The housing affordability measure illustrates the relationship between income and housing costs. A household that spends 30% or more of its collective monthly income to cover housing costs is considered to be “housing cost-burden[ed].”[1] Those spending between 30% and 49.9% of their monthly income are categorized as “moderately housing cost-burden[ed],” while those spending more than 50% are categorized as “severely housing cost-burden[ed].”[2]

How much a household spends on housing costs affects the household’s overall financial situation. More money spent on housing leaves less in the household budget for other needs, such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care, as well as for incidental purchases and saving for the future.

The estimated housing costs as a percentage of household income are categorized by tenure: all households, those that own their housing unit, and those that rent their housing unit.

Throughout the period of analysis, the percentage of housing cost-burdened renter households in Champaign County was higher than the percentage of housing cost-burdened homeowner households in Champaign County. All three categories saw year-to-year fluctuations between 2005 and 2023, and none of the three show a consistent trend. However, all three categories were estimated to have a lower percentage of housing cost-burdened households in 2023 than in 2005.

Data on estimated housing costs as a percentage of monthly income was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates, which are released annually.

As with any datasets that are estimates rather than exact counts, it is important to take into account the margins of error (listed in the column beside each figure) when drawing conclusions from the data.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year data in 2020. This includes a limited number of data tables for the nation, states, and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau states that the 2020 ACS 1-year experimental tables use an experimental estimation methodology and should not be compared with other ACS data. For these reasons, and because data is not available for Champaign County, no data for 2020 is included in this Indicator.

For interested data users, the 2020 ACS 1-Year Experimental data release includes a dataset on Housing Tenure.

[1] Schwarz, M. and E. Watson. (2008). Who can afford to live in a home?: A look at data from the 2006 American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau.

[2] Ibid.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (17 October 2024).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (22 September 2023).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (30 September 2022).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (10 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (10 June 2021).;U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (14 September 2017).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (19 September 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; 16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2006 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2005 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B25106; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program consists of two surveys: the quarterly Interview survey and the annual Diary survey. Combined, these two surveys provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. The survey data are collected for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by the U.S. Census Bureau. The CE collects all on all spending components including food, housing, apparel and services, transportation, entertainment, and out-of-pocket health care costs. The CE tables are an easy-to-use tool for obtaining arts-related spending estimates. They feature several arts-related spending categories, including the following items: Spending on Admissions Plays, theater, opera, and concerts Movies, parks, and museums Spending on Reading Newspapers and magazines Books Digital book readers Spending on Other Arts-Related Items Musical instruments Photographic equipment Audio-visual equipment Toys, games, arts and crafts The CE is important because it is the only Federal survey to provide information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes, as well as the characteristics of those consumers. It is used by economic policymakers examining the impact of policy changes on economic groups, by the Census Bureau as the source of thresholds for the Supplemental Poverty Measure, by businesses and academic researchers studying consumers' spending habits and trends, by other Federal agencies, and, perhaps most importantly, to regularly revise the Consumer Price Index market basket of goods and services and their relative importance. The most recent data tables are for 2023 and include: 1) Detailed tables with the most granular level of expenditure data available, along with variances and percent reporting for each expenditure item, for all consumer units (listed as "Other" in the Download menu); and 2) Tables with calendar year aggregate shares by demographic characteristics that provide annual aggregate expenditures and shares across demographic groups (listed as "Excel" in the Download menu). Also, see Featured CE Tables and Economic News Releases sections on the CE home page for current data tables and news release. The 1980 through 2023 CE public-use microdata, including Interview Survey data, Diary Survey data, and paradata (information about the data collection process), are available on the CE website.

Abstract

The purpose of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) survey is to obtain information on the income, consumption pattern, incidence of poverty, and saving propensities for different groups of people in Palau. This information will be used to guide policy makers in framing socio-economic developmental policies and in initiating financial measures for improving economic conditions of the people.

Some more specific outputs from the survey are listed below:

a) To obtain expenditure weights and other useful data for the revision of the consumer price index; b) To supplement the data available for use in compiling official estimates of household accounts in the systems of national accounts; c) To supply basic data needed for policy making in connection with social and economic planning, including producing as many of Palau's National Minimum Development Indicators (NMDI's) as possible; d) To provide data for assessing the impact on household living conditions of existing or proposed economic and social measures, particularly changes in the structure of household expenditures and in household consumption; e) To gather information on poverty lines and incidence of poverty throughout Palau.

Geographic coverage

National Coverage, excluding Sonsorol and Hatohobei. Urban and Rural.

Analysis unit

• Households;
• Individuals.

Universe

All private households and group quarters (people living in Work dormitories, as it is an important aspect of the subject matter focused on in this survey, and not addressed elsewhere).

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling frame used was the 2012 Palau census, which provided population figures for everyone living in both private households and group quarters (e.g. worker barracks, school dormitories, prison). The sampling selection was done separately in private dwellings and group quarters.

It is an accepted practice for the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) to cover all living quarters regarded as private dwellings, and the Palau 2013/14 HIES will follow this recommendation.

For group quarters it is also recommended to exclude the prison, as it is not considered appropriate to include such institutions in a survey such as HIES.

A decision as to whether the remaining group quarters should be included is based on the following criteria:

1) Ease in accessing and covering them in a survey such as HIES 2) Relevance to the subject matter of the survey 3) Whether their impact on the subject matter is mostly covered already

Under these criteria, the following recommendations are made: -School/college dormitories: Will exclude from HIES as these individuals will be covered in the households from which they came (if selected) -Work dormitories: Aim to include in the HIES as they are an important aspect of the subject matter focused on in this survey, and not addressed elsewhere -Live aboard: Will exclude due to the movement of such vehicles, and the minimal impact they may have on such a survey -Convents/religious quarters: Will exclude based on their expected minimum impact on the survey subject matter

NB: Given students in dorms are expected to have a high portion of their income and expenses covered in their original household of origin, and there were no religious group quarters identified during the census, only persons in the prison and living aboard are expected to be excluded from the survey. These people account for 81 out of 2,322 group quarters residents (only 3.6%).

