DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06262.v1
title: Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1991: Interview Survey, Detailed Expenditure Files
title: Version 1

description: The ongoing Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) provides a continuous flow of information on the buying habits of American consumers and also furnishes data to support periodic revisions of the Consumer Price Index. The survey consists of two separate components: (1) a quarterly Interview Survey in which each consumer unit in the sample is interviewed every three months over a 15-month period, and (2) a Diary Survey completed by the sample consumer units for two consecutive one-week periods. The Interview Survey was designed to collect data on major items of expense, household characteristics, and income. The expenditures covered by the survey are those that respondents can recall fairly accurately for three months or longer. In general, these expenditures include relatively large purchases, such as those for property, or expenditures that occur on a fairly regular basis, such as rent, utilities, or insurance premiums. Excluded are nonprescription drugs, household supplies, and personal care items. Including global estimates on spending for food, it is estimated that about 90 to 95 percent of expenditures are covered in the Interview Survey. The Detailed Expenditure Files that comprise this data collection were created from all the major expenditure sections of the Interview Survey questionnaires. These files contain more detailed expenditure records than those found in the Interview Survey data tapes. In addition, the Detailed Expenditure Files include family characteristics (FMLY) files and income and member characteristics (MEMB) files identical to those found in the Interview Survey.
description: The Consumer Expenditure Survey is based on a national probability sample of households. Households are selected from primary sampling units (PSUs), which consist of counties (or parts thereof), groups of counties, or independent cities. The set of sample PSUs used for the survey is composed of 101 areas, of which 85 urban areas have also been selected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Consumer Price Index program. The sampling frame from which housing units were selected was generated from the 1980 Census 100-percent detail file, augmented by new construction permits and coverage improvement techniques used to eliminate recognized deficiencies in that census. The sample design is a rotating panel survey in which one-fifth of the sample is dropped and a new group added each quarter. Each panel is interviewed for five consecutive quarters and then dropped from the survey.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: 1991 First Quarter: Family Characteristics and Income DS2: 1991 First Quarter: Member Characteristics and Income DS3: 1991 Second Quarter: Family Characteristics and Income DS4: 1991 Second Quarter: Member Characteristics and Income DS5: 1991 Third Quarter: Family Characteristics and Income DS6: 1991 Third Quarter: Member Characteristics and Income DS7: 1991 Fourth Quarter: Family Characteristics and Income DS8: 1991 Fourth Quarter: Member Characteristics and Income DS9: 1992 First Quarter: Family Characteristics and Income DS10: 1992 First Quarter: Member Characteristics and Income DS11: 1991-1992: Major Household Appliances DS12: 1991-1992: Rental Living Quarters DS13: 1991-1992: Owned Living Quarters (Detailed Property Description) DS14: 1991-1992: Owned Living Quarters (Disposed-Of Property) DS15: 1991-1992: Owned Living Quarters (Mortgage Payments) DS16: 1991-1992: Owned Living Quarters (Lump Sum Home Equity Loans) DS17: 1991-1992: Owned Living Quarters (Line of Credit Home Equity Loans) DS18: 1991-1992: Owned Living Quarters (Ownership Costs) DS19: 1991-1992: Utilities and Fuels (Telephone Expenses) DS20: 1991-1992: Utilities and Fuels (Screening Questions) DS21: 1991-1992: Utilities and Fuels (Detailed Questions) DS22: 1991-1992: Construction, Repairs, Alterations, and Maintenance of Property (Screening Questions) DS23: 1991-1992: Construction, Repairs, Alterations, and Maintenance of Property (Job Description) DS24: 1991-1992: Appliances, Household Equipment, and Other Selected Items (Purchase of Appliances) DS25: 1991-1992: Appliances, Household Equipment, and Other Selected Items (Other Household Equipment) DS26: 1991-1992: Household Equipment Repairs and Service Contracts DS27: 1991-1992: Furniture Repair and Reupholstering DS28: 1991-1992: Home Furnishings and Related Household Items (Purchases) DS29: 1991-1992: Home Furnishings and Related Household Items (Rental or Leasing of Furniture) DS30: 1991-1992: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Clothing) DS31: 1991-1992: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Infants' Clothing, Watches, Jewelry, and Hairpieces) DS32: 1991-1992: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Sewing Materials) DS33: 1991-1992: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Clothing Services) DS34: 1991-1992: Rented and Leased Vehicles (Screening Questions) DS35: 1991-1992: Rented and Leased Vehicles (Detailed Questions for Leased Vehicles) DS36: 1991-1992: Rented and Leased Vehicles (Detailed Questions) DS37: 1991-1992: Owned Vehicles (Detailed Questions) DS38: 1991-1992: Owned Vehicles (Disposed-Of Vehicles) DS39: 1991-1992: Vehicle Operating Expenses (Vehicle Maintenance and Repair) DS40: 1991-1992: Vehicle Operating Expenses (Licensing, Registration, and Inspection of Vehicles) DS41: 1991-1992: Vehicle Operating Expenses (Other Vehicle Operating Expenses) DS42: 1991-1992: Insurance Other Than Health DS43: 1991-1992: Hospitalization and Health Insurance (Detailed Questions) DS44: 1991-1992: Hospitalization and Health Insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Plans Not Paid by the CU) DS45: 1991-1992: Medical and Health Expenditures (Expenses) DS46: 1991-1992: Medical and Health Expenditures (Reimbursements) DS47: 1991-1992: Educational Expenses (Expenses Paid by the CU) DS48: 1991-1992: Educational Expenses (Expenses Paid Directly by Others Outside the CU) DS49: 1991-1992: Subscriptions and Memberships DS50: 1991-1992: Books and Entertainment DS51: 1991-1992: Trips and Vacations (Not Fully Reimbursed) DS52: 1991-1992: Trips and Vacations (Fully Reimbursed) DS53: 1991-1992: Trips and Vacations (Trip Expenses for Non-CU Members) DS54: 1991-1992: Trips and Vacations (Local Overnight Stays) DS55: 1991-1992: Trips and Vacations (Screening Questions) DS56: 1991-1992: Trips and Vacations (Detailed Questions) DS57: 1991-1992: Miscellaneous Expenses DS58: 1991-1992: Food, Beverages, and Other Selected Items (Food and Beverages) DS59: 1991-1992: Food, Beverages, and Other Selected Items (Selected Services and Goods) DS60: Credit Liability (Second Quarter Only) DS61: Credit Liability (Credit Balances) DS62: Credit Liability (Finance Charges) DS63: Vehicle Make/Model Codes and Titles
description: Total civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States.
description: A new Interview Survey questionnaire was introduced beginning in April 1991, resulting in significant changes to the 1991 Interview Survey data files. Several files, including Purchases of Household Appliances, Inventory of Household Appliances, Inventory and Purchases of Owned Vehicles, Disposal of Owned Vehicles, Trips and Vacations, and Vehicle Make/Model Codes and Titles, have been moved to the Detailed Expenditure Files for 1991 and subsequent years. The documentation has been completely restructured beginning in 1991 to reflect these changes.