IHLCA-II sample design is a modified IHLCA-I sample design which takes into account of changes in the sample frame since 2004 and retains a panel of 50% from IHLCA-I sample of households.

The same sample of areas (street segments and villages) as the IHLCA-I survey areas were kept. There are altogether 1555 areas. Within each area a sample of 12 households was selected. Six households from the 12 IHLCA-I household sample were selected randomly. An additional six households were selected from the “non-IHLCA-I households in the village or street segment. In some (fairly few) cases there were less than six old IHLCA-I households remaining in the village or street segment due to migration and other causes. In that case all remaining IHLCA-I households were included in the sample. If that was the case then the sample of non-IHLCA-I households were increased so the total sample from the village or street segment added up to 12.

The 50 % panel would allow for studies of gross changes (household dynamics) on a sufficiently large sample while at the same time we also make sure that changes in the population are taken into account.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The following survey questionnaires were used for the IHLCA survey11:

The Household questionnaire, administered at household level, included 9 modules covering different aspects of household living conditions: - Module 1: Household Basic Characteristics; - Module 2: Housing; - Module 3: Education; - Module 4: Health; - Module 5: Consumption Expenditures; - Module 6: Household Assets; - Module 7: Labour and Employment; - Module 8: Business - Module 9: Finance and Savings.

The Community questionnaire, administered to local key informants included 4 modules that aimed at providing general information on the village/wards where the survey was being undertaken and at reducing the length of the household interview. The questionnaire was only administered in the first round. Modules included in the Community questionnaire were: - Module 1.1: Village/Ward Infrastructure; - Module 1.2: Population; - Module 1.3: Housing; - Module 1.4: Labour and Employment - Module 1.5: Business Activities; - Module 1.6: Agricultural Activities; - Module 1.7: Finance and Savings; - Module 2: Schools - Module 3: Health facilities - Module 4: Pharmacies and Drug Stores

The Community price questionnaire which aimed at providing information on the prices of specific items in each village/ward surveyed. These prices were collected in case the quality of implicit prices calculated from the household survey was not satisfactory. Since there were no problems with implicit prices, community level prices were not used. The Community price questionnaire comprised of only one module.

The Township Profile questionnaire aimed at collecting administrative information about the Townships included in the survey. It was not used in the data analysis.

All final questionnaires were translated from English to Myanmar.

Depending on the nature of the information to be collected, different types of questions (current status and retrospective) were included in the survey instruments. For instance, current status questions were used to assess Housing condition and level of education and literacy. On the other hand, retrospective questions were also used to collect information on other items including household consumption expenditures. Thus one important issue was the reference period for specific consumption items. In order to minimize recall errors, different reference periods were used for different types of items. In particular, shorter periods were used for smaller items (such as 7days for frequently bought food items and 30 days for less frequently bought food items and non-food items), and longer periods for larger items (such as six months for bulky non-food items and equipment). All above was in line with IHLCA-I.

Cleaning operations

Data editing and coding

Overall editing and coding of the questionnaires received from the field was under the responsibility of the State and Region Level Data Entry Management Committee. The operations involved mainly: - Checking and correcting for inconsistencies in the data; - Identifying and correcting for outliers; - Recoding of variables when necessary.

Data appraisal

First assessment

With regard to potential non-sampling errors, when collecting information from the respondent it was important to plan for several controls: (i) immediately during the interview by the enumerator; (ii) after the interview during the review of the completed questionnaire by the field supervisor and before data entry; and (iii) during data entry. For instance, ranges for data on the monetary value of household expenditures were set, such as minimum and maximum acceptable prices for a given quantity of each major food and non-food item (based on independently obtained data of market prices). The appropriate ranges