Although the response rates were down in the 2006 HIES, with a smaller more experienced team working over 12 months, it is expected there will be improvements in this area. However, the expected sample loss of 10 per cent was probably too ambitious, and given the actual rate ended up at 287/1,063 = 27 per cent, it is more realistic to assume a sample loss of around 15 per cent with improvements for the 2013/14 HIES. Based on the RSEs presented in 2.3.2, it also appears that the 20 per cent desirable sample produced sound results for the survey, and with higher response rates anticipated, these results from a sample error perspective should improve. It is therefore proposed for the 2013/14 Palau HIES that a sample size of 20 per cent be adopted, which also allows for sample loss of 15 per cent.

In the 2006 Palau HIES, effort was made to design a sample which could produce results for the six domains (stratum). Whilst reasonable results were generated for each of these domains, it was felt that post survey, there was no great use of these results at that level. For the 2013 HIES it is proposed to focus on generating reliable results at the national level, with focus also being place on producing results for the urban/rural split. In the case of Palau, the urban population is considered to consist of the states of Koror and Airai.

The last phase to finalizing the sample numbers was to adjust the desirable sample numbers, so that they could be easily applied by the HIES team in a practical manner over the course of the 12 month fieldwork. This was achieved by modifying the sample counts (not too much) to enable sample sizes each round would be of a similar size, and workloads for each enumerator were the same size each round. The desirable workload for an enumerator covering the PD population was 10 households, whereas this figure was increased to 14 persons for GQs as it was envisaged the amount of time required to cover a person in a GQ would be significantly less. With this in mind, we wanted to ideally have the PD sample to be divisible by 160 so this would enable an even number of households each round, whilst maintaining a workload of 10 households for interviewers covering these areas. For the GQ sample, given the desirable number of GQs was already 225, and 16x14=224, then a simple reduction of 1 in the GQ sample would result in a nice even workload of 14 persons per round for 1 interviewer. This logic was also applied to the split between urban and rural resulting in 14 workloads in urban and 2 workloads in rural.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Developped in English, a questionnaire consisting of four Modules and a Weekly Diary covering 2 weeks was used for the Republic of Palau Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2013. Each Module covers distinct but connected portion of the Household.

The Modules are as follows: -Module 1 - Demographic Information: · Demographic Profile · Labor Force Status · Health Status · Communication Status -Module 2 - Household Expenditure: · Housing Characteristics · Housing Tenure Expenditure · Utilities & Communication Details · Utilities & Communication Expenditure · Land & Home Details · Land & Home Expenditure · Household Goods & Assets Details · Household Goods & Assets Expenditures · Vehicles & Accessories Details · Vehicles & Accessories Expenditures · Private Travel Details · Private Travel Expenditures · Household Services Expenditure · Contributions to Special Occasions · Provisions of Financial Support · Loans · Household Assets Insurance & Taxes · Personal Insurance -Module 3 - Individual Expenditures: · Education grants and scholarships · Education Identifications · Education Expenditures · Health Identifications · Health Expenditures · Clothing Identification · Clothing Expenditure · Communication Identification · Communication Expenditures · Luxury Items Identification · Luxury Items Expenditures -Module 4 - Income: · Wages & Salary: In country (current) · Wages & Salary: Overseas (last 12 months) · Wages & Salary: In country (last 12 months) · Income from Non Subsistence Business · Description of Agriculture & Forestry Activities · Income from Agriculture & Forestry Activities · Description of Handicraft & Home Processed Food Activities · Income from Handicraft & Home Processed Food Activities · Description of Livestock & Aquaculture Activities · Income from Livestock & Aquaculture Activities · Description of Fishing & Hunting Activities · Income from Fishing & Hunting Activities · Property Income, Transfer Income & Other Receipts · Remittances & Other Cash Gifts -Weekly Diary - Covering 14 Days (2 weeks): · Daily expenditure of food and non-food items · Payments of service made · Gambling winning and losses · Items received for free · Home produced food and non-food items.

All questionnaires are provided as external resources in this documentation.

Cleaning operations

Program: CSPro 5.1x

Data editing took place at a number of stages throughout the processing, including:

a) Office editing and coding b) During data entry; Error report correction; Secondary editing by Quality Control Officer (QCO) c) Structure checking and completeness

Detailed documentation of the editing of data can be found in the "Data processing guidelines" document provided as an external resource.

Response rate

Some 1,145 households were selected (in private dwellings and workers quarters) to participate in the survey, and the response rate was 75.8% (i.e. 869 households responded). This response rate allows for statistically significant analysis at the national, urban and rural level.

Response rates for private households by State: -Koror: 355 households responded out of 480 selected => 73.9%; -Airai: 119 households responded out of 160 selected => 74.4%; -URBAN: 474 households responded out of 640 selected => 74.1%; -Kayangel: 0 households responded out of 10 selected => 0%; -Ngarchelong: 27 households responded out of 30 selected => 90%; -Ngaraard: 22 households responded

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 50% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE CENTRAL AGENCY FOR PUBLIC MOBILIZATION AND STATISTICS (CAPMAS)

The Household Income, Expenditure and Consumption Survey (HIECS) is of great importance among other household surveys conducted by statistical agencies in various countries around the world. This survey provides a large amount of data to rely on in measuring the living standards of households and individuals, as well as establishing databases that serve in measuring poverty, designing social assistance programs, and providing necessary weights to compile consumer price indices, considered to be an important indicator to assess inflation.

The HIECS 2008/2009 is the tenth Household Income, Expenditure and Consumption Survey that was carried out in 2008/2009, among a long series of similar surveys that started back in 1955.

