Background:
A household food consumption and expenditure survey has been conducted each year in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) since 1940. At that time the National Food Survey (NFS) covered a sample drawn solely from urban working-class households, but this was extended to a fully demographically representative sample in 1950. From 1957 onwards the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) provided information on all household expenditure patterns including food expenditure, with the NFS providing more detailed information on food consumption and expenditure. The NFS was extended to cover Northern Ireland from 1996 onwards. In April 2001 these surveys were combined to form the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS), which completely replaced both series. From January 2008, the EFS became known as the Living Costs and Food (LCF) module of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). As a consequence of this change, the questionnaire was altered to accommodate the insertion of a core set of questions, common to all of the separate modules which together comprised the IHS. Some of these core questions are simply questions which were previously asked in the same or a similar format on all of the IHS component surveys. For further information on the LCF questionnaire, see Volume A of the LCF 2008 User Guide, held with SN 6385. Further information about the LCF, including links to published reports based on the survey, may be found by searching for 'Living Costs and Food Survey' on the ONS website. Further information on the NFS and Living Costs and Food Module of the IHS can be found by searching for 'Family Food' on the GOV.UK website.

History:
The LCF (then EFS) was the result of more than two years' development work to bring together the FES and NFS; both survey series were well-established and important sources of information for government and the wider community, and had charted changes and patterns in spending and food consumption since the 1950s. Whilst the NFS and FES series are now finished, users should note that previous data from both series are still available from the UK Data Archive, under GNs 33071 (NFS) and 33057 (FES).

Purpose of the LCF
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has overall project management and financial responsibility for the LCF, while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) sponsors the food data element. As with the FES and NFS, the LCF continues to be primarily used to provide information for the Retail Prices Index, National Accounts estimates of household expenditure, analysis of the effect of taxes and benefits, and trends in nutrition. The results are multi-purpose, however, providing an invaluable supply of economic and social data. The merger of the two surveys also brings benefits for users, as a single survey on food expenditure removes the difficulties of reconciling data from two sources. Design and methodology The design of the LCF is based on the old FES, although the use of new processing software by the data creators has resulted in a dataset which differs from the previous structure. The most significant change in terms of reporting expenditure, however, is the introduction of the European Standard Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP), in place of the codes previously used. An additional level of hierarchy has been developed to improve the mapping to the previous codes. The LCF was conducted on a financial year basis from 2001, then moved to a calendar year basis from January 2006 (to complement the IHS) until 2015-16, when the financial year survey was reinstated at the request of users. Therefore, whilst SN 5688 covers April 2005 - March 2006, SN 5986 covers January-December 2006. Subsequent years cover January-December until 2014. SN 8210 returns to the financial year survey and currently covers April 2015 - March 2016.

Northern Ireland sample
Users should note that, due to funding constraints, from January 2010 the Northern Ireland (NI) sample used for the LCF was reduced to a sample proportionate to the NI population relative to the UK.

Family Food database:
'Family Food' is an annual publication which provides detailed statistical information on purchased quantities, expenditure and nutrient intakes derived from both household and eating out food and drink. Data is collected for a sample of households in the United Kingdom using self-reported diaries of all purchases, including food eaten out, over a two week period. Where possible quantities are recorded in the diaries but otherwise estimated. Energy and nutrient intakes are calculated using standard nutrient composition data for each of some 500 types of food. Current estimates are based on data collected in the Family Food Module of the LCFS. Further information about the LCF food databases can be found on the GOV.UK Family Food Statistics web pages.

Secure Access version
A Secure Access version of the LCF from 2006 onwards is available from the UK Data Archive under SN 7047, subject to stringent access conditions. The Secure Access version includes variables that are not included in the standard End User Licence (EUL) version, including geographical variables with detail below Government Office Region, to postcode level; urban/rural area indicators; other sensitive variables; raw diary information files (derived variables are available in the EUL) and the family expenditure codes files. Users are strongly advised to check whether the EUL version is sufficient for their needs before considering an application for the Secure Access version.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022 data files
The ONS have identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. None of ONS' headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. For further information on this issue, please see: https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/occupationaldatainonssurveys.

For the second edition (May 2011), the variables A012p and A013p in file dvper were replaced with new versions to correct data errors. For the third edition (June 2011), a new version of the DV Set89 data file was deposited. The variable COI_PLUS (Coicop-plus expenditure code) has been updated to correct truncated codes that were present in the previous version. For the fourth edition (July 2011), the Specs2009 document was replaced with an updated version. The previous version contained some notes that were no longer needed.

DEFRA Family Food database:
This is available as a separate Access download zip file for those users who require it.