The UK inflation rate was three percent in January 2025, up from 2.5 percent in the previous month, and the fastest rate of inflation since March 2024. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. Due to this long period of high inflation, UK consumer prices have increased by over 20 percent in the last three years. As of the most recent month, prices were rising fastest in the communications sector, at 6.1 percent, but were falling in both the furniture and transport sectors, at -0.3 percent and -0.6 percent respectively.
The Cost of Living Crisis High inflation is one of the main factors behind the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis in the UK, which, despite subsiding somewhat in 2024, is still impacting households going into 2025. In December 2024, for example, 56 percent of UK households reported their cost of living was increasing compared with the previous month, up from 45 percent in July, but far lower than at the height of the crisis in 2022. After global energy prices spiraled that year, the UK's energy price cap increased substantially. The cap, which limits what suppliers can charge consumers, reached 3,549 British pounds per year in October 2022, compared with 1,277 pounds a year earlier. Along with soaring food costs, high-energy bills have hit UK households hard, especially lower income ones that spend more of their earnings on housing costs. As a result of these factors, UK households experienced their biggest fall in living standards in decades in 2022/23. Global inflation crisis causes rapid surge in prices The UK's high inflation, and cost of living crisis in 2022 had its origins in the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the initial waves of the virus, global supply chains struggled to meet the renewed demand for goods and services. Food and energy prices, which were already high, increased further in 2022. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an end to the era of cheap gas flowing to European markets from Russia. The war also disrupted global food markets, as both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of cereal crops. As a result of these factors, inflation surged across Europe and in other parts of the world, but typically declined in 2023, and approached more usual levels by 2024.

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the CPIH index in the United Kingdom was 134.7 indicating that consumer goods and services had increased in price by 34.7 percent when compared with the baseline year of 2015. In December 2024, the CPIH inflation rate was 3.5 percent, unchanged from the previous month. The CPIH index is the consumer price index, which also includes costs related to owning and maintaining a home. Inflation falls to more usual levels in 2024 After reaching a peak of 9.6 percent in October 2022, the CPIH inflation rate fell throughout 2023 and into 2024, eventually falling to a low of 2.6 percent in October 2024. Although the decline in energy inflation led to a significant fall in prices early in the 2023, other aspects of inflation, such as food prices remained high for a longer period. Throughout 2023 inflation in the UK was still quite high across many sectors, indicated by persistently high core inflation (inflation excluding food and energy prices) rates reported that year. UK economy continues to struggle Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK's economic performance has been quite lackluster. Although the economy bounced back from the initial drop in GDP caused by lockdowns, it has alternated between months of low growth and declines in GDP since 2021. In the last two quarters of 2023, the UK economy shrank by 0.1 percent, and then by 0.3 percent. As a result, the UK economy officially ended 2023 in a technical recession. While growth picked up in the first half of 2024, there was no growth in the third quarter of the year.

Building materials made of copper had some of the highest price growth rates in the U.S. in December 2024 in comparison to the previous year. The growth rate of the cost of many construction materials was much lower than in 2023. It is important to note, though, that the figures provided are Producer Price Indices, which cover production within the United States, but do not include imports or tariffs. This might matter for lumber, as Canada's wood production is normally large enough that the U.S. can import it from its neighboring country. Construction material prices in the United Kingdom Similarly to the inflation trends in the U.S. at that time, the price growth rate of construction materials in the UK were generally lower 2023 than in 2022. Nevertheless, the cost of some construction materials in the UK still soared that year, with several of those items reaching price growth rates of over 10 or even of over 14 percent. Considering that those materials make up a very big share of the costs incurred for a construction project, those developments may also have affected the average construction output price in the UK. Construction material shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic During the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, there often were supply problems and material shortages, which created instability in the construction market. According to a survey among construction contractors, the construction materials most affected by shortages in the U.S. during most of 2021 were steel and lumber. This was also a problem on the other side of the Atlantic: The share of building construction companies experiencing shortages in Germany soared between March and June 2021, staying at high levels for over a year. Meanwhile, the shortage of material or equipment was one of the main factors limiting the building activity in France in June 2022.

Abstract

The main objective of the survey is to obtain detailed data on household expenditure and income, linked to various demographic and socio-economic variables, to enable computation of poverty indices and determine the characteristics of the poor and prepare poverty maps. Therefore, to achieve these goals, the sample had to be representative on the sub-district level.

