CONSUMER EXPENDITURE SURVEYS Data for Creating Health-Adjusted Poverty Thresholds

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CONSUMER EXPENDITURE SURVEYSData for Creating
Health-Adjusted Poverty Thresholds

• Bill Passero
• DCES, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
  Passero.Bill_at_BLS.gov
• Regional Workshop - Improving the Measurement of
  Poverty in the Americas Health Adjusted Poverty
  Lines
• September 29-30, 2003

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Outline

• Overview of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE)
• Population
• Expenditures
• Examination of Medical Care Sections of the
  Interview Questionnaire
• Hospitalization and Health Insurance
• Medical and Health Expenditures
• Independent quarterly observations vs. full-year
  observations how does it affect the
  thresholds?

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Purpose and Uses

• Purpose To provide data on the buying habits of
  people living in the United States
• Periodic from 1888-91 to 1972-73
• Continuous since October 1979
• Other Uses
• Serve as basis for proposed poverty thresholds
  (National Academy of Sciences Panel on Poverty
  and Family Assistance)
• Produce weights for CPI
• Evaluate effects of policy changes
• Serve as proxy of economic well-being

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The survey is designed to represent a . . .

• National Probability Sample
• using the most recent decennial census, augmented
  by new construction permits
• consisting of 105 primary sampling units (PSU)
• based on probabilities proportional to population
  size
• consists of counties, group of counties, or
  independent cities

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Housing units are selected...

• Within each PSU using such information as
• vacancy status
• number of persons residing in housing unit
• value of the housing unit
• rent paid for the housing unit

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Consumer Units (CUs)

• CE is interested in determining consumer units
  (CUs) - based on the financial relationship of
  the members of the household.
• Members of a household related by blood,
  marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangement
• Single person living alone or sharing a household
  with others but who is financially independent
• Two or more persons living together who are
  financially dependent

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Survey Instruments

• Diary
• 2 consecutive 1-week
• includes
• detailed expenditures for food, personal care,
  household supplies, nonprescription drugs
• excludes
• expenditures for out-of-town trips

• Interview
• 1st interview bounding one-month recall only
  inventory and basic sample data used
• 2nd 5th interviews three-month recall,
  includes all expenditures except
• housekeeping supplies
• personal care products
• non-prescription drugs
• rotating panel

Separate samples for each instrument
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More Specifically . . . .

• Expenditures - Value of goods and services
  acquired during reference period
• Financial obligation at the time of the
  acquisition
• For any type of payment
• Includes excise and sales taxes
• Includes gifts of goods and services given to
  persons outside unit
• Not included
• Quantity (except vehicles, property owned,
  durables inventory, insurance policies)
• Price per unit
• Point of purchase information
• Business expenses
• Value of in-kind transfers received

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• Not included (cont.)
• Value of home production
• Periodic credit or installment payments on items
  already acquired
• Demographics including income, assets, and
  liabilities
• Collected during each interview
• Member level
• Consumer unit level
• Collected 2nd and/or 5th interview
• Income, work experience, assets, liabilities,
  contributions

CE No balancing with income or changes in net
worth
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Sample Sizes and Collection

• Goal to have the equivalent of 7,800 consumer
  units completing 4 expenditure interviews or 2
  diaries we must field about
• 60,000 cases for Interview
• 25,000 cases for Diary

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• How many households complete all 5 interviews?
• about 75
• How many households complete both diaries?
• about 92

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Constructing the Annual Thresholds Quarterly
Observations vs. Full-Year Observations

• Two approaches
• 1) Treat each individual quarterly interview as
  an independent observation, and annualize the
  reported expenditures
• 2) Select only those CUs that provide a full
  year of expenditures by completing four quarterly
  interviews.

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Impact on Data Set Size

• Banthin, Garner, and Short (2000) created a data
  base of two married adults/two children reference
  CUs from interviews conducted from 1997 Q2
  through 2000 Q1.
• Approach 1 Independent quarterly interviews
• 76,692 total interviews
• 6,917 interviews by reference CUs

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Impact on Data Set Size (cont.)

• Approach 2 Four-interview CUs only
• 76,692 total interviews
• 8,447 interviews by CUs completing four
  interviews and no change in CU composition
• 767 interviews by reference CUs (two adult/two
  child) completing four interviews and no change
  in composition

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Impact on Characteristics of Sample
Four-interview CUs vs. non-interviews
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Appendix Chart 1. Reference Family Annual
Thresholds 1999 (preliminary)
Re-estimated percentages of median
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Appendix Chart 2. MOOP Share of Thresholds 1999
(preliminary)
Re-estimated percentages of median