The GLA undertake regular polling of Londoners views both online and by telephone. A representative sample is interviewed, with quotas set by age, gender and borough. The results from these polls appear on this page.

April 2009 - Economic outlook, and the Mayor's role

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

June 2009 - Quality of life

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

November 2009 - Waste and recycling

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

March 2010 - Culture

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

May 2010 - Climate Change

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

August 2010 - Energy, and Safety in Parks

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

December 2010 - Mayoral Priorities

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

March 2011 - Volunteering

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

June 2011 - Housing, economy, sport, 2012 games

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

September 2011 - Community cohesion and festivals

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

November 2011 - Economy, community cohesion, young people, sports

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

February 2012 - Economy and volunteering

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

June 2012 - Economy and Londoners priorities

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

October 2012 - Economy, Mayoral responsibilities and 2012 Games

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

January 2013 - Economy, apprenticeships, aiport, housing and EU

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

March 2013 – Economy, volunteering, ULEZ, stamp duty, cycling

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

June 2013 - Economy, culture and community cohesion

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to PDF tables (PDF)

September 2013 - Economy, Mayoral responsibilities

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

November 2013 - Economy, cost of living, technology and aiports

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

February 2014 - Water Cannon

Link to Data Full Tables (XLS)

Tables – rebased (XLS)

Tables - ethnicity (XLS)

Tables - summary (XLS)

February 2014 - Economy, cost of living, priorities and culture

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

March 2014 - Health Survey

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

May 2014 - Priorities for Safety

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

June 2014 - Economy, cost of living, personal finance, housing and airports

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

August 2014 - Health Survey

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

September 2014 - Awareness, sources, carrier bags and big dance

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

January 2015 – Economy, cost of living, living wage, affordable eating, cooking fats, physical activity major events

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

Link to Excel tables (XLS)

March 2015 - Growth, recycling and reuse

Link to PDF of toplines (PDF)

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Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Integrated Household Survey (IHS), which ran from 2009-2014, was a composite survey combining questions asked on a number of social surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce a dataset of 'core' variables. The ONS stopped producing IHS datasets from 2015 onwards; variables covering health, smoking prevalence, forces veterans, sexual identity and well-being will be incorporated into the Annual Population Survey - see the Which surveys (or modules) are included in the IHS? and What is the IHS? FAQ pages for further details.

Background and history of the IHS
The aim of the IHS was to produce high-level estimates for particular themes to a higher precision and lower geographic level than current ONS social surveys. The 'core' set contained around 100 questions, but a respondent was only asked a proportion of those depending on routing from answers to questions. The core questions were asked, where possible, at the beginning of the component surveys.
In January 2008, a set of core questions was introduced within three ONS surveys in the General Lifestyle Survey, Living Costs and Food Survey, and the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. In April 2008 the IHS core questions were also introduced on the English Housing Survey, bringing the family of modules on the IHS up to four. The IHS dataset for 2008-2009 was used as a pilot for the concept, developing the systems and designing the weighting methodology. The IHS data for that period have not been published as they do not provide better quality information than that within existing surveys. Hence, the earliest IHS data currently available cover 2009-2010. In April 2009 the IHS core questions were introduced on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) questionnaires and from June 2009 the Life Opportunities Survey (LOS, which also ran from 2009-2014) was included in the IHS family of modules. With the inclusion of these new surveys the IHS became complete, with an achieved annual sample size of approximately 450,000 individuals from interviews undertaken in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore, the first IHS dataset released covers the period April 2009-March 2010, starting the IHS data series from the point that all surveys were included. The large sample size and UK-wide coverage meant that various geographical breakdowns were possible in the IHS, and it is possible to use a geographical hierarchy to drill down to lower level detail within an area. The IHS also contained data collected from the following surveys: General Lifestyle Survey; Living Costs and Food Survey; Opinions and Lifestyle Survey; English Housing Survey; Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey; and Life Opportunities Survey. All questions had been removed from the component surveys by 2014 and the IHS closed that year. Further information is available from the ONS Integrated Household Survey (Experimental statistics): January to December 2014 webpage.

Available IHS data: End User Licence and Secure Access
Users should note that there are two versions of the IHS. One is available under the standard End User Licence (EUL) agreement, and the other is a Secure Access version (SN 8075). The Secure Access version contains more detailed variables relating to age, age of youngest dependent child, country of birth, family unit type, household and household reference person, industry class, sub-class and division, month left last job, cohabitation, country of residence history, multiple households at address, nationality, New Deal training types, National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) long version, qualifications, household relationships, minor Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) groups, sexual identity, training and working age. The more detailed geographic variables present include county, unitary/local authority, Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 2 (NUTS2) and NUTS3 regions and Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). Users should note that the user guide also mentions variables that are not included in either the EUL or Secure Access datasets held at the Archive.