The survey main objectives are: - To identify expenditure levels and patterns of population as well as socio- economic and demographic differentials. - To estimate the quantities, values of commodities and services consumed by households during the survey period to determine the levels of consumption and estimate the current demand which is important to predict future demands. - To measure mean household and per-capita expenditure for various expenditure items along with socio-economic correlates. - To define percentage distribution of expenditure for various items used in compiling consumer price indices which is considered important indicator for measuring inflation. - To define mean household and per-capita income from different sources. - To provide data necessary to measure standard of living for households and individuals. Poverty analysis and setting up a basis for social welfare assistance are highly dependant on the results of this survey. - To provide essential data to measure elasticity which reflects the percentage change in expenditure for various commodity and service groups against the percentage change in total expenditure for the purpose of predicting the levels of expenditure and consumption for different commodity and service items in urban and rural areas. - To provide data essential for comparing change in expenditure against change in income to measure income elasticity of expenditure. - To study the relationships between demographic, geographical, housing characteristics of households and their income and expenditure for commodities and services. - To provide data necessary for national accounts especially in compiling inputs and outputs tables. - To identify consumers behavior changes among socio-economic groups in urban and rural areas. - To identify per capita food consumption and its main components of calories, proteins and fats according to its sources and the levels of expenditure in both urban and rural areas. - To identify the value of expenditure for food according to sources, either from household production or not, in addition to household expenditure for non food commodities and services. - To identify distribution of households according to the possession of some appliances and equipments such as (cars, satellites, mobiles ...) in urban and rural areas. - To identify the percentage distribution of income recipients according to some background variables such as housing conditions, size of household and characteristics of head of household.

Compared to previous surveys, the current survey experienced certain peculiarities, among which: 1- Doubling the number of area segments from 1200 in the previous survey to 2526 segments with decreasing the number of households selected from each segment to be (20) households instead of (40) in the previous survey to ensure appropriate representatives in the society. 2- Changing the survey period to 15 days instead of one month in the previous one 200412005, to lighten the respondent burden and encourage more cooperation. 3- Adding some additional questions: a- Participation or the benefits gained from pension and social security system. b- Participation in health insurance system. 4- Increasing quality control Procedures especially for fieldwork to ensure data accuracy and avoid any errors in suitable time.

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

Covering a sample of urban and rural areas in all the governorates.

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 50% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE CENTRAL AGENCY FOR PUBLIC MOBILIZATION AND STATISTICS (CAPMAS)

The sample of HIECS, 2008-2009 is a two-stage stratified cluster sample, approximately self-weighted, of nearly 48000 households. The main elements of the sampling design are described in the following.

1- Sample Size
It has been deemed important to retain the same sample size of the previous two HIECS rounds. Thus, a sample of about 48000 households has been considered. The justification of maintaining the sample size at this level is to have estimates with levels of precision similar to those of the previous two rounds: therefore trend analysis with the previous two surveys will not be distorted by substantial changes in sampling errors from round to another. In addition, this relatively large national sample implies proportional samples of reasonable sizes for smaller governorates. Nonetheless, over-sampling has been introduced to raise the sample size of small governorates to about 1000 households As a result, reasonably precise estimates could be extracted for those governorates. The over-sampling has resulted in a slight increase in the national sample to 48658 households.

2- Cluster size
An important lesson learned from the previous two HIECS rounds is that the cluster size applied in both surveys is found to be too large to yield an accepted design effect estimates. The cluster size was 40 households in the 2004-2005 round, descending from 80 households in the 1999-2000 round. The estimates of the design effect (deft) for most survey measures of the latest round were extraordinary large. As a result, it has been decided to decrease the cluster size to only 19 households (20 households in urban governorates to account for anticipated non-response in those governorates: in view of past experience non-response is almost nil in rural governorates).

A more detailed description of the different sampling stages and allocation of sample across governorates is provided in the Methodology document available among the documentation materials published in both Arabic and English.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Three different questionnaires have been designed as following: 1- Expenditure and consumption questionnaire. 2- Diary questionnaire for expenditure and consumption. 3- Income questionnaire.

In designing the questionnaires of expenditure, consumption and income, we were taking into our consideration the following: - Using the recent concepts and definitions of International Labor Organization approved in the International Convention of Labor Statisticians held in Geneva, 2003. - Using the recent Classification of Individual Consumption according to Purpose (COICOP). - Using more than one approach of expenditure measurement to serve many purposes of the survey.

A brief description of each questionnaire is given next:

1- Expenditure and Consumption Questionnaire

This questionnaire comprises 14 tables in addition to identification and geographic data of household on the cover page. The questionnaire is divided into two main sections.

Section one: Household schedule and other information. It includes: - Demographic characteristics and basic data for all household individuals consisting of 18 questions for every person. - Members of household who are currently working abroad. - The household ration card. - The main outlets that provide food and beverage. - Domestic and foreign tourism. - The housing conditions including 15 questions. - Means of transportation used to go to work or school. - The household possession of appliances and means of transportation. - This section includes some questions which help to define the social and economic level of households which in turn, help interviewers to check the plausibility of expenditure, consumption and income data.

Section two: Expenditure and consumption data It includes 14 tables as follows: - The quantity and value of food and beverages commodities actually consumed. - The quantity and value of the actual consumption of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics. - The quantity and value of the clothing and footwear. - The household expenditure for housing. - The household expenditure for furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house. - The household expenditure for health care services. - The household expenditure for transportation. - The household

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.