Data collected through the survey helped in achieving the following objectives: 1. Provide data weights that reflect the relative importance of consumer expenditure items used in the preparation of the consumer price index 2. Study the consumer expenditure pattern prevailing in the society and the impact of demograohic and socio-economic variables on those patterns 3. Calculate the average annual income of the household and the individual, and assess the relationship between income and different economic and social factors, such as profession and educational level of the head of the household and other indicators 4. Study the distribution of individuals and households by income and expenditure categories and analyze the factors associated with it 5. Provide the necessary data for the national accounts related to overall consumption and income of the household sector 6. Provide the necessary income data to serve in calculating poverty indices and identifying the poor chracteristics as well as drawing poverty maps 7. Provide the data necessary for the formulation, follow-up and evaluation of economic and social development programs, including those addressed to eradicate poverty

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individuals

Universe

The survey covered a national sample of households and all individuals permanently residing in surveyed households.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Household Expenditure and Income survey sample, for the year 2010, was designed to serve the basic objectives of the survey through providing a relatively large sample in each sub-district to enable drawing a poverty map in Jordan. The General Census of Population and Housing in 2004 provided a detailed framework for housing and households for different administrative levels in the country. Jordan is administratively divided into 12 governorates, each governorate is composed of a number of districts, each district (Liwa) includes one or more sub-district (Qada). In each sub-district, there are a number of communities (cities and villages). Each community was divided into a number of blocks. Where in each block, the number of houses ranged between 60 and 100 houses. Nomads, persons living in collective dwellings such as hotels, hospitals and prison were excluded from the survey framework.

A two stage stratified cluster sampling technique was used. In the first stage, a cluster sample proportional to the size was uniformly selected, where the number of households in each cluster was considered the weight of the cluster. At the second stage, a sample of 8 households was selected from each cluster, in addition to another 4 households selected as a backup for the basic sample, using a systematic sampling technique. Those 4 households were sampled to be used during the first visit to the block in case the visit to the original household selected is not possible for any reason. For the purposes of this survey, each sub-district was considered a separate stratum to ensure the possibility of producing results on the sub-district level. In this respect, the survey framework adopted that provided by the General Census of Population and Housing Census in dividing the sample strata. To estimate the sample size, the coefficient of variation and the design effect of the expenditure variable provided in the Household Expenditure and Income Survey for the year 2008 was calculated for each sub-district. These results were used to estimate the sample size on the sub-district level so that the coefficient of variation for the expenditure variable in each sub-district is less than 10%, at a minimum, of the number of clusters in the same sub-district (6 clusters). This is to ensure adequate presentation of clusters in different administrative areas to enable drawing an indicative poverty map.

It should be noted that in addition to the standard non response rate assumed, higher rates were expected in areas where poor households are concentrated in major cities. Therefore, those were taken into consideration during the sampling design phase, and a higher number of households were selected from those areas, aiming at well covering all regions where poverty spreads.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

• General form
• Expenditure on food commodities form
• Expenditure on non-food commodities form

Cleaning operations

• Organizing forms/questionnaires: A compatible archive system was used to classify the forms according to different rounds throughout the year. A registry was prepared to indicate different stages of the process of data checking, coding and entry till forms were back to the archive system.
• Data office checking: This phase was achieved concurrently with the data collection phase in the field where questionnaires completed in the field were immediately sent to data office checking phase.
• Data coding: A team was trained to work on the data coding phase, which in this survey is only limited to education specialization, profession and economic activity. In this respect, international classifications were used, while for the rest of the questions, coding was predefined during the design phase.
• Data entry/validation: A team consisting of system analysts, programmers and data entry personnel were working on the data at this stage. System analysts and programmers started by identifying the survey framework and questionnaire fields to help build computerized data entry forms. A set of validation rules were added to the entry form to ensure accuracy of data entered. A team was then trained to complete the data entry process. Forms prepared for data entry were provided by the archive department to ensure forms are correctly extracted and put back in the archive system. A data validation process was run on the data to ensure the data entered is free of errors.
• Results tabulation and dissemination: After the completion of all data processing operations, ORACLE was used to tabulate the survey final results. Those results were further checked using similar outputs from SPSS to ensure that tabulations produced were correct. A check was also run on each table to guarantee consistency of figures presented, together with required editing for tables' titles and report formatting.