Systematic review of metrics used to characterize dietary nutrient supply from household consumption and expenditure surveys

Objective: To review existing publications using Household Consumption & Expenditure Survey (HCES) data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply to (1) describe scope of available literature, (2) identify the metrics reported and parameters used to construct these metrics, (3) summarize comparisons between estimates derived from HCES and individual dietary assessment data, and (4) explore the demographic and socioeconomic sub-groups used to characterize risks of nutrient inadequacy. Design: This study is a systematic review of publications identified from online databases published between 2000 to 2019 that used HCES food consumption data to estimate household dietary nutrient supply. Further publications were identified by “snowballing” the references of included database-identified publications. Setting: Publications using data from low- and lower middle income countries Results: In total, 58 publications were included. Three metrics were reported that characterized household dietary nutrient supply: apparent nutrient intake per adult-male equivalent per day (n=35), apparent nutrient intake per capita per day (n=24), and nutrient density (n=5). Nutrient intakes were generally overestimated using HCES food consumption data, with several studies finding sizeable discrepancies compared to intake estimates based on individual dietary assessment methods. Sub-group analyses predominantly focused on measuring variation in household dietary nutrient supply according to socioeconomic position and geography. Conclusion: HCES data are increasingly being used to assess diets across populations. More research is needed to inform the development of a framework to guide the use of and qualified interpretation of dietary assessments based on these data.

Sooner or later? The impact of child education on household consumption

We study the impact of one more year of child’s education on household (non-durable) consumption. We exploit an exogenous shock generated by a university reform in Italy in the early 2000s. We find that families responded in a way that is consistent with education as a production good. The higher child’s education produced household positive, permanent income innovations. Hence, family non-durable consumption increased. Our findings suggest that education can be an insurance device against adverse permanent income shocks. The 2001 reform not only positively affected offspring’s years of schooling, but it also had a positive effect to boost household consumption.

Inequality of household consumption and PM2.5 footprint across socioeconomic groups in China

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have highlighted the challenge posed by increasing air pollution. This study allocates PM2.5 footprint to household consumption expenditure based on multi-regional input-output model and survey data collected from 30 thousand households. The household indirect PM2.5 footprint related to spending on food, hospital, electricity, and education rank as the top four items, plus direct PM2.5 emissions, which in combination contribute more than 55% of total air pollution. Compared with the poor, the responsibilities for air pollution on the wealthy are more sensitive to changes in income, especially for high-end consumption categories, such as luxury goods and services, education and healthcare. Further, the wealthiest 20% of households cause 1.5 times PM2.5 footprint per capita than exposure to PM2.5 emissions. The high-footprint household samples are concentrated in high-exposure areas. It is recommended that mitigation policies address inequality of PM2.5 footprint by targeting the top 20% footprint groups with tags of wealthy, urban resident, well-educated, small family, and apartment living.

Household consumption and home production at retirement in Thailand: evidence from a regression discontinuity approach

This paper uses Socio-Economic Surveys covering the period from 2013 to 2019 and the 2015 Time Use Survey to investigate the extent to which household consumption changes at retirement in Thailand. A fuzzy regression discontinuity design is applied to evaluate the retirement effect on total household expenditure and expenditures on four major categories: food-at-home, work-related items, non-durable entertainment, and others. The results reveal that retirement decreases household expenditure by 11%. Further investigations show that the dramatic declines in expenditures on work-related and non-durable entertainment contribute significantly to the spending drop at retirement. The magnitudes of the declines are more pronounced for low-income and low-wealth households. The results also indicate that the retirees spend more leisure time on home production activities after retirement. Once accounting for this effect, it finds that the drop in total household expenditure decreases to 6%. These results suggest that the sizable consumption expenditure drop at retirement is due to substituting away from market purchased goods toward home-produced goods.

Fertility and Household Welfare in Nigeria: A Time Series Econometric Approach

This study examines the effect of fertility levels on household welfare in Nigeria during the period from 1980 to 2020. Using data from the World Development Indicators for 2021, the estimation process began with a unit root test for the stationarity of the variables. A bounds cointegration test showed the presence of a long-run relationship between household consumption expenditure and fertility, but the result was inconclusive when real GDP per capita was used as a welfare proxy. The ARDL model was employed and the results showed that fertility had a negative, significant effect on household consumption per capita only in the short run. The effect was from previous years thereby showing a lagged effect. However, when welfare is measured using real GDP per capita, there were both short-run and long-run effects, such that Kuznets’ hypothesis of an inverted U-shaped relationship was obtained in the short run. In the long run, however, the relationship becomes U-shaped, implying that there is the possibility of a demographic dividend in the long run. Fertility policies must endeavor to control for the immediate or short-run negative effects of rising fertility rates and make deliberate plans to engage the future large working population in order to reap the possible demographic dividend.