Definition: Output rate: Share of expenditure in net household income. Reported expenditure includes both final consumption expenditure and other expenditure. The largest share of household expenditure is consumer spending. These are in detail the expenses for food, housing, clothing, health, leisure, education, communication, transport as well as accommodation and restaurant services. In addition to final consumption expenditure, households have other expenditure, which is recorded as so-called ‘other expenditure’ or expenditure for non-consumption purposes. These include: - Voluntary contributions to the statutory pension insurance - Insurance contributions (additional health and long-term care insurance, expenditure on motor vehicle, household contents, liability, accident and other insurance) - Other transfers made and expenditure incurred: (e.g. cash gifts and donations, maintenance payments) - Other taxes not elsewhere specified (e.g. motor vehicle, dog, inheritance or gift tax) - Interest on loans (construction loans, etc., consumer loans) - The statistical differences. These arise when, in individual cases, certain small amounts have not been entered in the budget books. Net household income is calculated by deducting income tax/wage tax, church tax and solidarity surcharge as well as compulsory social security contributions from the household gross income (all household income from gainful employment, from assets, from public and non-public transfer payments and from (sub-)letting). In order to form income quintiles, households are sorted by household type according to the level of equivalised income and divided into five groups of equal size. The first qunitil contains the 20 percent of households with the lowest equivalised incomes, the fifth those with the highest equivalised incomes. Data source: IT.NRW, Income and Consumption Sample (EVS)

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.

Abstract

THE CLEANED AND HARMONIZED VERSION OF THE SURVEY DATA PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM REPRESENTS 50% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE CENTRAL AGENCY FOR PUBLIC MOBILIZATION AND STATISTICS (CAPMAS)

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization And Statistics (CAPMAS) is responsible for Implementation of statistics and data collection of various kinds, specializations, levels and performs many of the general censuses and economic surveys. One of the key aims of CAPMAS is to complete unified and comprehensive statistical work to keep up with all developments in various aspects of life and unifying standards, concepts and definitions of statistical terms, development of comprehensive information system as a tool for planning and development in all fields

The Household Income, Expenditure and Consumption Survey (HIECS) is one important source to rely on for economic, social and demographic indicators, that are conducted every few years.

The HIECS 1999/2000 is the seventh Household Income, Expenditure and Consumption Survey that was carried out in 1999/2000, among a long series of similar surveys that started back in 1955.

The survey main objectives are: - To estimate the quantities, values of commodities and services consumed by households during the survey period to estimate the current demand and determine the levels of consumption for commodities and services essential for national planning. - To measure mean household and per-capita expenditure on different goods and services in urban and rural areas. - To define mean household and per-capita income. - To define percentage distribution of expenditure for various expenditure items used in compiling consumer price indices for different expenditure levels on urban and rural levels. - To provide essential data to measure elasticity which reflects the percentage change in expenditure for various commodity and service groups against the percentage change in total expenditure for the purpose of predicting the levels of expenditure and consumption for different commodity and service items in urban and rural areas and different levels of total expenditure. - To provide data essential for comparing change in expenditure against change in income to measure income elasticity of expenditure. - To study the relationships between demographic, geographical, housing characteristics of households and their income and expenditure for commodities and services, in urban and rural areas. - To provide data necessary for national accounts especially in compiling inputs and outputs tables, and commodity balances. - To provide updated data on Income, Expenditure and Consumption estimates in 1999/2000 to serve planners, investors and researchers. - To identify expenditure levels and patterns of population and consumers behavior in urban and rural areas. - To identify per capita food consumption and its main components of calories, proteins and fats according to its sources and the levels of expenditure in both urban and rural areas. - To identify the value of expenditure for food according to sources, either from household production or not, in addition to household expenditure for non food commodities and services. - To identify distribution of households according to the possession of some appliances and equipments such as (cars, satellites, mobiles ...) in urban and rural areas. - To identify the distribution of households according to the number of members, compared to the number of rooms occupied by the household. - To provide the distribution of households by income categories, income sources and number of income earners. - To provide the distribution of number of waged workers in the household by their income range, economic activity, sector and main occupation.

A committee consisting of Experts of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Experts of the Ministry of Planning, Experts from NIB and Egyptian university professors, has been formed based on the decree number (28) for the year 1998 of the Minister of State for Planning and International Cooperation, to study and prepare Expenditure and Consumption Estimates Survey in the Arab Republic of Egypt and follow up on the implementation of the research procedures.

A timetable has been prepared for the implementation of every stage of this survey, which started in 01/04/1999. It was taken into account in this timetable the coordination between the work phases, so that these stages were conducted in parallel, where the coding and office audit would start immediately upon completion of the monthly data collection phase. Data for which forms are completed, coded and reviewed was entered on personal computers during the same month.

Specialized working groups were formed for each stage of the survey work and trained according to intensive training programs for each phase. Those stages were supervised by experts of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in the field of family research.

All collected data has been prepared on personal computers within the statistics division where 22 of the latest generations of devices were used, on which was installed the most updated software for data entry and validation.

The survey management prepared a report for essential commodities to indentify the minimum and maximum price for those goods during each month of the survey. This report was sent to the statistical offices in all governorates to be filled from their sources by auditors, supervisors and delivered to the survey management with all forms collected to be used during the central office audit stage.

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

Covering a sample of urban and rural areas in all the governorates.

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 50% OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY THE CENTRAL AGENCY FOR PUBLIC MOBILIZATION AND STATISTICS (CAPMAS)

A large sample representative for urban and rural areas in all governorates has been designed by CAPMAS in March 1999 for the HIECS 1999/2000.

In previous surveys, CAPMAS used to select a sample of around 15000 households from 500 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs). For HIECS 1999/2000, a sample of about 48000 households has been considered from 600 PSUs, 28800 households in urban (360 PSUs) and 19200 households in rural (240 PSUs), distributed over 12 months (4000 households monthly).

The master sample is a strata-area-unbiased-probability proportion to size sample. The 1996 census data, the population estimates for the year 2000, as well as the number of shiakha/village in each governorate were used for the distribution of PSUs on different strata during the first sampling stage. The sampling unit in the first sampling stage was taken to be the PSU consisting of at least 1500 households in urban areas and 1000 households in rural areas. While the sampling unit for the second stage whether in urban or rural areas was the household.

