USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) compares prices paid by consumers for food with prices received by farmers for corresponding commodities. This data set reports these comparisons for a variety of foods sold through retail food stores such as supermarkets and super centers. Comparisons are made for individual foods and groupings of individual foods-market baskets-that represent what a typical U.S. household buys at retail in a year. The retail costs of these baskets are compared with the money received by farmers for a corresponding basket of agricultural commodities.This record was taken from the USDA Enterprise Data Inventory that feeds into the https://data.gov catalog. Data for this record includes the following resources: Web page with links to Excel files For complete information, please visit https://data.gov.

Abstract (en): The ongoing Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) provides detailed information on income and expenditures and also furnishes the Bureau of Labor Statistics with data needed to maintain and review the Consumer Price Index. The Diary, or recordkeeping, component of the CES contains expenditure data for small items purchased on a daily or weekly basis. Survey participants from consumer units, which are roughly equivalent to households, keep daily expense records which itemize all purchases made during a two-week period. Expenditures focused on include small, frequently purchased items such as food, beverages, food consumed away from home, gasoline, housekeeping supplies, nonprescription drugs and medical supplies, and personal care products and services. Three types of files for each quarter of 1982 and 1983 are supplied in this collection. The Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income files (FMLY) contain consumer unit characteristics, consumer unit income, characteristics and earnings of the reference person, and characteristics and earnings of the spouse. The Member Characteristics (MEMB) files present selected characteristics for each consumer unit member, including reference person and spouse, and the Detailed Expenditures (EXPN) files contain monthly expenditure data at the Universal Classification Code (UCC) level. Civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States living in urban areas. This survey is based on a national probability sample of households. The sampling frame was generated from the 1970 Census 100 Percent Detail File. Each selected sample unit is requested to keep two one-week diaries of expenditures over consecutive weeks. The earliest possible day for placing a diary with a household is predesignated so that each day of the week has an equal chance to start the reference week, and the diaries are evenly spaced throughout the year. During the last six weeks of the year, the diary sample is supplemented to twice its normal size to increase the reportings of types of expenditures unique to the holiday season. 2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 26 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 26 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads. Rural data collection for this survey was discontinued in 1981 and not resumed until 1984. Thus, the Diary Survey for 1982-1983 contains only urban data. Codebooks for this data collection are machine-readable only.

Survey of Household Spending (SHS), average household spending on detailed food categories.

Additional file 5 : Table S3. Consumer Price Index and inflation coefficients, 2001–2016. NA, Not applicable. 1Represents 1 + percent change in Consumer Price Index from 2001 to 2016. 2Derived by (CFAFH/CFAH)Ci, where C represents the inflation coefficient for all food away from home (FAFH), all food at home (FAH), and each individual food category (i).

Abstract

The basic goal of this survey is to provide the necessary database for formulating national policies at various levels. It represents the contribution of the household sector to the Gross National Product (GNP). Household Surveys help as well in determining the incidence of poverty, and providing weighted data which reflects the relative importance of the consumption items to be employed in determining the benchmark for rates and prices of items and services. Generally, the Household Expenditure and Consumption Survey is a fundamental cornerstone in the process of studying the nutritional status in the Palestinian territory.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Office was cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major research project to develop and expand knowledge on equity and inequality in the Arab region. The main focus of the project is to measure the magnitude and direction of change in inequality and to understand the complex contributing social, political and economic forces influencing its levels. However, the measurement and analysis of the magnitude and direction of change in this inequality cannot be consistently carried out without harmonized and comparable micro-level data on income and expenditures. Therefore, one important component of this research project is securing and harmonizing household surveys from as many countries in the region as possible, adhering to international statistics on household living standards distribution. Once the dataset has been compiled, the Economic Research Forum makes it available, subject to confidentiality agreements, to all researchers and institutions concerned with data collection and issues of inequality. Data is a public good, in the interest of the region, and it is consistent with the Economic Research Forum's mandate to make micro data available, aiding regional research on this important topic.

