Household Expenditure & Income Survey:-

It is considered one of the most important household surveys, not only because of its objectives and results which serve the demographic, social and economic statistics, but also due to its period which extends for a full one year and its high implementation cost. Normally, this survey is conducted every five years and it is metaphorically called the household budget survey since it reflects the household patterns of spending on goods and services. It also reflects the income level and its development, providing a broad database for great sector of the basic statistical data system such as the national income accounts and the index of living cost as well. The latest survey was conducted in 1427/1428 A.H (2006/2007 A.D) and is considered the sixth one of the series of surveys concerning Household Expenditure & Income Survey conducted by the CDSI in the year 1390/1391 A.H (1970/1971 A.D).

 Survey Objectives:

This basic survey aims at studying the social and economic levels of households and the welfare of society.  The household spending patterns and its income gives an accurate perception of the standard of living of the surveyed society. The Survey of Household Expenditure & Income has numerous objectives of which the most important are the following:

1. To define the relative distribution of expenditure on commodities and services consumed by the household to be used in the structure of index of cost of living (consumption prices).

2. To measure the flexibility of the household's consumption expenditure to get acquainted with the change of percentage in spending on commodities and services accompanying each relative change in the household income and to benefit from that.

3. To study the relationship between the household population, housing characteristics and its income as well as the relationship between the household expenditure and its income.

5. To estimate the household expenditure, contributing to the forming the national accounts.

6. To define the volume of current changes concerning the household sector.

 Period of Survey Implementation: 

 Implementing the survey takes (12) months. For each month a different sample of households, so as to measure the change in expenditure patterns and its levels due to the seasonal, occasional and periodic changes.

Survey Data Time Reference:
 
    There are three periods of time reference for the survey data, as follows:

1 – Population and housing data (sections II, and III of the form) was referred to the day of the visit in which the household was surveyed, except the case of the economic activity and profession of the individual where their time reference was in the last week preceding the month of survey in which the household surveyed.  
2 - Data of daily expenditure (Section IV), and monthly expenditure (Section V) was referred to the month when the household surveyed.

3 – Data of the durable goods (Section VI) and income statements (Section VII) was referred to the year ending with the end of the month of survey in which the household surveyed.

Sample design: 

  The survey sample is based on the framework of the General Population and Housing Census of 1425 A.H (2004 A.D). This sample is part of the main one designed for all household surveys conducted by CDSI, so as to achieve its objectives efficiently and at low cost. It has been taken into account when designing a sample survey of household income and expenditure to achieve the main objectives of the survey at the level of the Kingdom as a whole and the administrative regions as well as to take into consideration the specific requirements for the identification of consumer goods and services for the future index of cost of living and data required for national accounts. 
  And to get estimates of high efficiency and effectiveness, the surveyed society was divided into non-overlapping parts with relatively homogeneous units, and each part is a class which is  treated as if it were an independent society where a random sample taken from each class separately, and ultimately all drawn sampling units integrate together to form the total sample.

 In order to prepare this framework, each administrative region was divided into a number of classes ranged between (3 and 7) classes defined according to the size of the population where the total number of these classes became 52 ones at the level of Kingdom.

The optimal size of the main sample meeting the purposes of surveys and various household researches being conducted by CDSI at the level of the Kingdom and its administrative regions was also defined.

Then, initial surveyed units were drawn of the main sample represented in the count's regions which reached (2600) ones distributed to all the administrative regions. Before starting the withdrawal of initial surveyed units (regions of count) out of the major sample, the small count regions or these located in remote areas were integrated, so as to compensate them of the framework with regions which had almost similar circumstances to them. 
  After that,  the regions of count in the main sample were distributed in the cities to include at least (8) repeaters in each class and the number of count's regions in the administrative region should not be less than (72) regions to ensure the appropriate representation of these classes and get accurate estimates and results represent all classes.

Design and Selection Steps of Survey Sample: 

Second Phase: 
    The final sampling units (households) were drawn randomly out of the enumeration regions selected in the first phase by using the method of systematic random sampling, where the (12) households in every region of counting were selected, a total of (15936) household at the level of the Kingdom, in addition to the selection of an alternative sample with a size of (eight) households in each of the counting regions so as to reduce the percentage of non-response.