A more detailed description of the different sampling stages and allocation of sample across governorates is provided in the Methodology document available among the documentation materials published in both Arabic and English.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Three different questionnaires have been designed as following: 1- Expenditure and consumption questionnaire 1999/2000. 2- Diary questionnaire for expenditure and consumption 1999/2000. 3- Income questionnaire.

A brief description of each questionnaire is given next:

1- Expenditure and Consumption Questionnaire

This questionnaire comprises 14 tables in addition to identification and geographic data of household on the cover page. The questionnaire is divided into two main sections. Section one: Basic information which includes: - Demographic characteristics and basic data for all household individuals consisting of 15 questions for every person, in a table of 10 columns (1 column per person) on two pages so that each table contains data for 20 persons. - Household visitors during the month of the survey. - Members of household who are currently working abroad. - The household ration card. - The housing conditions including 18 questions. - The household possession of appliances including 23 type of appliance. This section includes some questions which help to define the socio-economic level of households which in turn, help interviewers to check the plausibility of expenditure, consumption and income data.

Section two: Expenditure and consumption data It includes 14 tables as follows: - The quantity and value of food and beverages commodities actually consumed. - The quantity and value of the actual consumption of tobacco and narcotics. - The quantity and value of the clothing and footwear. - The household expenditure for housing. - The household expenditure for furnishings, household equipment and services. - The household

Definition: Monthly expenditure on basic necessities includes expenditure on: - food, beverages and tobacco products, - clothing and footwear, - Housing, energy and residential maintenance (e.g. rent, utilities, maintenance and repairs). Monthly expenditure on social participation includes expenditure on: - transport (e.g. purchase of a (motor) vehicle, expenditure on fuels, vehicle repairs, public transport), - communication (e.g. purchase of a mobile phone, expenditure on landline, internet, mobile); - leisure, entertainment and culture (e.g. purchase of consumer electronics and digital media, toys, newspaper subscriptions, cinema admissions, fees for extracurricular music or physical education classes), - education (e.g. tutoring, childcare, examination fees), - accommodation and restaurant services (e.g. restaurant visits, hotel accommodation) and for - other goods and services (e.g. hairdressing services, personal care articles). In order to form income quintiles, households are sorted by household type according to the level of equivalised income and divided into five groups of equal size. The first qunitil contains the 20 percent of households with the lowest equivalised incomes, the fifth those with the highest equivalised incomes. Data source: IT.NRW, Income and Consumer Survey (EVS)

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2For more information on generation status variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote4referrerFootnote 5Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.Return to footnote5referrerFootnote 6For more information on the Visible minority variable, including information on its classification, the questions from which it is derived, data quality and its comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Visible Minority and Population Group Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote6referrerFootnote 7The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.'Return to footnote7referrerFootnote 8For example, 'East Indian,' 'Pakistani,' 'Sri Lankan,' etc.Return to footnote8referrerFootnote 9For example, 'Vietnamese,' 'Cambodian,' 'Laotian,' 'Thai,' etc.Return to footnote9referrerFootnote 10For example, 'Afghan,' 'Iranian,' etc.Return to footnote10referrerFootnote 11The abbreviation 'n.i.e.' means 'not included elsewhere.' Includes persons with a write-in response such as 'Guyanese,' 'West Indian,' 'Tibetan,' 'Polynesian,' 'Pacific Islander,' etc.Return to footnote11referrerFootnote 12Includes persons who gave more than one visible minority group by checking two or more mark-in responses, e.g., 'Black' and 'South Asian.'Return to footnote12referrerFootnote 13Includes persons who reported 'Yes' to the Aboriginal group question (Question 18), as well as persons who were not considered to be members of a visible minority group.

Abstract

The Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS), with its focus on the household as a key social and economic unit, provides valuable insights into living conditions in Ghana. This present report gives a summary of the main findings of the fourth round survey, which was carried out by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) over a 12-month period (April 1998 to March 1999).

A representative nationwide sample of more than 5,998 households, containing over 25,000 persons, was covered in GLSS 4. Detailed information was collected on all aspects of living conditions, including health, education, employment, housing, agricultural activities, the operation of non-farm establishments, remittances, savings, and credit and assets. The special focus of GLSS 4 was on collecting detailed labour force, income and expenditure data in respect of all household members.

The key findings of the survey are as follows:

Education

Information are given on levels of educational attainment of the adult population, current school enrolment, educational expenditure by households, adult literacy rates, and apprenticeship training. About 32 percent of all adults (representing nearly three and a half million people) have never been to school, a quarter went to school but did not obtain any qualifications; about 33 percent have the MSLC/JSS certificate as their highest qualification, while the remaining 10 percent (a million adults) have secondary or higher-level qualifications (Section 2.1).

About 8 in every ten children aged 6-15, and about half of those aged 16-18, are currently attending school or college. Attendance rates for females are lower than those for males, especially in the northern half of the country (Section 2.2). The average annual cost to a household of maintaining a person at school or college was ¢163,500 per year in March 1999 cedis (Section 2.3). The survey results indicate that 50 percent of adults in Ghana are literate in English or a local language. There are substantial differences between the sexes, and between localities, with regard to literacy. A little over 6 out of every 10 men, but fewer than 4 out of every 10 women, are literate. More than two-thirds (66%) of adults in urban areas are literate, but in rural areas only 41 percent are literate (Section 2.4).

Health

The survey collected data on each person's health condition over the previous two weeks; on the fertility, pre-natal care and contraceptive use of women aged 15-49; on the post-natal care of children aged 5 years and under; and on the preventive health care and vaccination of children aged 7 years and under. About 26 percent of the sample reported having suffered from an illness or injury in the previous two weeks, 61 percent of whom had to stop their usual activities due to the indisposition (Section 3.2).

