Household Expenditure Survey Review

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has carried out a recent review into the Living Costs and Food (LCF) survey. This is a long-standing household survey collecting expenditure data that is used as part of Household Final Consumption Estimates (HHFCE), the Retail Price Index (RPI) and is published in ONS "Family Spending" release.

Household expenditure data collection through the LCF is complex and expensive as it relies on detailed recollection of expenses over the previous months, as well as recording of expenditure over a two-weeks period using a diary. Over the last few years, the LCF, as many other social surveys, has suffered from declining response rates impacting on the quality of the data it collects. At the same time, user needs around expenditure data are growing, with additional requirements for low-level breakdowns including by product, region and socio-demographic characteristics. While alternative data sources covering part of the household expenditure data needs exist (e.g. supermarkets scanner data), the OSR review highlights a continuing need for the foreseeable future of a household-based survey to meet user needs.

The Supplier will be responsible to provide the Customer with a recommended high-level statistical blueprint for household expenditure data collection, including a high-level survey de-sign. The Supplier will need to ensure such survey design meets the user needs of the Customer for household expenditure data. The Supplier will also need to advise on whether non-survey data may address part of the Customer's needs for household expenditure data.

The project seeks to answer the three following research questions:

The required outputs from this contract will be a total of four reports/technical papers. One for each of the research questions above, as well as a paper reviewing international designs for household expenditure surveys.