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Consumer Expenditure Surveys

Consumer Expenditure Surveys Redesign: Streamlined Questionnaire Phase 1 Instrument Changes

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:

  • Family Care and Education section
    • The Education section now has more detail. Tuition has been split out into educational savings, elementary through high school, vocational/technical and college and university.
    • The Family Care section consolidated babysitting, childcare, day care centers, nurseries, and preschools into a single item category.
  • Expense Patterns section
    • We dropped non-food item questions and added a food gift question. We added instructions to the questionnaire to ensure respondents do not include marijuana products in their expenditure totals for tobacco products.
  • Transportation section
    • A new section on Transportation combined questions on vehicle operating expenses with questions on transportation via taxis, limousines, app-based ride shares, bike, scooter or moped rental using sharing services, and public transport.

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.

Retired Categories

New 2023 Categories

  • Processed fruits
  • Processed vegetables
  • Processed fruits and vegetables
  • Flour
  • Prepared flour mixes
  • Flour and prepared flour mixes
  • White bread
  • Bread, other than white
  • Bread
  • Chuck roast
  • Round roast
  • Other roast
  • Roasts
  • Round steak
  • Sirloin steak
  • Other steak
  • Steaks
  • Bacon
  • Sausage
  • Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products
  • Ham, not canned
  • Canned ham
  • Ham
  • Bologna, liverwurst, and salami
  • Other lunchmeats
  • Lunchmeats
  • Lamb and organ meats
  • Mutton, goat, game
  • Lamb, organ meat, and game
  • Fresh and frozen whole chickens
  • Fresh and frozen chicken parts
  • Chicken
  • Canned fish and seafood
  • Frozen fish and shellfish
  • Processed fish and seafood
  • Butter
  • Margarine
  • Butter and margarine
  • Cream
  • Miscellaneous dairy products
  • Non-dairy cream and imitation milk
  • Other dairy and related products
  • Oranges
  • Citrus fruits, excluding oranges
  • Citrus fruits
  • Frozen fruit juices
  • Frozen orange juice
  • Frozen vegetable juices
  • Frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks
  • Frozen fruits
  • Frozen vegetables
  • Frozen fruits and vegetables
  • Canned fruits
  • Canned beans
  • Canned corn
  • Canned miscellaneous vegetables
  • Canned fruits and vegetables
  • Dried fruits
  • Dried processed vegetables
  • Dried peas
  • Dried beans
  • Dried miscellaneous vegetables
  • Dried fruits and vegetables
  • Sugar
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Sugar and artificial sweeteners
  • Roasted coffee
  • Instant and freeze dried coffee
  • Coffee
  • Noncarbonated fruit flavored drinks, including non-frozen lemonade
  • Bottled water
  • Sports drinks
  • Fresh and canned vegetable juices
  • Fresh fruit juice
  • Canned and bottled fruit juices
  • Nonfrozen noncarbonated juices and drinks

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.

Retired Categories

New 2023 Categories

  • Laundry and cleaning supplies
  • Soaps and detergents
  • Other laundry cleaning products
  • Laundry and cleaning products
  • Babysitting and childcare
  • Day care centers, nurseries, and preschools
  • Babysitting, childcare, daycare, preschool

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”.

Retired Categories

New 2023 Categories

  • Gasoline, other fuels, and motor oil
  • Gasoline and other fuels
  • Vehicle products and services
  • Motor oil
  • Coolant, brake fluid, transmission fluid, and other additives
  • Parts, equipment, accessories
  • Vehicle parts, accessories, fluid, excluding tires
  • Miscellaneous auto repair and servicing
  • Gas tank repair and replacement
  • Repair tires and other repair work
  • Vehicle products and cleaning services
  • Body work and painting
  • Vehicle or engine repairs
  • Motor tune up
  • Lube, oil change, and oil filters
  • Front end alignment, wheel balance, and rotation
  • Shock absorber replacement
  • Repair tires and other repair work
  • Vehicle maintenance and repair excluding tire purchase
  • Vehicle registration, state
  • Vehicle registration, local
  • State and local vehicle registration

 

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.

Retired Categories

New 2023 Categories

  • Men’s underwear
  • Men’s hosiery
  • Men’s nightwear
  • Men’s swimwear
  • Men’s underwear, hosiery, nightwear, and swimwear
  • Boy’s underwear
  • Boy’s nightwear
  • Boy’s hosiery
  • Boy’s swimwear
  • Boy’s underwear, nightwear, hosiery, and swimwear
  • Boy’s suits, sportscoats, and vests
  • Boy’s pants and shorts
  • Boy’s suits, sports coats, pants, and shorts
  • Women’s sportscoats and tailored jackets
  • Women’s sweaters, shirts, tops, and vests
  • Women’s tops
  • Women’s skirts
  • Women’s pants and shorts
  • Women’s skirts, pants, and shorts
  • Women’s swimwear
  • Women’s sleepwear
  • Women’s undergarment
  • Women’s undergarments, nightwear, and swimwear
  • Women’s uniforms
  • Women’s costumes
  • Women’s costumes and uniforms
  • Girl’s underwear and sleepwear
  • Girl’s hosiery
  • Girl’s swimwear
  • Girl’s underwear, nightwear, hosiery, and swimwear
  • Infant coats, jackets, snowsuits, and swimsuits
  • Infant dresses and outerwear
  • Infant nightwear and loungewear
  • Infant accessories
  • Infant’s and toddler’s outerwear, dresses, nightwear, and accessories

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”.

Retired Categories

New 2023 Categories

  • School books for college
  • School books for elementary and high schools
  • School books for vocational and technical schools
  • School books for day care and nurseries
  • School books for other schools
  • School supplies and equipment
  • Other school expenses including rentals
  • Other schools’ tuition
  • Educational books, supplies, and other expenditures

NA

  • Prepaid tuition

NA

  • Educational savings account

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

  • Transportation
  • Family Care and Educations
  • Expense Patterns for Selected Goods and Services
  • Housing Characteristics
  • Rental Properties
  • Owned Properties
  • Home Improvements, Repairs, and Services
  • Utilities and Fuels
  • Vehicles
  • Medical Expenses

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.

  • Household Furnishings and Equipment
  • Vehicles
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Hobbies, Sports, and Recreation
  • Trips
  • Other Insurance
  • Professional Services
  • Events
  • Contributions