Geographic coverage

The survey data covers urban, rural and camp areas in West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Analysis unit

1- Household/families. 2- Individuals.

Universe

The survey covered all Palestinian households who are usually resident in the Palestinian Territory during 2010.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample and Frame:

The sampling frame consists of all enumeration areas which were enumerated in 2007, each numeration area consists of buildings and housing units with average of about 120 households in it. These enumeration areas are used as primary sampling units PSUs in the first stage of the sampling selection.

Sample Design:

The sample is a stratified cluster systematic random sample with two stages: First stage: selection of a systematic random sample of 192 enumeration areas. Second stage: selection of a systematic random sample of 24 households from each enumeration area selected in the first stage.

Note: in Jerusalem Governorate (J1), 13 enumeration areas were selected; then in the second phase, a group of households from each enumeration area were chosen using census-2007 method of delineation and enumeration. This method was adopted to ensure household response is to the maximum to comply with the percentage of non-response as set in the sample design.Enumeration areas were distributed to twelve months and the sample for each quarter covers sample strata (Governorate, locality type) Sample strata:

The population was divided by:

1- Governorate 2- Type of Locality (urban, rural, refugee camps)

Sample Size:

The calculated sample size for the Expenditure and Consumption Survey in 2010 is about 3,757 households, 2,574 households in West Bank and 1,183 households in Gaza Strip.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire consists of two main parts:

First: Survey's questionnaire

Part of the questionnaire is to be filled in during the visit at the beginning of the month, while the other part is to be filled in at the end of the month. The questionnaire includes:

Control sheet: Includes household’s identification data, date of visit, data on the fieldwork and data processing team, and summary of household’s members by gender.

Household roster: Includes demographic, social, and economic characteristics of household’s members.

Housing characteristics: Includes data like type of housing unit, number of rooms, value of rent, and connection of housing unit to basic services like water, electricity and sewage. In addition, data in this section includes source of energy used for cooking and heating, distance of housing unit from transportation, education, and health centers, and sources of income generation like ownership of farm land or animals.

Food and Non-Food Items: includes food and non-food items, and household record her expenditure for one month.

Durable Goods Schedule: Includes list of main goods like washing machine, refrigerator,TV.

Assistances and Poverty: Includes data about cash and in kind assistances (assistance value,assistance source), also collecting data about household situation, and the procedures to cover expenses.

Monthly and annual income: Data pertinent to household’s income from different sources is collected at the end of the registration period.

Second: List of goods

The classification of the list of goods is based on the recommendation of the United Nations for the SNA under the name Classification of Personal Consumption by purpose. The list includes 55 groups of expenditure and consumption where each is given a sequence number based on its importance to the household starting with food goods, clothing groups, housing, medical treatment, transportation and communication, and lastly durable goods. Each group consists of important goods. The total number of goods in all groups amounted to 667 items for goods and services. Groups from 1-21 includes goods pertinent to food, drinks and cigarettes. Group 22 includes goods that are home produced and consumed by the household. The groups 23-45 include all items except food, drinks and cigarettes. The groups 50-55 include durable goods. The data is collected based on different reference periods to represent expenditure during the whole year except for cars where data is collected for the last three years.

Registration form

The registration form includes instructions and examples on how to record consumption and expenditure items. The form includes columns: 1.Monetary: If the good is purchased, or in kind: if the item is self produced. 2.Title of the service of the good 3.Unit of measurement (kilogram, liter, number) 4. Quantity 5. Value

The pages of the registration form are colored differently for the weeks of the month. The footer for each page includes remarks that encourage households to participate in the survey. The following are instructions that illustrate the nature of the items that should be recorded: 1. Monetary expenditures during purchases 2. Purchases based on debts 3.Monetary gifts once presented 4. Interest at pay 5. Self produced food and goods once consumed 6. Food and merchandise from commercial project once consumed 7. Merchandises once received as a wage or part of a wage from the employer.