The survey found that 7.0 percent of women were currently pregnant, and a further 13.2 percent had been pregnant in the last 12 months. Only about 15 percent of all women aged 15-49 or their partners reported using contraceptives; about 11 percent use modern methods, and 4 percent use traditional methods, to prevent or delay pregnancy (Section 3.3). The level of breastfeeding in Ghana is very high; about 98 percent of all children under 5 have been breastfed at one time or another. About 7 percent of children below the age of 8 have never been vaccinated against any of the childhood killer diseases.

Employment

As a major focus of the survey, a wide range of estimates of economic activity, employment, unemployment, underemployment and working conditions are given in the report. The survey also has detailed information about time spent on housekeeping activities. About 77 percent of the adult population (aged 15+) is currently economically active. The activity rates for males and females differ, with the rate for women in the age group (15-64) lower than those for men, but in the younger age group (7-14) and the older age group (65+) the rates for females exceed those for males. For each age group the activity rates for males and females are higher in rural areas (apart from rural savannah) than in urban areas (Section 4.2).

The majority of the working population is employed in agricultural activities (55.0%), followed by trading (18.3%) and then manufacturing (11.7%). Whereas 27.4 percent of working females are engaged in trading, only 7.4 percent of males are traders. The highest hourly wage rates are obtained in mining and quarrying, followed by financial services and then trading. For all areas of employment, females earn lower wages than males (Section 4.3). About 8 percent of the currently active population can be classified as unemployed, but there is also a high degree of underemployment, with some people having a job but wanting to do more work (Section 4.4).

In many households, particularly in rural areas, family members (especially women) spend a great deal of their time fetching water and firewood, in addition to the time spent on other household activities such as cooking and cleaning (Section 4.5).

Migration

The report provides data on migration to create some awareness that would generate further discussions and research into the complex field of population relocation. Some 52 percent of all Ghanaians are migrants, having previously lived in a locality different from where they are living at present; a further 16 percent have moved away from their birthplace, but subsequently returned (Section 5.1).

Housing

Detailed information is presented on a variety of housing characteristics: the occupancy status of the household; household size and room density; access to drinking water, toilet facilities, source of lighting and fuel, rubbish disposal, and materials used in house construction. A little over 40 percent (24 percent in urban areas and 60 percent in rural areas) of the households own the houses they live in. About 80 percent of the households in urban areas have access to pipe-borne water, compared with only 19 percent in rural areas. More than three-quarters of urban households have electricity for lighting, compared with only 17 percent of rural households. Most urban households use charcoal for cooking, whereas most households in rural areas use firewood. Only 14 percent of urban households, and 2 percent of rural households, have access to a flush toilet (Section 6.3). Household agriculture

About 2.7 million households in Ghana own or operate a farm or keep livestock (Section 7.1). More than half of households, which cultivate crops hire labour for their operations. The major crops, in terms of sales, are cocoa, maize, groundnuts/peanuts, and rice (Section 7.2). About 2 and a half million households process crops or fish for sale, with the major responsibility for this activity falling on women.

Non-farm enterprises

Approximately 1.9 million households or 49 percent of all households in Ghana operate a non-farm business with women operating two-thirds of these businesses. About 56 percent of all businesses involve retail trade, and most of the rest cover some kind of manufacturing (for instance food, beverages, textiles or clothing) (Section 8.1).

Total expenditure

Average annual household expenditure (both cash and imputed) relative to March 1999 prices was about ¢4,244,000. Given an average household size of 4.3, this implies annual per capita expenditure of about ¢987,000 (Section 9.1). With an exchange rate of ¢2,394 to the US dollar prevailing at March 1999, the average annual household expenditure is US$1,773 and the pre-capita expenditure is US$412. Overall, cash expenditure on food represents 45.4 percent of total household expenditure, while the imputed value of own-produced food consumed by households represents a further 10.3 percent (Section 9.2).

Cash expenditure

Relative to March 1999 prices, Ghanaian households spend on average almost ¢3,500,000 a year (at March 1999 prices), or ¢804,000 on per capita basis (Section 9.3). On national terms, just below half of total cash expenditure (46%) went to food and beverages; and alcohol and tobacco, and clothing and footwear, each accounted for about 10 percent of it. The next most important expenditure groups, in terms of amount spent, are recreation and education (7.5%), transport and communications (5.6%), housing and utility (6.4%) and household goods, operations and services (6.0%).

Food consumption

At the time of the survey Ghanaian households (which number about 4.2 million) were spending on average an amount of almost ¢2.4 billion (at March 1999 prices) on food (Section 9.5), with own-grown food consumed amounting to the value of almost ¢435,000 (Section 8.7). The most important food consumption subgroups, in terms of cash expenditure are roots and tubers (22%), fish (16%), cereals and cereal products (15%), vegetables (9%), and meat (5%). Prepared meals account for 11 percent by value of total food consumption.

