Consumer expenditure survey, 1980-1981

This data collection contains selected expenditure and income data from the diary components of the 1980 and 1981 Consumer Expenditure Surveys. The last major effort to collect information on expenditures of households in the United States was conducted in 1972-1973. The principal objectives of the ongoing survey are: to collect current consumer expenditure data to provide a continuous flow of data on the buying habits of American consumers for use in a wide variety of social and economic research and analysis, and to provide data for future revisions to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The 1980 diary survey data were derived from the reports of over 5,500 sample consumer units. The collection and processing were carried out by the United States Bureau of the Census under contract with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unlike previous surveys, which were conducted only every ten to twelve years, the 1980-1981 surveys are the beginning of an ongoing survey which will provide data on a continual basis. In the diary survey, consumer units are asked to list all of their expenses during the period they are in the survey. However, the primary objective of the survey is to obtain reliable expenditure data on small frequently purchased items which are normally difficult to recall.