A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON HOUSEHOLD EDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURE IN PAKISTAN: A MESSAGE FORWARD

This comparative study aims to examine household educational expenditure in Pakistan. The data was collected from Pakistan household budget surveys 2013-14, 2015-16 and 2018-19. To meet the objectives of study, descriptive, two sample t-test and Working-Leser model through econometric regression were performed for the confirmation of hypotheses. Results of the study show that educational expenditure increased from US$213.29 household-1 in 2013-14 to US$280.94 household-1 in 2015- 16 and there is obtained slightly increased in educational expenditure (i.e., from US$280.94 household-1 to US$281.06 household-1 ) from 2015-16 to 2018-19. A significant increase in household educational expenditure in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces obtained while educational expenditure of households belongs to Balochistan decreased (i.e., from US$211. 94 household-1 in 2015 to US$128.76 household-1 in 2018). There is obtained positive and statistically significant impact of logarithm income on budget shares of education. Education expenditure elasticity turns out greater than one, which advocates households treat education as expensive one. Findings of study reveals that expenditure on fees and books accounts for more than 80 per cent share of household total educational expenditure. Keeping in view the findings of study, some lucrative policies are recommended for educational development at household level in Pakistan.

RECEIPTS AND INCOME OF HOUSEHOLDS IN POLAND

This article aims to assess the income situation of households in Poland, considering the level of receipts and in[1]come as well as their dynamics and structure. An analysis was also carried out with respect to differences between particular socio-economic groups and between households depending on the number of persons in a household. The Gini coefficient was used for analytical purposes. Moreover, an attempt was made to identify the causes of income diversification. The analysis was carried out based on data derived from household budget surveys conducted by Statistics Poland. The research covered the period from 2000 to 2019 (individual years). The study showed a real increase in the average monthly net receipts and available income in all households. The most favour[1]able financial situation was observed in white-collar workers, self-employed persons and one-person households. The least favourable income situation was found in households of blue[1]collar workers and pensioners and households of six or more persons. However, attention should also be paid to changes taking place in the structure of sources of income generated by household members. There is an increase in income from hired work and social assistance benefits. The highest variations in receipts and available income were observed in households of farmers and those of six or more persons. In contrast, the smallest variations were recorded with respect to households of old-age pensioners and one-person households.

Population aging and the probability of saving: a life cycle analysis of the Brazilian case

This study analyzes the life cycle of private individuals' savings in Brazil, reflecting on how the proportion of savers changes as the population ages. To this end, we employ a multinomial logit model to compare the probability of savings and dissavings for individuals, according to their ages, based on data from the Household Budget Surveys (HBS) of 2002-2003 and 2008-2009. The results confirm a greater incidence of savers among middle-aged adults and a greater percentage of dissavers among the elderly. However, given the age structure of the Brazilian population, demographic change is still expected to result in an increase in the number of net savers in the coming years.

Availability of ultra-processed food associated with health outcomes: a systematic review

Background Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption increases worldwide, which can be harm to population's health. To establish associations between UPF and health outcomes, food consumption can be assessed individually or by using availability data, such as purchase lists or household budget surveys. The aim of this review was to search for studies on the availability of UPF related with mortality and morbidity from noncommunicable diseases or their risk factors. Methods PRISMA guideline was used. Searches were performed on PubMED, EBSCO, Scopus and Web of Science on December 2019. Search strategy included terms related with exposure (UPF) and outcomes (mortality or morbidity from noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors). Studies were selected based on the title and abstracts. Full texts were screened for eligibility and the snowballing method was used to find other relevant studies. To be based on UPF availability data and its relation with health outcomes were the inclusion criteria. Studies that assessed only food consumption at an individual level and did not present health outcome were excluded. Selection was conducted by two reviewers and a third helped when disagreement occurred. Results After duplicates removal, 560 records were analyzed. From the 11 eligible studies, 55% were conducted in more than one country. Others were performed in Brazil (27%), Guatemala (9%) and Sweden (9%). Studies were ecological (64%), cross-sectional (27%) and longitudinal (9%). All had representative samples, 45.5% were national samples, and the others were from particular population subgroups. In all studies, the only health outcomes that showed positive association with UPF availability were overweight and obesity prevalence. Conclusions Studies relating ultra-processed food availability and health outcomes are mainly focused on overweight and obesity. It is thus necessary to further explore the relationship between UPF availability and other health outcomes. Key messages It is necessary to further research association between ultra-processed food availability and other health outcomes, such as morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or cancer. Purchase lists or household budget surveys are an important source of food availability data and can be used to relate the consumption of ultra-processed foods to health outcomes.

Pro-rich inflation in Europe: Implications for the measurement of inequality

This paper studies the distributional consequences of a systematic variation in expenditure shares and prices. Using European Union Household Budget Surveys and Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices data, we construct household-specific price indices and reveal the existence of a pro-rich inflation in Europe. Over the period 2001–15, the consumption bundles of the poorest deciles in 25 European countries have, on average, become 11.2 percentage points more expensive than those of the richest deciles. We find that ignoring the differential inflation across the distribution underestimates the change in the Gini (based on consumption expenditure) by almost up to 0.04 points. Cross-country heterogeneity in this change is large enough to alter the inequality ranking of numerous countries. The average inflation effect we detect is almost as large as the change in the standard Gini measure over the period of interest.

Demand for Food Diversity in Romania

The present research work applied a food diversity measurement tool (Transformed Berry Index) on the 2011 Household Budget Surveys data. The investigation was performed on household purchased based TBI measure and on actual consumption TBI, in order to highlight the errors that one would make if one fails to take into account the production of goods by the household. There are some important differences in the food diversity of the actual food consumption in comparison to the purchased food quantities, the number of food items being higher in the case of actual consumption. However, food diversity does not seem to be influenced by the residence area (urban vs. rural) in any of the two approaches.

Problems of Household Budget Surveys: Regional Experience

The article addresses organizational challenges and methodological issues that state statistical bodies face while preparing for and conducting household budget sample survey (HBS). Among these problems, the author considers the difficulties associated with ensuring the quality of HBS results and minimizing the number of respondent refusals to participate in this observation.According to the author, the range of tasks to be solved includes, among other things, methodological and organizational aspects, such as the need to review certain regulations of the HBS by-laws, search for reserves to reduce the survey program, to change the order of generating sample units, and a number of other provisions. In this regard, the author proposes to decrease the information load on respondents. It includes reducing the time of filling out the questionnaire, as well as applying an updated approach to the formation of the respondent network. In addition, the author emphasizes the need to increase the level of automation of collecting and processing of primary HBS data.