While the pattern of consumption, in terms of food subgroups, is broadly similar in urban and rural areas, residents in rural areas consume more roots and tubers, and pulses and nuts than their counterparts in urban areas. Expenditure on alcohol and tobacco is also higher in rural areas. In contrast, the consumption of meat and prepared meal are much higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and urban residents spend much more on cereals and cereal products and poultry and poultry products than their rural counterparts (Section 9.5). Remittances

About 76 percent of all households reported having remitted money or goods in the previous 12 months to persons who were not their household members. The bulk of these remittances to non-household members went to relatives (93%), and in particular to parents or children (50%), brothers or sisters (18%), and other relatives (23%). Such income flows from the household benefited females (64%) more than their male

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the Census of Population.For more information on Aboriginal variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016 and the Aboriginal Peoples Technical Report, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote4referrerFootnote 5Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.Return to footnote5referrerFootnote 6Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the 2016 Census of Population. For more information on Aboriginal variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, refer to the Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016 and the Aboriginal Peoples Technical Report, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote6referrerFootnote 7'Aboriginal identity' includes persons who are First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit) and/or those who are Registered or Treaty Indians (that is, registered under the Indian Act of Canada) and/or those who have membership in a First Nation or Indian band. Aboriginal peoples of Canada are defined in the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35 (2) as including the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.Return to footnote7referrerFootnote 8'Single Aboriginal responses' includes persons who are in only one Aboriginal group, that is First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit).Return to footnote8referrerFootnote 9Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the 2016 Census of Population. For additional information, refer to the Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote9referrerFootnote 10'Multiple Aboriginal responses' includes persons who are any two or all three of the following: First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit).Return to footnote10referrerFootnote 11'Aboriginal responses not included elsewhere' includes persons who are not First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit), but who have Registered or Treaty Indian status and/or Membership in a First Nation or Indian band.

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2For more information on generation status variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote4referrerFootnote 5Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.Return to footnote5referrerFootnote 6For more information on the Visible minority variable, including information on its classification, the questions from which it is derived, data quality and its comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Visible Minority and Population Group Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote6referrerFootnote 7The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.'Return to footnote7referrerFootnote 8For example, 'East Indian,' 'Pakistani,' 'Sri Lankan,' etc.Return to footnote8referrerFootnote 9For example, 'Vietnamese,' 'Cambodian,' 'Laotian,' 'Thai,' etc.Return to footnote9referrerFootnote 10For example, 'Afghan,' 'Iranian,' etc.Return to footnote10referrerFootnote 11The abbreviation 'n.i.e.' means 'not included elsewhere.' Includes persons with a write-in response such as 'Guyanese,' 'West Indian,' 'Tibetan,' 'Polynesian,' 'Pacific Islander,' etc.Return to footnote11referrerFootnote 12Includes persons who gave more than one visible minority group by checking two or more mark-in responses, e.g., 'Black' and 'South Asian.'Return to footnote12referrerFootnote 13Includes persons who reported 'Yes' to the Aboriginal group question (Question 18), as well as persons who were not considered to be members of a visible minority group.

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the Census of Population.For more information on Aboriginal variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016 and the Aboriginal Peoples Technical Report, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote4referrerFootnote 5Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.Return to footnote5referrerFootnote 6Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the 2016 Census of Population. For more information on Aboriginal variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, refer to the Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016 and the Aboriginal Peoples Technical Report, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote6referrerFootnote 7'Aboriginal identity' includes persons who are First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit) and/or those who are Registered or Treaty Indians (that is, registered under the Indian Act of Canada) and/or those who have membership in a First Nation or Indian band. Aboriginal peoples of Canada are defined in the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35 (2) as including the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.Return to footnote7referrerFootnote 8'Single Aboriginal responses' includes persons who are in only one Aboriginal group, that is First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit).Return to footnote8referrerFootnote 9Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the 2016 Census of Population. For additional information, refer to the Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote9referrerFootnote 10'Multiple Aboriginal responses' includes persons who are any two or all three of the following: First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit).Return to footnote10referrerFootnote 11'Aboriginal responses not included elsewhere' includes persons who are not First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit), but who have Registered or Treaty Indian status and/or Membership in a First Nation or Indian band.

Survey of Household Spending (SHS), average household spending, Canada, regions and provinces.

The Ministry of Education (MEQ) annually calculates two deprivation indices for the 69 school service centers and linguistic school boards: • the Socio-economic Environment Index (IMSE), which consists of the proportion of families with children whose mothers do not have a diploma, certificate or degree (which represents two thirds of the weight of the index) and the proportion of households whose parents were not employed during the week of reference of the Canadian census (which represents a third of the weight of the index). • The Low Income Threshold Index (LFS) corresponds to the proportion of families with children whose income is close to or below the low income threshold. The low-income cut-off is defined as the income level at which families are estimated to spend 20% more than the overall average on food, housing, and clothing. It provides information that is used to estimate the proportion of families whose incomes can be considered low, taking into account the size of the family and the environment of residence (rural region, small urban area, large agglomeration, etc.). For the 2023-2024 school year, the socio-economic data used are extracted from the 2016 Canadian census and relate to the situation of Quebec families with at least one child aged 0 to 18. Depending on their geographical position, these families are grouped together in one of the 3,680 settlement units established by the Ministry. The annual school indices are grouped in decimal rank in order to locate the relative position of the school among all public schools, for primary and secondary education. Note that schools may include more than one school building, that no index is calculated for school boards with special status (Cree, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq and Littoral) and that only schools with 30 students or more are selected (without an MEQ-MSSS agreement). For the school year 2023-2024, 695 primary schools and 197 secondary schools are considered disadvantaged (decile ranks 8, 9 or 10) according to the IMSE index. These schools have 15,7109 and 113,781 students respectively, representing 30% of the public network for each of these two levels of education.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

