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Consumer Expenditure Surveys

Public Use Microdata

Practical Training
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Logistics

◼ Ten Project Exercises 

 Tuesday 10:45-12:00 p.m.

 Tuesday 2:15-4:30 p.m.

 Wednesday 10:45-1:00 p.m.

 Wednesday 3:15-5:00 p.m.

 Thursday 10:45-12:00 p.m.

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CE Microdata Users’ Workshop

◼ Data

https://www.bls.gov/cex/pumd_data.htm

◼ Getting Started Guide

https://www.bls.gov/cex/pumd-getting-startedguide.htm

◼ Dictionary

https://www.bls.gov/cex/pumd/ce_pumd_inter

view_diary_dictionary.xlsx

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CE Microdata Users’ Workshop

You’re embarking on a research project to learn 

about education expenses in today’s economy. 

What’s the public spending and who’s spending 

more?

How does the composition of a household affect 

education expenditures?

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Project 1: Generating 

Annualized Sample Means by 

Family Type Using the Interview 

Survey FMLI Files
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Project 1

Let’s look at the sample and what’s available in the 

FMLI files related to education expenditures.

In this project you will:

Learn about summary variables.

Learn about some of the many demographic variables 

available in the PUMD.

Calculate sample means, percent reporting, and 

standard errors.

Understand some limitations of the Interview survey.

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Summary Level Expenditures

◼ Each summary expenditure category has two 

variables: PQ and CQ.

◼ Why two variables? 

– PQ for the previous calendar quarter expenditures 

(compared to interview date)

– CQ for the current quarter expenditures

– For total reference period expenditures PQ + CQ

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Composition of the Household

◼ Several demographic variables exist that provide details on the 

makeup of a CU

◼ FAM_TYPE is defined based on the relationship of members 

within the CU to the reference person. Children are defined as 

blood-related sons and daughters, step children and adopted 

children.
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Demographic Groups

FAM_TYPE:

1 Married Couple only

2 Married Couple, own children only, oldest child under 6 years old

3 Married Couple, own children only oldest child 6 to 17 years old

4 Married Couple, own children only, oldest child over 17 years old

5 All other Married Couple CUs

6 One parent, male, own children at least one child under 18 years old

7 One parent, female, own children, at least one child under 18 years old

8 Single consumers

9 Other CUsn

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Project 1 Steps

1. Concatenate (“Set”, “Append”) 4 quarterly FMLI files to obtain 

collection year of data.

2. Calculate quarterly education expenditures for each household:

• EDUCA_EXP = EDUCAPQ + EDUCACQ

3. Create demographic groups to estimate by FAM_TYPE. 

4. Means: Calculate average annual expenditure by FAM_TYPE

• Multiply quarterly aggregates by 4 (EDUCA_EXP *4) to get annual 

aggregate, divide by sample

5. Percent reporting: Create an indicator for CUs that had 

expenditures (EDUCA_EXP) > 0, find the mean of the indicator to 

determine the percent that reported.

6. Standard Error: Calculate standard error by FAM_TYPE. 

*Note for STATA users: Convert the 2021 data variables to lowercase if they aren’t already
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Project 1 Results

Count Family Type (FAM_TYPE) Mean Family 

Size

Education 

Expenditure 

Mean

Education 

Expenditure 

Standard Error

Education 

Expenditure 

Percent Reporting

4,559 Married couple only 2 $845.58 $110.86 4.65%

744 Married Couple, own children 

only, oldest child under 6 years 

old

4 $577.63 $116.26 7.66%

2,137 Married Couple, own children 

only, oldest child 6 to 17 years 

old

4 $2,228.48 $264.76 19.2%

1,451 Married Couple, own children 

only, oldest child over 17 years 

old

4 $3,552.88 $356.68 21.4%

765 All other Married Couple CUs 5 $1,042.15 $234.52 11.5%

209 One parent, male, own children 

at least one child under 18 

years old

3 $603.44 $259.66 10.0%

727 One parent, female, own 

children, at least one child 

under 18 years old

3 $582.55 $132.05 12.0%

6,491 Single consumers 1 $524.30 $69.57 4.27%

3,251 Other consumer units 3 $773.86 $96.58 8.31%
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Project 1 Notes

◼ Interview not designed to capture smaller, 

frequently purchased items.

EX: Some education expenses are included in 

total expenditures for the CE tables, but are not 

collected in the Interview.

Supplement Diary data to include (we’ll do this in 

Project 4).