Cleaning operations

Raw Data

Data editing took place through a number of stages, including: 1. Office editing and coding 2. Data entry 3. Structure checking and completeness 4. Structural checking of SPSS data files

Harmonized Data

• The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) is used to clean and harmonize the datasets.
• The harmonization process starts with cleaning all raw data files received from the Statistical Office.
• Cleaned data files are then all merged to produce one data file on the individual level containing all variables subject to harmonization.
• A country-specific program is generated for each dataset to generate/compute/recode/rename/format/label harmonized variables.
• A post-harmonization cleaning process is run on the data.
• Harmonized data is saved on the household as well as the individual level, in SPSS and converted to STATA format.

Response rate

The survey sample consisted of 4,767 households, which includes 4,608 households of the original sample plus 159 households as an additional sample. A total of 3,757 households completed the interview: 2,574 households from the West Bank and 1,183 households in the Gaza Strip. Weights were modified to account for the non-response rate. The response rate in the Palestinian Territory 28.1% (82.4% in the West Bank was and 81.6% in Gaza Strip).

Sampling error estimates

The impact of errors on data quality was reduced to a minimum due to the high efficiency and outstanding selection, training, and performance of the fieldworkers. Procedures adopted during the fieldwork of the survey were considered a necessity to ensure the collection of accurate data, notably: 1) Develop schedules to conduct field visits to households during survey fieldwork. The objectives of the visits and the data collected on each visit were predetermined. 2) Fieldwork editing rules were applied during the data collection to ensure corrections were implemented before the end of fieldwork activities. 3) Fieldworkers were instructed to provide details in cases of extreme expenditure or consumption by the household. 4) Questions on income were postponed until the final visit at the end of the month. 5) Validation rules were embedded in the data processing systems, along with procedures to verify data entry and data edit.

Abstract

The NLSS 1995/96 is basically limited to the living standards of households.

The basic objectives of this survey was to provide information required for monitoring the progress in improving national living standards and to evaluate the impact of various government policies and program on living condition of the population. This survey captured comprehensive set of data on different aspects of households welfare like consumption, income, housing, labour markets, education, health etc.

Geographic coverage

National coverage The 4 strata of the survey: - Mountains - Hills (Urban) - Hills (Rural) - Terai

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Community

Universe

The survey covered all modified de jure household members (usual residents).

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample Design

Sample Frame: A complete list of all wards in the country, with a measure of size, was developed in order to select from it with Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) the sample of wards to be visited. The 1991 Population Census of Nepal was the best starting point for building such a sample frame. The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) constructed a data set with basic information from the census at the ward level. This data set was used as a sample frame to develop the NLSS sample.

Sample Design: The sample size for the NLSS was set at 3,388 households. This sample was divided into four strata based on the geographic and ecological regions of the country: (i) mountains, (ii) urban Hills, (iii) rural Hills, and (iv) Terai.

The sample size was designed to provide enough observations within each ecological stratum to ensure adequate statistical accuracy, as well as enough variation in key variables for policy analysis within each stratum, while respecting resource constraints and the need to balance sampling and non-sampling errors.

A two-stage stratified sampling procedure was used to select the sample for the NLSS. The primary sampling unit (PSU) is the ward, the smallest administrative unit in the 1991 Population Census. In order to increase the variability of the sample, it was decided that a small number of households - twelve - would be interviewed in each ward. Thus, a total of275 wards was obtained.

In the first stage of the sampling, wards were selected with probability proportional to size (PPS) from each of the four ecological strata, using the number of household in the ward as the measure of size. In order to give the sample an implicit stratification respecting the division of the country into Development Regions, the sample frame was sorted by ascending order of district codes, and these were numbered from East to West. The sample frame considered all the 75 districts in the country, and indeed 73 of them were represented in the sample. In the second stage of the sampling, a fixed number of households were chosen with equal probabilities from each selected PSU.

