Household finance and consumption
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Household finance and consumption survey
The Household finance and consumption survey is aimed at monitoring the financial situation of hosueholds. It has been carried out in Slovakia since 2010.
What is the aim of the survey?
The Household Finance and Consumption Survey, abbreviated as HFCS is aimed at collecting data on real financial assets, loans, as well as on their income and consumption.
The survey is conducted in all eurozone countries and is coordinated by the European Central Bank. In Slovakia the survey is managed by the National Bank of Slovakia in cooperation with the Statistical Office of the SR. The collected information helps central banks in making decisions in the area of monetary policy and financial stability of the Eurosystem and is essential in detecting risks, for example in case of household over- indebtedness.
When and where will the survey be conducted?
The survey is carried out at approximately three-year intervals, for 2023 it will be conducted for the fifth time, from 12 October to 31 January 2023. Based on a random selection, nearly 4 000 households in 480 municipalities and towns in Slovakia are included in the survey for the year 2023.
Who will answer the questions?
The respondents of the survey are all persons living in the household.
What will we ask?
The HFCS contains questions related to what types of assets and liabilities are owned by the Slovak households, questions about their income and expenses, indebtedness, financial liabilities and pension security of household members. An important part is the collection of basic demographic characteristics of household members.
The 2023 survey also includes questions related to the financial literacy of the Slovak population.
How are the hosuehold data provided to the Office protected?
All collected data are used exclusively for the needs of state statistics, are confidential and protected according to the Slovak and European legislation.
The final statistical information is always published in an aggregated form and the data on a specific household and on persons is non-identifiable from them
Can the respondent refuse to fill out the questionnaire?
National legislation imposes an obligation on the selected respondent to provide the required information, pursuant to Act No. 540/2001 Coll. on state statistics in the current version.
The survey is also part of the European Statistical Program and is carried out in accordance with the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council (EU) No. 2019/1700 and delegated regulations for the relevant year, which means that the European legislation also obliges us to do so. It precisely determines and defines the specificities of how to carry out the survey, to what extent, periodicity and to what territorial level, and in accordance with a harmonized internationally comparable methodology.
We appreciate the willingness of all respondents participating in the surveys, because they help to identify the enterprise's problems and obtain high quality and reliable information. They thus contribute to solutions and positive changes.
How will the questionnaire be completed? How will the survey be conducted?
- The Statistical Office of the SR contacts the selected household in writing - with a letter informing about the inclusion in the survey, in which the name of the interviewer is stated (responsible person for the Statistical Office of the SR, e-mail and telephone contact for this person). At the same time, the exact date and time of the interviewer's visit to this household is also indicated
- The selected household can verify whether it is really a survey conducted by the Statistical Office of the SR and whether the household was also included in the survey by the managers of the eight regional offices on the contracts also listed in the accompanying letter or in the following table: Contact persons for the field surveys in regions of the SR format (XLSX 25 kB) or format (ODS 17 kB)
- The respondent can then adjust/change the date of the interviewer's visit to his home, choose another meeting place outside his home, or will arrange the interview by telephone, if possible.
- The interviewer of the Statistical Office of the SR will present himself at the personal meeting with a special authorization and ID card.
- A personal meeting with the interviewer is an advantage, it speeds up the filling out of the questionnaire, enables its more accurate and comprehensive filling out (interviewers are trained in survey methodologies).
- The municipality/town is informed about the implementation of the survey, which is helpful in solving the respondents' questions.
When and where the results will be available after their processing?
After processing, the results are published in various structures (by e.g. according to gender, age, education, territorial breakdown) at the website of the National Bank of Slovakia www.nbs.sk/hfcs
Where can I find the results from the previous surveys?
The results from the surveys on finances and household consumption are available:
- For the SR at the website of the NBS www.nbs.sk/hfcs.
- For the EU at the website of the ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS).