500 more needed for household surveys

Sunday 06 January 2019

The States are appealing for people to give up some of their time to log what they spend on shopping and household bills so they can keep a track of the cost of living in the island.

The Household Expenditure Survey has been running since May 2018, but it covers a full 12 months to ensure seasonal changes in expenditure are captured. That means more people are still needed to take part in it during the next few colder months.

Helen Walton, Head of Data & Analysis for the States, said they really want to capture the full range of spending patterns, with some obvious peaks and troughs during different times of the year.

“In Guernsey, December is usually the month with the most rainfall and it also has the least daylight hours. January and February are the coldest months. As a result, those that pay their electricity and gas bills as they get them or via direct debit, rather than by standing order, or buy wood or coal for fires, will usually have higher expenditure on fuel at this time of year," she said.

"The patterns can be a bit different for those with oil tanks, which they might fill up at the start of winter or for those that go on holiday and aren’t here for a while. The Survey seeks to capture all of that information from all different types of household, to give an overall average that represents the whole island."

Ms Walton said when the Household Expenditure Survey was carried out in 2012/3 it found that spending on fuel for lighting and heating averaged £40 per week, but that has probably changed over the last six years.

"It will be fascinating to see how that average has changed, since the survey will reflect differences in spending habits, such as volumes and types of fuel purchased, as well as prices," she said.

Pictured: How much do you spending on your household heating bills? 

The survey is running until the end of April and the States are hoping that 500 more people will sign up to do it.

If you do, every participant gets a £25 restaurant voucher or a ticket to a quarterly cash prize draw with a top prize of £500 plus five other prizes. The next draw for that takes place on 1 February.

The survey is all anonymous, but a fieldworker will guide you through the main questionnaire and help input information on regular payments and large purchases, while householders are asked to record their regular expenditure on groceries and other purchases over a fortnight. 

Once all of the survey results are in, that data will be used to update the island's Retail Prices Index (RPI) basket - which is then used to monitor changes in the cost of living, which is in turn used to inform tax allowances, social security benefit rates, pension payments, wage negotiations, rental price reviews and maintenance payments.

The results of the last survey are published here and the latest RPI figure is here. 

For more information on the survey, go here, email hes@gov.gg or call 717188. 

Pictured top: How much do you spend on your weekly food shop?