Fri, 21 Jul 2017 10:21:08 +0000
By Prof. Eustarckio Kazonga
A household is a group of people who normally live and eat together. These may or may not be related by blood, marriage or adoption, but make common provision for food or other essentials for living and they have only one person whom they all regard as the head.
A household can also have one member (Central Statistical Office (CSO), 2010). The United Nations Statistics Division emphasises that household surveys are an important source of socio-economic data. Important indicators to inform and monitor development policies are often derived from such surveys. This article focuses on some of the statistics regarding households and how decisions can be made based on them. In order clarify the concept of household statistics, the Central Statistical Office’s is used as an example.
- Sample of Major Findings from the Households and Housing Characteristics Report
The Households and Housing Characteristics Report identified a number of major findings some of which are given below:
1.1 Number and Characteristics of Households
According to the CSO (2010) report, a total of 2,513,768 households were enumerated during the census, representing a total population of 13,092,666. In rural areas, 1,495,861 households were enumerated representing a total population of 7,919,216, while in urban areas, 1,017,907 households were enumerated representing a population of 5,173,450. The average household size was 5.2 persons.
A total of 566,267 (22.5 percent) were headed by females, 345,067 (23.1 percent) in rural areas and 221,200 (21.7 percent) in urban areas. A total of 5,986 (0.2 percent) households of all households enumerated in the census were child-headed households, i.e., the head of household was aged 17 years or younger. Rural areas had more child-headed households (3,803) than urban areas (2,183). These statistics can be used to make policy decisions, designing programmes and making comparison in performance.
1.2. Child-headed Households
Child headed households statistics are need to be considered in the survey in order to assess vulnerability to social and economic challenges faced in our society due to a number of problems. The CSO’s report indicates that a total of 5,986 (0.2 percent) households of all households enumerated in the 2010 Census were child-headed households. The definition of child-headed household is head of household that is aged 17 years or younger. Rural areas had more child-headed households (3,803) than urban areas (2,183).
These statistics have implications in determining the extent of the problems of energy for lighting, cooking and heating.
1.3. Main Source of Energy for Cooking
Wood was the main source of energy used for cooking by 53.4 percent of households, followed by charcoal at 29.1 percent and electricity at 16.9 percent, respectively. In rural areas, wood was the main source of energy used for cooking by 85.0 percent of households followed by charcoal at 12.2 percent and electricity at 2.1 percent, respectively.
In urban areas, charcoal was the main source of energy used for cooking at 53.9 percent, followed by electricity at 38.6 percent and wood at 7.0 percent respectively. Wood was the main source of energy used for cooking by 85.0 percent of households followed by charcoal at 12.2 percent and electricity at 2.1 percent, respectively. In urban areas, charcoal was the main source of energy used for cooking at 53.9 percent, followed by electricity at 38.6 percent and wood at 7.0 percent respectively.
1.4 Main Source of Energy for Heating
Wood was the main source of energy used for heating by 33.7 percent of households, followed by charcoal at 32.7 percent and electricity at 11.8 percent of households, respectively. Eighteen percent of households did not use any form of energy for heating their homes. In rural areas, wood was the main source of energy used for heating at 54.0 percent, followed by charcoal at 22.5 percent of households. Electricity was used by only 1.3 percent of rural households as a source of energy for heating. In urban areas, charcoal was the main source of energy used for heating at 47.7 percent, followed by electricity at 27.2 percent and wood at 3.9 percent of households, respectively.
2.0 Measuring Household Food Consumption
Household consumption or expenditures data can be done using household budget, income expenditure, and living standards surveys. These surveys may be implemented to provide input for the consumer price index, to measure poverty, or for other reasons but the data are often used for purposes other than the ones for which the data were originally intended. For example, food consumption data may be used to assess food security or vulnerability and diet diversity, assessing business opportunities, or as an input for the design or monitoring of food fortification programmes.
Various groups of data users have different and specific needs; the criteria of relevance and reliability of food consumption data depends on the use that is made of the data. Making surveys relevant and reliable for various communities of users who “re-purpose” the data can potentially add considerable value to the data.
The primary objective of these surveys is usually to measure poverty, to derive consumption patterns needed for the calculation of consumer price indices, or to provide input to the compilation of national accounts. Increasingly, these data are re-purposed and used to calculate food security indicators, to compile food balance sheets, to plan and monitor food-based nutrition interventions, to serve information needs of the private sector, and for other research work.
What makes a survey dataset “fit for purpose” is specific to each one of these particular uses. This is also alluded to by Amedio (2017) who states that consumer spending is what households buy to fulfil everyday needs. This “private consumption” includes goods and services.
Every one of us is a consumer regardless of our status in society and where one lives i.e. urban or rural. It is clear that the things we buy every day create the demand that keeps companies profitable and recruitment /hiring of workers.
3.0 Consumer Expenditure Survey Usage
The Consumer Expenditure Survey collects information from the Nation’s households and families on their buying habits (expenditures), income, and household characteristics.
The strength of the survey is that it allows data users to relate the expenditures and income of consumers to the characteristics of those consumers. The Interview and Diary Surveys are sample surveys and are subject to two types of errors, non-sampling and sampling.
Non-sampling errors can be attributed to many sources, such as differences in the interpretation of questions, inability or unwillingness of the respondent to provide correct information, mistakes in recording or coding the data obtained, and other errors of collection, response, processing, coverage, and estimation for missing data.
The full extent of non-sampling error is unknown. Sampling errors occur because the survey data are collected from a sample and not from the entire population. It is therefore important that caution should be used in interpreting the expenditure data, especially when relating averages to individual circumstances.
The data shown in the published tables are averages for demographic groups of consumer units. Expenditures by individual consumer units may differ from the average even if the characteristics of the group are similar to those of the individual consumer unit. Income, family size, age of family members, geographic location, and individual tastes and preferences all influence expenditures.
Data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey are used in a number of different ways by a variety of users. One important use of the survey is selecting new market baskets of goods and services for the Consumer Price Indices. The data allows tracking spending trends of different types of consumer units. Government and private sector use the data to study the welfare of particular segments of the population, such as those consumer units. Economic policymakers use the data to study the impact of policy changes on the welfare of different socioeconomic groups.
Conclusion
I wish to state that household survey programme should be considered in the context of an integrated statistical data collection system of a country.
We need to ensure that survey food lists are adequately detailed to accurately capture consumption of all major food groups making up the human diet. Household consumption or expenditures data can be done using household budget, income expenditure, and living standards surveys.
These surveys may be implemented to provide input for the consumer price index, to measure poverty, or for other reasons but the data are often used for purposes other than the ones for which the data were originally intended.
In the household surveys we need to be aware of non-sampling errors that can be attributed to many sources, such as differences in the interpretation of questions, inability or unwillingness of the respondent to provide correct information, mistakes in recording or coding the data obtained, and other errors of collection, response, processing, coverage, and estimation for missing data.
It is a fact that household surveys are the most effective method of filling the vacuums that exist because of a lack of credible data from more sustainable registry and administrative sources. Finally, even if better systems are rolled out, surveys will continue to play an important quality-control role.