The two-stage procedure just described has several advantages. It simplified the analysis by providing a self-weighted sample. It also reduced the travel time and cost, as 12 or 16 households are interviewed in each ward. In addition, as the number of households to be interviewed in each ward was known in advance, the procedure made it possible to plan an even workload across different survey teams.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A preliminary draft of the questionnaire was first prepared with several discussions held between the core staff and the consultant to the project. Several documents both received from the world bank as well as from countries that had already conducted such surveys in the past were referred during this process. Subsequently the questionnaire was translated into NepalI.

After a suitable draft design of the questionnaire, a pre-test was conducted in five different places of the country. The places selected for the pre-test were Biratnagar, Rasuwa, Palpa, Nepalganj and Kathmandu Valley. The entire teams created for the pre-test were also represented by either a consultant or an expert from the bank. Feedback received from the field was utilized for necessary improvements in finalizing the seventy page questionnaire.

The content of each questionnaire is as follows:

HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. HOUSEHOLD INFORMATION This section served two main purposes: (i) identify every person who is a member of the household, and (ii) provide basic demographic data such as age, sex, and marital status of everyone presently living in the household. In addition, information collected also included data on all economic activities undertaken by household members and on unemployment.

Section 2. HOUSING This section collected information on the type of dwelling occupied by the household, as well as on the household's expenditures on housing and amenities (rent, expenditure on water, garbage collection, electricity, etc.).

Section 3. ACCESS TO FACILITIES This section collected information on the distance from the household's residence to various public facilities and services.

Section 4. MIGRATION This section collected information from the household head on permanent migration for reasons of work or land availability.

Section 5. FOOD EXPENSES AND HOME PRODUCTION This section collected information on all food expenditures of the household, as well as on consumption of food items that the household produced.

Section 6. NON-FOOD EXPENDITURES AND INVENTORY OF DURABLE GOODS This section collected information on expenditure on non-food items (clothing, fuels, items for the house, etc.), as well as on the durable goods owned by the household.

Section 7. EDUCATION This section collected information on literacy for all household members aged 5 years and above, on the level of education for those members who have attended school in the past, and on levelof education and expenditures on schooling for those currently attending an educational institution.

Section 8. HEALTH This section collected information on illnesses, use of medical facilities, expenditure on health care, children's immunization, and diarrhea.

Section 9. ANTHROPOMETRICS This section collected weight and height measurements for all children 3 years or under.

Section 10. MARRIAGE AND MATERNITY HISTORY This section collected information on maternity history, pre/post-natal care, and knowledge/use of family planning methods.

Section 11. WAGE EMPLOYMENT This section collected information on wage employment in agriculture and in non-agricultural activities, as well as on income earned through wage labor.

Section 12. FARMING AND LIVESTOCK This section collected information on all agricultural activities -- land owned or operated, crops grown, use of crops, income from the sale of crops, ownership of livestock, and income from the sale of livestock.

Section 13. NON-FARM ENTERPRISES/ACTIVITIES This section collected information on all non-agricultural enterprises and activities -- type of activity, revenue earned, expenditures, etc.

Section 14. CREDIT AND SAVINGS This section collected information on loans made by the household to others, or loans taken from others by household members, as well as on land, property, or other fixed assets owned by the household.

Section 15. REMITTANCES AND TRANSFERS This section collected information on remittances sent by members of the household to others and on transfers received by members of the household from others.

Section 16. OTHER ASSETS AND INCOME This section collected information on income from all other sources not covered elsewhere in the questionnaire.

Section 17. ADEQUACY OF CONSUMPTION This section collected information on whether the household perceives its level of consumption to be adequate or not.

RURAL COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURES This section collected information on the characteristics of the community, availability of electricity and its services and water supply and sewerage.

Section 2. ACCESS TO FACILITIES Data on services and amenities, education status and health facilities was collected.

Section 3. AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY Information on the land situation, irrigation systems, crop cycles, wages paid to hired labor, rental rates for cattle and machinery and forestry use were asked in this section.

