Household Budget Survey (2015)

The household budget survey (HBS) focuses on consumption expenditure behaviors of households residing in Italy. Such survey has replaced the old one. As deep changes have been introduced in every stage of the process, no comparison can be made using data prior to 2014. The survey deals with all expenditures incurred by the families to purchase goods and services for family consumption or to make gifts to people outside the family. That definition also includes goods coming from their own vegetable garden or farm directly consumed by the family (self-consumption) or donated, the goods and services provided by the employer to employees for wages or services, imputed rent of owner-occupied housings or dwellings provided without charge. Any other expenditure for purposes other than consumption is excluded from the survey. The collection of the expenditures is accompanied by the collection of the main socio-economic characteristics of the individuals within the family. The survey is conducted with two different techniques used in the three phases of data collection: an initial CAPI (Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing) interview, through which the characteristics of the household and the dwelling, as well as some periodic housing expenditures, are recorded; the self-completion daily expenditure records, on which the family takes note of food, goods and services expenses for a period of 14 days; a final CAPI interview to collect other less frequent or exceptional family expenses. The observed phenomena include: - Socio-demographic information - Characteristics of the dwelling in which the family lives and other family owned dwellings - Means of transport and communication - Spending habits - Housing expenditures - Expenses over the past 12 months - Expenses over the last 3 months - Expenses over the last month - Personal or business travels The survey records expenditures with very different reference periods. The calculation of total expenditure therefore requires a time standardization of the collected data, i.e. a common reference period (the month), so that all the costs can be added up together. The survey also represents the basis for the official estimates of absolute and relative poverty in Italy