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Authors: Thomas Johnson and Noell Koehlinger
This paper was published as part of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys Program Report Series.
BLS provides data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States through the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE). The Census Bureau collects CE data for BLS in two surveys: the Interview Survey for major and/or recurring items and the Diary Survey for more minor or frequently purchased items.
Over the years, the surveys have faced issues involving declining response rates, measurement error due to underreporting, and an evolving consumer environment. In July 2013, BLS approved a redesign proposal, outlining the future direction of the CE. We have focused on the phased implementation of a production online Diary Survey in 2022, and an Interview Survey streamlined questionnaire in 2023, with additional phases to follow.
The objectives of the redesign are to primarily address measurement error, and secondarily to reduce respondent burden. The Interview Survey streamlined questionnaire reduces the level of detail to facilitate more accurate higher-level estimates, focuses on the use of records and receipts for expenditures, and improves the organization of questions and sections for the flow of the interview. Improving the flow of the interview is a key step in reducing burden on both the respondents and interviewers.
In April 2023, we implemented phase 1 of the Interview Survey streamlined questionnaire with changes in the following sections:
Furthermore, we consolidated several Diary Survey items into broader categories. The implementation of phase 1 of the Interview Survey streamlined questionnaire, paired with the Diary Survey consolidations resulted in the consolidation of 121 categories into 42 in the 2023 table publications. While these changes have reduced the overall level of detail that is provided in our detailed tables, the consolidation is intended to provide more accurate, higher-level estimates for users to analyze.
Categories have been consolidated in the following ways:
Food At Home
The food at home expenditure category saw the most changes. A total of 53 categories were consolidated to create 20 new categories shown below. A high-level change to highlight is the combination of “Processed fruits” and “Processed vegetables” to create a new “Processed fruits and vegetables” category.
New 2023 Categories |
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Housing
The housing section had minor changes to laundry and childcare. The new high-level category “Laundry and cleaning products” will replace “Laundry and cleaning supplies” and those categories previously collected under it.
New 2023 Categories |
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Transportation
The transportation section also saw some major changes. We consolidated a total of 17 categories into 3 new categories. Due to “Motor oil” no longer being collected, we replaced the high-level category of “Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil” with a new category titled “Gasoline and other fuels”.
New 2023 Categories |
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Apparel and Services
In the apparel and services section, each high-level category had at least one consolidation. In total, we consolidated 26 categories to create 9 new categories.
New 2023 Categories |
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Education
We consolidated eight categories into one new category in the education section. We also introduced two new categories to collect new data titled “Prepaid tuition” and “Educational savings account”.
New 2023 Categories |
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Next Steps
Looking into the future, BLS is committed to continuing to ensure the accuracy of the CE data. We have already implemented the next phase of the CE redesign process as part of the April 2024 data collection effort. Updates implemented as part of this phase focused mainly on housing and medical expenditure sections of the Interview Survey. As a result of these questionnaire changes, users can expect additional changes in both the 2024 tables and public use microdata (PUMD) products, which will be published in 2025. Looking further ahead, the next CE sample redesign using the 2020 Census Master Address file will occur in 2025. Afterwards, Phase 3 will be implemented in 2026 and will affect entertainment expenditures. BLS is committed to providing complete transparency to its data users. As future collection changes are introduced at later stages of the redesign effort, BLS will provide updates detailing the impact of those changes on the CE products. For more information on the detailed changes made to our expenditure categories please see our source selection file.
Phase 1: 2023 |
Phase 2: 2024 |
Sample Redesign: 2025 |
Phase 3: 2026 |
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BLS will begin a three-year process of phasing in to the CE its new sample of primary sampling units (PSUs), based on the 2020 decennial census, and phasing out its old sample of PSUs, based on the 2010 decennial census. |
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