Section 4. MIGRATION This section collected information on the main migratory movements in and out.

Section 5. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, USER GROUPS, etc. In this section, information on development programs, existence user groups, and the quality of life in the community was collected.

Section 6. RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOL This section collected information on enrollment, infrastructure, and supplies.

Section 7. RURAL HEALTH FACILITY This section collected information on health facilities, equipment and services available, and health personnel in the community.

Section 8. MARKETS AND PRICES This section collected information on local shops, Haat Bazaar, agricultural inputs, sale of crops and the conversion of local units into standard units.

URBAN COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURE Information was collected on the characteristics of the community, availability of electricity, water supply and sewerage system in the ward.

Section 2. ACCESS TO FACILITIES This section collected information on the distance from the community to the various places and public facilities and services.

Section 3. MARKETS AND PRICES This section collected information on the availability and prices of different goods.

Section 4. QUALITY OF LIFE Here the notion of the quality of life in the community was

Abstract

The Nepal Living Standards Survey, 1995/96 (NLSS-I) was a milestone in the collection of data for the objective measurement of the living standards of the people and for determining the level of poverty in the country. The survey covered a wide range of topics related to “household welfare” (demography, consumption, income, access to facilities, housing, education, health, employment, credit, remittances and anthropometry, etc.).

NLSS-I for the first time, provided a measure of “extent and dimension” of poverty in Nepal. The survey findings became popular among decision makers in the government agencies, the general public and the international agencies as well.

It was realized that a second round of the survey was needed to update the results and to assess the impact of policies and programs on poverty and social indicators over the years (since the NLSS-I was conducted). Accordingly, the second round of the survey (NLSS-II) was carried out in 2003/04 after 8 years of the first survey.

The findings of the NLSS-II helped the government to monitor progress in improving national living standards and the survey became a good basis for monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) over time.

Realizing the importance of time series data, the Government of Nepal decided to conduct another round of the Nepal Living Standards Survey. Accordingly, the Central Bureau of Statistics for the third time conducted the survey in 2010/11 (NLSS-III). The survey was carried out with the assistance from the World Bank.

Objective of the Survey The main objective of the NLSS-III is to update data on the living standards of the people. The survey aims to assess the impact of various government policies and programs on the socioeconomic changes in the country during the last 7 years. Further, the survey aims to track changes experienced by previously enumerated households during the past fifteen and seven years.

Geographic coverage

National Urban-Rural areas Ecological Zones Development Regions

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Consumption Expenditure Commodities/Item

Universe

All households in the country were considered eligible for selection in the survey. The survey, however, excluded the households of diplomatic missions. The institutional households (like people living in schools hostels, prisons, army camps and hospitals) were also excluded from the survey. The household members were determined on the basis of the usual place of their residence. Foreign nationals whose usual place of residence is within the country were included in the survey.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

As in the previous two rounds of the NLSS, the NLSS-III followed the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) methodology developed and promoted by the World Bank (WB). The main features of the methodology include: - a relatively "smaller" sample size compared with the other in-depth household surveys, - an "integrated" multi-topic household questionnaire for collecting a comprehensive data set on household welfare, - an "innovative" data management technique including field based data entry and field verification system, - a "panel" sample in addition to the nationally representative sample of households, and - data collection over a period of 12 months divided into several phases to capture "seasonal variation".

Sampling Frame The initial frame for the NLSS-III survey was based on the frame prepared for the 2008 Nepal Labour Force Survey (NLFS-II). This was done "to take advantage of the cartographic segmentation and household listing operations" conducted by the CBS for the NLFS-II. Number of households at ward level was obtained from the 2001 Population Census. CBS has constructed a data set with basic information (number of households, total population, and male and female population) at the ward level. This data set was used to construct the frame for the selection of primary sampling units (PSUs).