The EUL version contains less detailed variables. For example, the lowest geography available is Government Office Region, only major (3-digit) SOC groups are included for main, second and last job, and only industry sector for main, second and last job. Users are advised to first obtain the standard EUL version of the data before making an application for the Secure Access version to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements.


The SL version of the IHS October 2010 - September 2011 is available under SN 7002.


Main Topics:
The IHS core questions cover several themes. These include:

• economic activity
• education
• health and...

The Integrated Household Survey (IHS), which ran from 2009-2014, was a composite survey combining questions asked on a number of social surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce a dataset of 'core' variables. The ONS stopped producing IHS datasets from 2015 onwards; variables covering health, smoking prevalence, forces veterans, sexual identity and well-being will be incorporated into the Annual Population Survey - see the Which surveys (or modules) are included in the IHS? and What is the IHS? FAQ pages for further details.

Background and history of the IHS
The aim of the IHS was to produce high-level estimates for particular themes to a higher precision and lower geographic level than current ONS social surveys. The 'core' set contained around 100 questions, but a respondent was only asked a proportion of those depending on routing from answers to questions. The core questions were asked, where possible, at the beginning of the component surveys.
In January 2008, a set of core questions was introduced within three ONS surveys in the General Lifestyle Survey, Living Costs and Food Survey, and the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. In April 2008 the IHS core questions were also introduced on the English Housing Survey, bringing the family of modules on the IHS up to four. The IHS dataset for 2008-2009 was used as a pilot for the concept, developing the systems and designing the weighting methodology. The IHS data for that period have not been published as they do not provide better quality information than that within existing surveys. Hence, the earliest IHS data currently available cover 2009-2010. In April 2009 the IHS core questions were introduced on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) questionnaires and from June 2009 the Life Opportunities Survey (LOS, which also ran from 2009-2014) was included in the IHS family of modules. With the inclusion of these new surveys the IHS became complete, with an achieved annual sample size of approximately 450,000 individuals from interviews undertaken in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore, the first IHS dataset released covers the period April 2009-March 2010, starting the IHS data series from the point that all surveys were included. The large sample size and UK-wide coverage meant that various geographical breakdowns were possible in the IHS, and it is possible to use a geographical hierarchy to drill down to lower level detail within an area. The IHS also contained data collected from the following surveys: General Lifestyle Survey; Living Costs and Food Survey; Opinions and Lifestyle Survey; English Housing Survey; Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey; and Life Opportunities Survey. All questions had been removed from the component surveys by 2014 and the IHS closed that year. Further information is available from the ONS Integrated Household Survey (Experimental statistics): January to December 2014 webpage.

Available IHS data: End User Licence and Secure Access
Users should note that there are two versions of the IHS. One is available under the standard End User Licence (EUL) agreement, and the other is a Secure Access version (SN 8075). The Secure Access version contains more detailed variables relating to age, age of youngest dependent child, country of birth, family unit type, household and household reference person, industry class, sub-class and division, month left last job, cohabitation, country of residence history, multiple households at address, nationality, New Deal training types, National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) long version, qualifications, household relationships, minor Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) groups, sexual identity, training and working age. The more detailed geographic variables present include county, unitary/local authority, Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 2 (NUTS2) and NUTS3 regions and Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). Users should note that the user guide also mentions variables that are not included in either the EUL or Secure Access datasets held at the Archive.

The EUL version contains less detailed variables. For example, the lowest geography available is Government Office Region, only major (3-digit) SOC groups are included for main, second and last job, and only industry sector for main, second and last job. Users are advised to first obtain the standard EUL version of the data before making an application for the Secure Access version to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements.

The Special Licence version of the IHS January - December, 2014 is available under SN 7840.

Background:
A household food consumption and expenditure survey has been conducted each year in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) since 1940. At that time the National Food Survey (NFS) covered a sample drawn solely from urban working-class households, but this was extended to a fully demographically representative sample in 1950. From 1957 onwards the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) provided information on all household expenditure patterns including food expenditure, with the NFS providing more detailed information on food consumption and expenditure. The NFS was extended to cover Northern Ireland from 1996 onwards. In April 2001 these surveys were combined to form the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS), which completely replaced both series. From January 2008, the EFS became known as the Living Costs and Food (LCF) module of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). As a consequence of this change, the questionnaire was altered to accommodate the insertion of a core set of questions, common to all of the separate modules which together comprised the IHS. Some of these core questions are simply questions which were previously asked in the same or a similar format on all of the IHS component surveys. For further information on the LCF questionnaire, see Volume A of the LCF 2008 User Guide, held with SN 6385. Further information about the LCF, including links to published reports based on the survey, may be found by searching for 'Living Costs and Food Survey' on the ONS website. Further information on the NFS and Living Costs and Food Module of the IHS can be found by searching for 'Family Food' on the GOV.UK website.

