Survey of Financial Security 2012 - expenses

Question

I have a patron who is interested in using the Survey of Financial Security to run a multi-year analysis (1999, 2005, 2012). However, she needs to use the expense variables, and while these are present in 1999 and 2005, the derived variables aren’t present in the 2012 PUMF and I’ve been unable to find if they were even asked in 2012. I’m referring to the questions that in the 2005 PUMF were used to create ECFEXCHR (child-related expenses), ECFEXHMR (home related expenses), and ECFEXVHR (vehicle related expenses.

Was the entire block of questions used to create these variables dropped in 2012, or are they still on the master file?

Also, I’ve found references to a Survey of Financial Security 1983, which someone seems to have had a PUMF of at one point (Princeton seems to have). Is this available anywhere?

Answer

Subject matter has confirmed that -

1- The section on expenses is no longer on the 2012 Survey of Financial Security; and nor will it be available for the 2016 SFS, even on the Master File.

2- Concerning references to a Survey of Financial Security 1983, which someone seems to have had a PUMF of at one point (Princeton seems to have).

There is a PUMF for 1983/1984 Survey of Consumer Finance(SCF), asset and debt survey(not Survey of Financial Security) available on the EFT:

Unfortunately there seem to be little supporting documentation.

Survey of Consumer Finances: 1994 Income/1995 HIFE and 1995 Income/1996 HIFE

Question

In both of these files, I’ve come across a problem in variable YRHHMOVE (year household head moved into dwelling). The codebook for each of these years indicates that valid values range up to 94; the frequencies which I ran picked up cases with value 95 in the 1995 HIFE, and values 95 and 96 for the 1996 HIFE.

I presume that the documentation for this variable wasn’t modified from an earlier release, and that the valid range has increased. If not, what do codes 95 and 96 signify?

Answer

I finally received confirmation from the author division regarding variable YRHHMOVE. Your presumption is correct. The documentation hasn't been updated to reflect that the valid ranges have increased. Therefore, the 95 and 96 codes are valid and signify the year the household head moved into the dwelling.

Updated Products - Income Trends in Canada (ITC) 1980-2005

Income Trends in Canada is an extensive collection of income statistics, covering topics such as income distribution, income tax, government transfers, and low income. The data are drawn from two household surveys: the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) and the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Data since 1996 are taken from SLID, while historical data prior to 1996 are drawn from the SCF.

Income Trends in Canada provides a complete list of the tables and directions for getting started. It also contains background information on the survey, its content and methodology, and other SLID data products and services.

In addition to provincial detail, many of the tables present estimates for the 15 largest Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), as follows: Halifax, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, St.-Catharines-Niagara, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria. Due to sample size limitations and sampling variability, estimates for urban areas are less reliable and are subject to larger errors than provincial and national estimates. Given the variability of the annual estimates, users are cautioned against drawing conclusions from single year-to-year comparisons alone.

Income Trends in Canada uses the Beyond 20/20 Browser software for accessing and manipulating tables.

WEB: http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/Data/Ftp/itc.htm
FTP: /ftp/dli/itc/1980-2005

Need data on personal debt and assets

Question

Can anyone tell me where I might be able to find personal debt and assets by CMA? The period we are interested in is 1980-2000.

Answer

Assuming that you are looking for the assets and debts of individuals, one of the only products available through the DLI that can answer asset and debt questions is the Survey of Consumer Finances.

A few issues:

1) The data is not available at the CMA level (as far as I know, only National and Provincial)
2) Data specific to assets and debts was collected in 1977, 1984 and 1999.