The PSU for the NLFS-II were either individual wards or sub-wards or groups of contiguous wards in the same VDC. A group of wards was considered as single PSU, to ensure that each unit continued at least 30 households.

For the ultimate sample selection of households in the NLFS-II, a frame was prepared in each ward selected at the earlier stage of sampling. A list of all households was prepared in all the wards selected for the survey. Selection of households was carried out from these listings using systematic sampling with a random start. Before the listing, an intensive cartographic work was undertaken (in the urban areas and some of the rural areas) to form appropriate enumeration block having around 200 households.

Stratification For the NLFS-II sample selection, 75 districts along with the urban and rural areas were grouped into six strata - mountains, urban areas of the Kathmandu valley, other urban areas in the hills, rural hills, urban hills, urban Tarai and rural Tarai. These six strata of the NLFS-II were further regrouped into 14 strata for the NLSS-III purposes. The "explicit" strata formed for the NLSS-III were as follows: mountains, urban areas of the Kathmandu valley, other urban areas in the hills, rural eastern hills, rural central hills, rural western hills, rural mid-western hills, rural far-western hills, urban Tarai, rural eastern Tarai, rural central Tarai, rural western Tarai, rural mid-western Tarai, and rural far-western Tarai.

Sample Design The sample design adopted in NLSS-III was modified sub-sample of the sample adopted in NLFS-II. For the NLFS-II, 800 PSUs were selected - 400 PSUs each from urban and rural areas. As mentioned earlier, the PSU for the NLFS-II was a ward or a sub-ward or a combination of wards. The PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size, the measure of size being the number of households.

For the NLSS-III, two independent samples were selected: the first was a cross sectional sample and the second was a panel. The panel sample consisted of PSUs and households previously enumerated in one or both of the past two rounds of the survey.

Cross-section Sample The cross-section sample was selected in three stages: • In the first stage, the enumeration area units (primary sampling units, PSUs) are identical to that of NLFS-II. NLFS selected a sample of 800 PSUs allocated into six explicit strata. Within each stratum, the PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size (pps), the number of households being the measure of size (mos). • In the second stage, 500 of the 800 NLFS PSUs were selected to form the NLSS-III PSUs. As mentioned earlier, for this selection purpose the six strata of NLFS-II were further divided into 14 sub-strata (Box 1.2). Within each sub-stratum, the sample was selected with equal probability. • In the third stage, 12 households were selected with equal probability in each PSU (using the computerized household listings generated by the NLFS-II as a sample frame). An additional 6 households were selected in each PSU, to be used as replacement household for non-response among the 12 originally selected households.

Panel Sample The panel sample of the NLSS-III is composed of all households visited by the NLSS-II in 100 of its primary sampling units (PSU). Fifty of them were taken from the cross-sectional component of the NLSS-II, and the remaining fifty from its panel component. In other words, one half of the NLSS-III panel households were households visited for the first time during the NLSS-II, whereas the other half were the households visited during both the NLSS-I and the NLSS-II.

Sample Size The sample size for the survey was estimated at 7200 households in 600 PSUs. Among them, 100 PSUs with 1200 households interviewed in the NLSS-I or NLSS-II were selected for reinterviewing in the NLSS-III. And, 500 PSUs with 6000 households were selected as the crosssection sample. The PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size, the measure of size being the number of households in each ward. As mentioned earlier, twelve households were selected for the enumeration from each of the selected PSU.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

As in the previous two surveys, NLSS-III used two types of questionnaires: household questionnaire and community questionnaire. There are two separate community questionnaires one each for rural and urban communities.

As many of the NLSS-II questions as possible were retained in the NLSS-III. However, some important additions and modifications were made in these questionnaires to address the contemporary issues.

A new section with questions on anthropometry and breastfeeding was added in the NLSS-III household questionnaire. Other two new sections added were on "jobs and time use" and "employment and unemployment". Additional questions on food consumption during the past 7 days were introduced in "food expenses and home production" section. For some other questions of the NLSS-II, answer categories were modified, expanded or elaborated.