History:
The LCF (then EFS) was the result of more than two years' development work to bring together the FES and NFS; both survey series were well-established and important sources of information for government and the wider community, and had charted changes and patterns in spending and food consumption since the 1950s. Whilst the NFS and FES series are now finished, users should note that previous data from both series are still available from the UK Data Archive, under GNs 33071 (NFS) and 33057 (FES).

Purpose of the LCF
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has overall project management and financial responsibility for the LCF, while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) sponsors the food data element. As with the FES and NFS, the LCF continues to be primarily used to provide information for the Retail Prices Index, National Accounts estimates of household expenditure, analysis of the effect of taxes and benefits, and trends in nutrition. The results are multi-purpose, however, providing an invaluable supply of economic and social data. The merger of the two surveys also brings benefits for users, as a single survey on food expenditure removes the difficulties of reconciling data from two sources.

Design and methodology The design of the LCF is based on the old FES, although the use of new processing software by the data creators has resulted in a dataset which differs from the previous structure. The most significant change in terms of reporting expenditure, however, is the introduction of the European Standard Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP), in place of the codes previously used. An additional level of hierarchy has been developed to improve the mapping to the previous codes. The LCF was conducted on a financial year basis from 2001, then moved to a calendar year basis from January 2006 (to complement the IHS) until 2015-16, when the financial year survey was reinstated at the request of users. Therefore, whilst SN 5688 covers April 2005 - March 2006, SN 5986 covers January-December 2006. Subsequent years cover January-December until 2014. SN 8210 returns to the financial year survey and currently covers April 2015 - March 2016.

Northern Ireland sample
Users should note that, due to funding constraints, from January 2010 the Northern Ireland (NI) sample used for the LCF was reduced to a sample proportionate to the NI population relative to the UK.

Family Food database:
'Family Food' is an annual publication which provides detailed statistical information on purchased quantities, expenditure and nutrient intakes derived from both household and eating out food and drink. Data is collected for a sample of households in the United Kingdom using self-reported diaries of all purchases, including food eaten out, over a two week period. Where possible quantities are recorded in the diaries but otherwise estimated. Energy and nutrient intakes are calculated using standard nutrient composition data for each of some 500 types of food. Current estimates are based on data collected in the Family Food Module of the LCFS. Further information about the LCF food databases can be found on the GOV.UK Family Food Statistics web pages.

Secure Access version
A Secure Access version of the LCF from 2006 onwards is available from the UK Data Archive under SN 7047, subject to stringent access conditions. The Secure Access version includes variables that are not included in the standard End User Licence (EUL) version, including geographical variables with detail below Government Office Region, to postcode level; urban/rural area indicators; other sensitive variables; raw diary information files (derived variables are available in the EUL) and the family expenditure codes files. Users are strongly advised to check whether the EUL version is sufficient for their needs before considering an application for the Secure Access version.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022 data files
The ONS have identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. None of ONS' headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. For further information on this issue, please see: https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/occupationaldatainonssurveys.

Users should note from 2006, the EFS has moved to a calendar year rather than financial year basis, in anticipation of the new ONS CPS survey (see above). Further details on the impact of this change are available in the documentation. In addition, the documentation for 2006 is in MS Excel format apart from Volume A.

For the second edition (February 2009), revised mortgage variables (quarters 1-4) and new weighting variables were deposited, and merged with the dvhh file. The new weighting variables are included alongside the previous ones (weighta and weightq), and are NewWeightA 'Annual weight using the new 2001-based weighting method' and NewWeightQ 'Quarterly weight using the new 2001-based weighting method'. The following mortgage and housing expenditure variables have been replaced: B150, B200, P281p, P515p, P515TP, P516TP, P516p, P531, P531T, P532, P535TP, P535p, P536p, P536tp, P550p, P550tp, P551p, P551tp, P620p, P630p, P630cp, P620tp, P630tp, FSK, FSK1, FSK11, FSALL, FS145, FS1452.

For the third edition (June/July 2009), the DEFRA food database was added to the dataset, and the Incanon variable available in the dvhh file was replaced with a corrected version. Users are advised to download a new copy of the dvhh file.