Presents data on the buying habits of American consumers for 2002 and 2003. Provides a complete accounting of consumer expenditures and income.

The Consumer Expenditure (CE) surveys are the only source of information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes in the United States, as well as the characteristics of those consumers. The CE consists of two separate surveys: (1) a national sample of households interviewed five times at three-month intervals; and (2) a separate national sample of households that complete two consecutive one-week expenditure diaries. For more than 40 years, these surveys, the responsibility of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), have been the principal source of knowledge about changing patterns of consumer spending in the U.S. population. In February 2009, BLS initiated the Gemini Project, the aim of which is to redesign the CE surveys to improve data quality through a verifiable reduction in measurement error with a particular focus on underreporting. The Gemini Project initiated a series of information-gathering meetings, conference sessions, forums, and workshops to identify appropriate strategies for improving CE data quality. As part of this effort, BLS requested the National Research Council's Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) to convene an expert panel to build on the Gemini Project by conducting further investigations and proposing redesign options for the CE surveys. The charge to the Panel on Redesigning the BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys includes reviewing the output of a Gemini-convened data user needs forum and methods workshop and convening its own household survey producers workshop to obtain further input. In addition, the panel was tasked to commission options from contractors for consideration in recommending possible redesigns. The panel was further asked by BLS to create potential redesigns that would put a greater emphasis on proactive data collection to improve the measurement of consumer expenditures. Measuring What We Spend summarizes the deliberations and activities of the panel, discusses the conclusions about the uses of the CE surveys and why a redesign is needed, as well as recommendations for the future.

Analyses information on househols consumption. Provides data by standard classifications that include income quintiles, income classes, and daily per capita expenditure classes, cross-tabulated by demographic variables such as the size of household, number of earners, proportion of expenditure on different expenditure categories.

Consumer unit income and expenditures, integrated data from Interview and Diary surveys, classified by consumer unit characteristics; one way and cross tabulations.

This report presents the latest information from the Family Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS) for the financial year April 2002 to March 2003. The EFS is the result of the amalgamation of the Family Expenditure and National Food Surveys. Both surveys were well established and important sources of information for government and the wider community, charting changes and patterns in Britain's spending and food consumption since the 1950's. This title is an ideal tool for developing strategies based on consumer spending patterns and provides the reader with detailed analyses of household expenditure on goods and services by household income, composition, size, type and location. The result is one of the most accurate pictures available of what households in Britain spend their money on today.