First, draft questionnaires were developed based on the questionnaires used in the NLSS-II. The questionnaires were pre-tested several times to assess their use under actual field conditions. Pretests were conducted in each of the Kanchanpur, Doti, Banke, Rupendehi, Kaski, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Dhanusha, Dhankuta, Jhapa and Panchthar districts. Following the experience of the pre-tests and the feedback obtained from potential data users, the questionnaires to be used for the actual survey were finalized.

In line with the project's objective of improving linkages between data users and the data collecting

Abstract

The NLSS 1995/96 is basically limited to the living standards of households.

The basic objectives of this survey was to provide information required for monitoring the progress in improving national living standards and to evaluate the impact of various government policies and program on living condition of the population. This survey captured comprehensive set of data on different aspects of households welfare like consumption, income, housing, labour markets, education, health etc.

Geographic coverage

National coverage Urban-Rural areas Regional Ecological regions The 4 strata of the survey: - Mountains - Hills (Urban) - Hills (Rural) - Terai

Analysis unit

Individuals, households and communities

Universe

The survey covered all modified de jure household members (usual residents).

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample Frame

A complete list of all wards in the country, with a measure of size, was developed in order to select from it with Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) the sample of wards to be visited.The 1991 Population Census of Nepal was the best starting point for building such a sample frame.The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) constructed a data set with basic information from the census at the ward level. This data set was used as a sample frame to develop the NLSS sample.

Sample Design

The sample size for the NLSS was set at 3,388 households. This sample was divided into four strata based on the geographic and ecological regions of the country: (i) mountains, (ii) urban Hills, (iii) rural Hills, and (iv) Terai.

The sample size was designed to provide enough observations within each ecological stratum to ensure adequate statistical accuracy, as well as enough variation in key variables for policy analysis within each stratum, while respecting resource constraints and the need to balance sampling and non-sampling errors.

A two-stage stratified sampling procedure was used to select the sample for the NLSS. The primary sampling unit (PSU) is the ward, the smallest administrative unit in the 1991 Population Census. In order to increase the variability of the sample, it was decided that a small number of households -- twelve -- would be interviewed in each ward. Thus, a total of 275 wards was obtained. In the first stage of the sampling, wards were selected with probability proportional to size (PPS) from each of the four ecological strata, using the number of household in the ward as the measure of size. In order to give the sample an implicit stratification respecting the division of the country into Development Regions, the sample frame was sorted by ascending order of district codes, and these were numbered from East to West. The sample frame considered all the 75 districts in the country, and indeed 73 of them were represented in the sample.1 In the second stage of the sampling, a fixed number of households were chosen with equal probabilities from each selected PSU.

The two-stage procedure just described has several advantages. It simplified the analysis by providing a self-weighted sample. It also reduced the travel time and cost, as 12 or 16 households are interviewed in each ward. In addition, as the number of households to be interviewed in each ward was known in advance, the procedure made it possible to plan an even workload across different survey teams.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A preliminary draft of the questionnaire was first prepared with several discussions held between the core staff and the consultant to the project. Several documents both received from the world bank as well as from countries that had already conducted such surveys in the past were referred during this process. Subsequently the questionnaire was translated into NepalI.

After a suitable draft design of the questionnaire, a pre-test was conducted in five different places of the country. The places selected for the pre-test were Biratnagar, Rasuwa, Palpa, Nepalganj and Kathmandu Valley. The entire teams created for the pre-test were also represented by either a consultant or an expert from the bank. Feedback received from the field was utilized for necessary improvements in finalizing the seventy page questionnaire.

The content of each questionnaire is as follows:

HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. HOUSEHOLD INFORMATION This section served two main purposes: (i) identify every person who is a member of the household, and (ii) provide basic demographic data such as age, sex, and marital status of everyone presently living in the household. In addition, information collected also included data on all economic activities undertaken by household members and on unemployment.

