Metadata record for Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1960-1961

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1960-1961 United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research ICPSR 1992-02-16 9035 doi://10.3886/ICPSR09035.v1

This data collection includes detailed information on the purchasing habits of Americans in 1960-1961, with over 200 types of expenditures coded. For the first time since 1941, the Consumer Expenditure Survey sampled both urban, non-farm and rural, farm households in an attempt to provide a complete picture of consumer expenditures in the United States. Personal interviews were conducted in 1960 and 1961 (and a small number in 1959) with 9,476 urban families, 2,285 rural non-farm families, and 1,967 rural farm families, for a total of 13,728 consumer units interviewed. A complete account of family income and outlays was compiled for a calendar year, as well as household characteristics. The expenditures covered by the survey were those which respondents could recall fairly accurately for three months or longer. In general, these expenditures included relatively large purchases, such as those for property, automobiles, and major appliances, or expenditures that occurred on a fairly regular basis, such as rent, utilities, or insurance premiums. Expenditures incurred while on trips were also covered by the survey. Information to determine net changes in the family's assets and liabilities during the year was also gathered. The estimated value of goods and services received, as gifts or otherwise, without direct expenditures by the family, was requested also. In addition, farm families provided farm receipts, disbursements, changes in farm assets, and value of home-produced food. To supplement the annual data, non-farm families who prepared meals at home provided a detailed seven-day record, during the week prior to the interview, of expenditures for food and related items purchased frequently (e.g., tobacco, personal care, and household supplies). For selected items of clothing, house furnishings, and food, the record of expenditures was supplemented by information on quantities purchased and prices paid. Characteristics of the housing occupied by homeowners and renters and an inventory of the major items of house furnishing they owned also were recorded. Demographic information includes sex, age, years of school completed, occupation, race, and marital status of each family member.

UniverseScheme09035 Consumer Expenditure Survey Series For more information on the series, please go to http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/series/00020. NACDA.III ICPSR.IV.A automobile expenses consumer behavior consumer expenditures consumption debt demographic characteristics durable goods employment energy consumption families fixed income food costs household appliances household budgets household expenditures household income housing costs insurance purchasing recreation expenses taxes unemployment benefits vehicles wages and salaries United States 1960 1961 survey data Households in the United States from 1959-1961. Nationwide stratified probability samples selected for urban areas, rural areas in metropolitan counties, and rural areas in nonmetropolitan counties. personal interviews 1959 1962 ICPSR

AVAILABLE. This study is freely available to the general public.

The original collector of the data, ICPSR, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Rearch ICPSR

Ann Arbor MI

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ netmail@icpsr.umich.edu StudyUnit09035

(1) ICPSR obtained the 1960-1961 Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in two files, one containing the urban families and a second file containing the rural families interviewed. The data records in each of the files were recorded in zoned-decimal format, with two records of 911 columns each per case. ICPSR processing consisted of transforming the data from zoned-decimal to character mode, altering the file from two records of 911 columns per case to a single record of 1748 characters per case (deleting blank and duplicate fields in the process), and combining the urban and rural interview records into a single file. (2) The codebook is provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.