Response Rate: 

Section I: Outside cover of the form 
Section II: Housing characteristics 
Section III: Population characteristics
Section IV: Daily Spending

Section V: Monthly spending 
 Section VI: Spending on Durable Goods 
Section VII: Income 

Method of data collection:

The direct method in the process of collecting survey data was used, by personal interview, so that the researcher during the period of the survey (the month of conducting the survey) paid several visits to the family, as follows:
 
1. Familiarization visit 
2. Follow-up working visits
3. Receipt and delivery visits of daily & monthly assistant records 
4. Last visit 

Bases of registering household expenditure data:

When fulfilling the data on household, the following points taken into consideration:

· Goods or services purchased before the beginning of reference period are excluded from the expenditure of family.

· Spending on goods and services purchased and acquired during the period of reference is registered even if not consumed during this period.

· When buying goods on credit during the period of reference, register the name of the product and its total value. If purchased before the beginning of the period of reference, the value of the premium paid during the period of reference is registered in the list of monthly spending.

·  In case of a family obtained gifts, assistance or donations in kind during the period of reference in the form of goods or services, it is recorded within the family spending as if they were purchased.

· In the case of the use of a commodity or material of the family' self-production, the only amount consumed during the reference period, and unit of quantity and its market value are registered.

· Goods or services used for productive purposes in family-owned enterprises are excluded from the expenditure of the household.

· Value of gifts in kind donated to others is registered if the gift of the family' self-production, valued as the market price recorded within the monthly household expenditure.    

·        Periodic expenditures as expenses in electricity, water, and gas are registered whether paid or not during the period of reference, as long as consumed during the reference period.

· Ways of fulfilling and registering data on household: 

      During the period of the survey, and after the receipt  of the daily & monthly assistant records from the family, and after the final revision, the researcher is unloading the data in the survey form as well as the basic income of the household.

 Manpower Survey:

The Manpower Survey is one of the surveys conducted in the field of social statistics.  Preparation, design and implementation of this survey were undertaken so that through its results the data on the manpower status of the settled adult population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could be available.

 This data is important in terms of giving a picture of the size and status of the population inside and outside the labor force, especially the category of male & female population in the working age, the economically active workers, the self employed to gain money whether for themselves or their families, and those aim at producing economic goods and services in order to benefit from it in addition to the economically inactive. 

      The Survey' sample covers all 13th administrative regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the sample reached approximately (23,000) 
Saudi and non-Saudi family.
  
Design of Survey:

Manpower survey is one of the sample household surveys being conducted by CDSI using the framework of the General Census of Population and Housing.

     Before starting the designing of the sample of survey and selecting the appropriate method, the objectives of the survey were discussed and studied, and the results of former surveys were acquainted.

Moreover, the values of standard deviation (SD) and coefficient variation (CV) for some major variables, such as the rate of unemployment, number of the employed at the level of administrative regions were also analyzed and in the light of that, the sample' size of the new survey was estimated and the  selected sample was identified. This selected sample is a stratified cluster random sample which was chosen at two phases in accordance with the following: 
  
Phase I: 
       After defining the optimum size of the families for the survey sample for each administrative region, the process of withdrawal of the initial surveyed units, which are the regions of count (PSU) of the framework of the main sample, where (1091) regions of count were drawn out of (2600) ones in the framework of the main sample of the household surveys distributed to all classes in all administrative regions using the method proportional to the size weighting the number of Saudi  families in these regions distributed as follows: 
 

Phase II: 
      The secondary sampling units were randomly withdrawn , households (SSU) random from the count's regions selected in the first stage using systematic random sampling, where (21) families selected from every count's region, a total of about (23000) family at the level of the Kingdom. 
  
Data collection and processing: 
       Manpower survey and its data collection are implemented in the month of Safar of each year at its first session and in the month of Shaban in the second session.  

Form of Survey: 
The Survey's form was prepared, designed and reviewed by specialists in the CDSI' Social Statistics Department, after taking the views and proposals of the relevant government authorities in order to meet the requirements of users, planners and researchers. It included a series of questions on demographic, social and economic characteristics of the individuals and the most important of these questions are the following:
Individual's name, gender, relationship with head of the family, age, marital status, educational status, specialization for those holding secondary certificate and above, the status of the economic activity of the individual, the type and duration of training, method of job search, job search duration …etc.

  
Survey's Form was divided into four sections: 
1. Fundamental questions of general demographic characteristics. 

Questions to define the labor force reserve who are unemployed.