Section 2. HOUSING This section collected information on the type of dwelling occupied by the household, as well as on the household’s expenditures on housing and amenities (rent, expenditure on water, garbage collection, electricity, etc.).

Section 3. ACCESS TO FACILITIES This section collected information on the distance from the household’s residence to various public facilities and services.

Section 4. MIGRATION This section collected information from the household head on permanent migration for reasons of work or land availability.

Section 5. FOOD EXPENSES AND HOME PRODUCTION This section collected information on all food expenditures of the household, as well as on consumption of food items that the household produced.

Section 6. NON-FOOD EXPENDITURES AND INVENTORY OF DURABLE GOODS This section collected information on expenditure on non-food items (clothing, fuels, items for the house, etc.), as well as on the durable goods owned by the household.

Section 7. EDUCATION This section collected information on literacy for all household members aged 5 years and above, on the level of education for those members who have attended school in the past, and on levelof education and expenditures on schooling for those currently attending an educational institution.

Section 8. HEALTH This section collected information on illnesses, use of medical facilities, expenditure on health care, children’s immunization, and diarrhea.

Section 9. ANTHROPOMETRICS This section collected weight and height measurements for all children 3 years or under.

Section 10. MARRIAGE AND MATERNITY HISTORY This section collected information on maternity history, pre/post-natal care, and knowledge/use of family planning methods.

Section 11. WAGE EMPLOYMENT This section collected information on wage employment in agriculture and in non-agricultural activities, as well as on income earned through wage labor.

Section 12. FARMING AND LIVESTOCK This section collected information on all agricultural activities -- land owned or operated, crops grown, use of crops, income from the sale of crops, ownership of livestock, and income from the sale of livestock.

Section 13. NON-FARM ENTERPRISES/ACTIVITIES This section collected information on all non-agricultural enterprises and activities -- type of activity, revenue earned, expenditures, etc.

Section 14. CREDIT AND SAVINGS This section collected information on loans made by the household to others, or loans taken from others by household members, as well as on land, property, or other fixed assets owned by the household.

Section 15. REMITTANCES AND TRANSFERS This section collected information on remittances sent by members of the household to others and on transfers received by members of the household from others.

Section 16. OTHER ASSETS AND INCOME This section collected information on income from all other sources not covered elsewhere in the questionnaire.

Section 17. ADEQUACY OF CONSUMPTION This section collected information on whether the household perceives its level of consumption to be adequate or not.

RURAL COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURES This section collected information on the characteristics of the community, availability of electricity and its services and water supply and sewerage.

Section 2. ACCESS TO FACILITIES Data on services and amenities, education status and health facilities was collected.

Section 3. AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY Information on the land situation, irrigation systems, crop cycles, wages paid to hired labor, rental rates for cattle and machinery and forestry use were asked in this section.

Section 4. MIGRATION This section collected information on the main migratory movements in and out.

Section 5. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, USER GROUPS, etc. In this section, information on development programs, existence user groups, and the quality of life in the community was collected.

Section 6. RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOL This section collected information on enrollment, infrastructure, and supplies.

Section 7. RURAL HEALTH FACILITY This section collected information on health facilities, equipment and services available, and health personnel in the community.

Section 8. MARKETS AND PRICES This section collected information on local shops, Haat Bazaar, agricultural inputs, sale of crops and the conversion of local units into standard units.

URBAN COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURE Information was collected on the characteristics of the community, availability of electricity, water supply and sewerage system in the ward.

Section 2. ACCESS TO FACILITIES This section collected information on the distance from the community to the various places and public facilities and services.

Section 3. MARKETS AND PRICES This section collected information on the availability and prices of different goods.

Section 4. QUALITY OF LIFE Here the notion of

The Consumer Price Index measures changes in the cost of selected food items over time like: * food purchased from stores * fresh or frozen beef * fresh or frozen pork * fresh or frozen chicken * dairy products and eggs * bakery products * fresh fruit * fresh vegetables * food purchased from restaurants