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Percentage Distribution of CU’s

by Housing Tenure 

4-Interview CU’s vs. Non- 4-Interview CU’s (2019 Q1 – 2019 Q4)

39%

32%

28%

1% 0%

36%

26%

36%

1% 1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Owned w/ mortgage Owned w/o 

mortgage

Rented Occupied w/o 

payment of rent

Other

Four interviews Fewer than 4 interviews
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Percentage Distribution of CU’s

by Age of Reference Person 

4-Interview CU’s vs. Non- 4-Interview CU’s (2019 Q1 – 2019 Q4)

2%

12%

15%

17%

21%

19%

14%

6%

15%

17%

16%

19%

16%

12%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 and over

Four interviews Fewer than 4 interviews
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Project 2: Generating annualized 

sample means by number of 

children in the CU using the 

Interview FMLI and MEMI files
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Project 2

What if you want to know how the number of 

children within the household affects 

expenditures on education? We can use the 

MEMI file to add information to our dataset.

In this project you will:

Learn how to navigate the MEMI file.

How CE files fit together.

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Project 2 Steps

1. Concatenate 4 quarterly MEMI (MEMI211X – MEMI214) files to obtain 

collection year of data.

2. Create summary identifier at the household level to determine 

groupings for the number of children(see next page) using CU_CODE =3.

3. Merge (“Join”) FMLI file with MEMI file using NEWID to link.

4. Means: Calculate means using new summary identifiers.

5. Standard Error: Calculate standard error for each of the groups.

6. Percent reporting: Create an indicator for CUs that had expenditures > 

0, calculate mean of the indicator to determine the percent that 

reported for each group.
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Project 2 details

Groupings by number of children using MEMI 

variable AGE:

0 – 0 children in the CU

1 – 1 child in the CU

2 – 2 children in the CU

3 – 3 children in the CU

4 – 4 or more children in the CU

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Project 2 Results

Count Number of Children

Education 

Expenditure

Mean

Education 

Expenditure

Standard Error

Education 

Expenditure

Percent Reporting

13,081 0 children $675.61 $55.25 5.00%

3,210 1 child $1,523.55 $175.11 11.7%

2,527 2 children $2,068.70 $208.92 17.3%

1,028 3 children $1,637.44 $243.42 16.4%

486 4 or more children $1,705.90 $336.90 20.6%
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Project 3: Adding More Detail 

About Expenditures
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Project 3

What if you want to know about specific types 

of education expenses? We can use the 

monthly expenditure file (MTBI) to add 

information to our dataset

In this project you will:

Learn more about the MTBI file.

Create detailed summarized estimates from the 

MTBI file.

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Project 3 Steps

1. Concatenate 4 quarterly MTBI files to obtain collection year of 

data.

2. Calculate totals by number of children for each NEWID using the 

following education expense groupings.

Tuition: 670110, 670210, 670410, 670901 

Test preparation and tutoring services: 670903

School books, supplies, and equipment: 660110, 660210, 660410, 660901, 660902

Other school expenses including rentals: 670902

3. Merge new expenditure groups with the FMLI information.

4. Calculate means, standard errors, and percent reporting.
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Project 3 Results

Tuition 

Count Number of Children Tuition Expenditure

Mean

Tuition 

Expenditure

Standard Error

Tuition Expenditure

Percent Reporting

13,081 0 children $648.28 $54.65 3.6%

3,210 1 child $1,441.54 $172.06 8.0%

2,527 2 children $1,930.77 $206.77 11.2%

1,028 3 children $1,520.30 $239.22 10.8%

486 4 or more children $1,546.53 $334.19 12.3%
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Project 3 Results

Test preparation and tutoring 

services 

Count Number of Children

Test Prep 

Expenditure

Mean

Test Prep 

Expenditure

Standard Error

Test Prep 

Expenditure

Percent Reporting

13,081 0 children $5.76 $1.35 0.3%

3,210 1 child $26.11 $5.94 1.2%

2,527 2 children $69.02 $12.97 2.0%

1,028 3 children $39.37 $15.08 1.5%

486 4 or more children $46.21 $28.10 1.2%
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Project 3 Results

School books, supplies, and 

equipment*

Count Number of Children

Supplies 

Expenditure

Mean

Supplies 

Expenditure

Standard Error

Supplies

Expenditure

Percent Reporting

13,081 0 children $7.49 $1.11 0.8%

3,210 1 child $12.94 $3.21 1.5%

2,527 2 children $16.17 $3.05 2.1%

1,028 3 children $25.02 $6.19 2.7%

486 4 or more children $35.23 $18.73 2.5%

*Due to UCC changes in 2021Q2, this is only showing data for 2021Q1 (See the CE 

source selection file)
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Project 3 Results

Other school expenses including 

rentals

Count Number of Children

Other School 

Expenditure

Mean

Other School 

Expenditure

Standard Error

Other School 

Expenditure

Percent Reporting

13,081 0 children $14.08 $2.75 1.0%

3,210 1 child $42.96 $9.28 2.8%

2,527 2 children $52.73 $7.99 4.5%

1,028 3 children $52.77 $11.26 4.5%

486 4 or more children $77.92 $24.14 5.6%