Like parent, like child: a cross-sectional study of intra-household consumption patterns of non-alcoholic beverages among British households with children

Objective: Most research investigating sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and health, conducted at the individual or household level, ignores potentially important intra-household dynamics. We analysed self-reported consumption relationships between children and adults, and between children of different ages, as well as the associations between intra-household consumption, body mass index and socio-demographic characteristics. Design: A cross-sectional analysis of survey data from Kantar Fast Moving Consumer Goods panellists in September 2017. Setting: Great Britain Participants: Random sample of 603 households with children under 18 who regularly purchase non-alcoholic beverages. Results: Low or no-sugar/diet beverages dominate consumption across all age categories, particularly children under 12 years. SSB consumption increased as children became older. Children’s reported consumption of SSBs and low or no-sugar/diet beverages was positively associated with consumption by adults; a child in adolescence had over nine times the odds of consuming SSBs (adjusted OR 9.55, 95% CI 5.38, 17.00, p<0.001), and eight times the odds of consuming low or no-sugar/diet drinks (adjusted OR 8.12, 95% CI 4.71, 13.97, p<0.001), if adults did so. In households with multiple children, consumption patterns of older siblings were associated with those of the younger; notably a perfect correlation between children 0-6 years consuming SSBs if siblings 13-18 years did so, and children 7-12 years had 22 times the odds of consuming SSBs if siblings 13-18 years did so (OR 22.33, 95% CI 8.60, 58.01, p<0.001). Conclusions: Multiple policies, targeting children as well as adults, such as fiscal levers and advertisement restrictions, are needed to reduce and prevent consumption of SSBs.

The COVID-19 Inflation Weighting in Israel

Significant shifts in the composition of consumer spending as a result of the COVID-19 crisis can complicate the interpretation of official inflation data, which are calculated by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) based on a fixed basket of goods. We focus on Israel as a country that experienced three lockdowns, additional restrictions that significantly changed consumer behavior, and a successful vaccination campaign that has led to the lifting of most of these restrictions. We use credit card spending data to construct a consumption basket of goods representing the composition of household consumption during the COVID-19 period. We use this synthetic COVID-19 basket to calculate the adjusted inflation rate that should prevail during the pandemic period. We find that the differences between COVID-19-adjusted and CBS (unadjusted) inflation measures are transitory. Only the contribution of certain goods and services, particularly housing and transportation, to inflation changed significantly, especially during the first and second lockdowns. Although lockdowns and restrictions in developed countries created a significant bias in inflation weighting, the inflation bias remained unexpectedly small and transitory during the COVID-19 period in Israel.

Justice and inequality in the household consumption in Russia and China: A comparative analysis

The authors conducted a comparative analysis of the household consumption in Russia and China on the basis of the reputable empirical information sources. The article focuses on the main trends and peculiarities in how households from each country differed in terms of the structure and level of consumption under dramatic transformations associated with market reforms. Inequality in consumption in Russia and China, which can be characterized as high or excessive, largely determines the overall situation with social inequality and significantly influences the development of state social policy in various fields. As for the most differentiating items of expenditure for both countries, those are groceries, durable goods, public utility payments, cultural activities and entertainment. After noting the effect that income has on consumption, which is undeniable, though differs in nature and degree, the authors focus on other factors of this type of inequality, in particular, on the territorial, regional and settlement-specific characteristics of consumption inequality in both countries. The authors argue that in Russia, there is significant regional inequality in consumption, while in China such inequality is more settlement-specific; there are also differences in consumption inequality between urban and rural areas, which contribute to the overall situation with social inequality. In China, urban household expenditures are growing much faster than those of rural households, while in Russia the difference is not that pronounced. That said, the share of spending on groceries in the structure of expenditures is decreasing more rapidly in urban China, and compared to Russia, there is a smaller gap between urban and rural areas. At the same time in China, consumption inequality as a result of age and class differences is a much more acute issue, while in Russia, the differences caused by intensifying economic stratification seem to be a more important factor of inequality.