The Ministry of Education (MEQ) annually calculates two deprivation indices for the 69 school service centers and linguistic school boards: • the Socio-economic Environment Index (IMSE), which consists of the proportion of families with children whose mothers do not have a diploma, certificate or degree (which represents two thirds of the weight of the index) and the proportion of households whose parents were not employed during the week of reference of the Canadian census (which represents a third of the weight of the index). • The Low Income Threshold Index (LFS) corresponds to the proportion of families with children whose income is close to or below the low income threshold. The low-income cut-off is defined as the income level at which families are estimated to spend 20% more than the overall average on food, housing, and clothing. It provides information that is used to estimate the proportion of families whose incomes can be considered low, taking into account the size of the family and the environment of residence (rural region, small urban area, large agglomeration, etc.). For the 2022—23 school year, the socio-economic data used are taken from the 2016 Canadian census and relate to the situation of Quebec families with at least one child aged 0 to 18. Depending on their geographical position, these families are grouped together in one of the 3,680 settlement units established by the Ministry. The annual school indices are grouped in decimal order to locate the relative position of the school among all public schools, for primary and secondary education. Note that schools may include more than one school building, that no index is calculated for school boards with special status (Cree, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq and Littoral) and that only schools with 30 students or more are selected (without an MEQ-MSSS agreement). For the school year 2023, 705 primary schools and 194 secondary schools are in deciles 8, 9 or 10 according to the IMSE index and make up the group of schools said to be in more disadvantaged areas. These schools respectively welcome a total of 155,574 and 110,664 students, representing 30% of the public network for each of these two levels of education.This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2For more information on generation status variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote4referrerFootnote 5Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.Return to footnote5referrerFootnote 6For more information on the Visible minority variable, including information on its classification, the questions from which it is derived, data quality and its comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Visible Minority and Population Group Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote6referrerFootnote 7The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.'Return to footnote7referrerFootnote 8For example, 'East Indian,' 'Pakistani,' 'Sri Lankan,' etc.Return to footnote8referrerFootnote 9For example, 'Vietnamese,' 'Cambodian,' 'Laotian,' 'Thai,' etc.Return to footnote9referrerFootnote 10For example, 'Afghan,' 'Iranian,' etc.Return to footnote10referrerFootnote 11The abbreviation 'n.i.e.' means 'not included elsewhere.' Includes persons with a write-in response such as 'Guyanese,' 'West Indian,' 'Tibetan,' 'Polynesian,' 'Pacific Islander,' etc.Return to footnote11referrerFootnote 12Includes persons who gave more than one visible minority group by checking two or more mark-in responses, e.g., 'Black' and 'South Asian.'Return to footnote12referrerFootnote 13Includes persons who reported 'Yes' to the Aboriginal group question (Question 18), as well as persons who were not considered to be members of a visible minority group.

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2For more information on generation status variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote4referrerFootnote 5Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.Return to footnote5referrerFootnote 6For more information on the Visible minority variable, including information on its classification, the questions from which it is derived, data quality and its comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Visible Minority and Population Group Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote6referrerFootnote 7The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.'Return to footnote7referrerFootnote 8For example, 'East Indian,' 'Pakistani,' 'Sri Lankan,' etc.Return to footnote8referrerFootnote 9For example, 'Vietnamese,' 'Cambodian,' 'Laotian,' 'Thai,' etc.Return to footnote9referrerFootnote 10For example, 'Afghan,' 'Iranian,' etc.Return to footnote10referrerFootnote 11The abbreviation 'n.i.e.' means 'not included elsewhere.' Includes persons with a write-in response such as 'Guyanese,' 'West Indian,' 'Tibetan,' 'Polynesian,' 'Pacific Islander,' etc.Return to footnote11referrerFootnote 12Includes persons who gave more than one visible minority group by checking two or more mark-in responses, e.g., 'Black' and 'South Asian.'Return to footnote12referrerFootnote 13Includes persons who reported 'Yes' to the Aboriginal group question (Question 18), as well as persons who were not considered to be members of a visible minority group.

Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) - The Low-income cut-offs, after tax refers to an income threshold, defined using 1992 expenditure data, below which economic families or persons not in economic families would likely have devoted a larger share of their after-tax income than average to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. More specifically, the thresholds represented income levels at which these families or persons were expected to spend 20 percentage points or more of their after-tax income than average on food, shelter and clothing. These thresholds have been adjusted to current dollars using the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI).The LICO-AT has 35 cut-offs varying by seven family sizes and five different sizes of area of residence to account for economies of scale and potential differences in cost of living in communities of different sizes. These thresholds are presented in Table 4.3 Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT - 1992 base) for economic families and persons not in economic families, 2015, Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016.When the after-tax income of an economic family member or a person not in an economic family falls below the threshold applicable to the person, the person is considered to be in low income according to LICO-AT. Since the LICO-AT threshold and family income are unique within each economic family, low-income status based on LICO-AT can also be reported for economic families.Return to footnote1referrerFootnote 2For more information on generation status variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote2referrerFootnote 3Low-income status - The income situation of the statistical unit in relation to a specific low-income line in a reference year. Statistical units with income that is below the low-income line are considered to be in low income.For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.Return to footnote3referrerFootnote 4The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as subsidized housing and First Nations band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting, farming or fishing) could make the interpretation of low-income statistics more difficult in these situations.Return to footnote4referrerFootnote 5Prevalence of low income - The proportion or percentage of units whose income falls below a specified low-income line.Return to footnote5referrerFootnote 6For more information on the Visible minority variable, including information on its classification, the questions from which it is derived, data quality and its comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Visible Minority and Population Group Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016.Return to footnote6referrerFootnote 7The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.'Return to footnote7referrerFootnote 8For example, 'East Indian,' 'Pakistani,' 'Sri Lankan,' etc.Return to footnote8referrerFootnote 9For example, 'Vietnamese,' 'Cambodian,' 'Laotian,' 'Thai,' etc.Return to footnote9referrerFootnote 10For example, 'Afghan,' 'Iranian,' etc.Return to footnote10referrerFootnote 11The abbreviation 'n.i.e.' means 'not included elsewhere.' Includes persons with a write-in response such as 'Guyanese,' 'West Indian,' 'Tibetan,' 'Polynesian,' 'Pacific Islander,' etc.Return to footnote11referrerFootnote 12Includes persons who gave more than one visible minority group by checking two or more mark-in responses, e.g., 'Black' and 'South Asian.'Return to footnote12referrerFootnote 13Includes persons who reported 'Yes' to the Aboriginal group question (Question 18), as well as persons who were not considered to be members of a visible minority group.