The Household Budget Survey is the only survey that collects data on the standard of living of the population. Only information provided by the population can reliably describe living conditions. The survey is necessary to establish the degree of poverty and adapt the measures of social protection of the population in accordance with it. For these reasons, it is very important to study the opinion of each person in order to get good results.

Households are randomly selected using scientific sampling. A survey of all households would require a lot of time and huge financial costs. Therefore, each year a certain number of households representing the entire population of the country is randomly selected. For the survey results to be considered correct, this method of household selection must be followed.

Therefore, we ask selected households to participate in this study, the results of which will be useful both at the country level and at the level of each individual household.
 

Two methods are used for data registration: “face to face” interview and self-recording. The main household questionnaire records data by means of interviews and the diary records data through a self-recording by households. 

The Main Questionnaire is completed by interviewing each household member, and if this is not possible, the information is obtained from the head of the household, husband/wife or another adult who can offer complete information about the members of the household and about the household as a whole. 

The household diary is filled in by an adult member of the household who is available to keep correct daily records or at as short an interval as possible. If due to some objective reasons the members of the household (old or sick people) are not able to record data themselves, either partially or integrally, the interviewer shall collect data by means of interview.
 

Household diary - consists of 2 parts:

• Part A (in rom.)
• Part B (in rom.)

Teams are organized in the field to carry out the activities of data collection, verification, entry and transmission. Teams usually composed of 2-4 interviewers and 1 supervisor . There are 150 interviewers in total involved in the survey who collect information from 28 urban localities and 97 rural localities selected randomly for this purpose. There are 17 regional statistical centres equipped with computers which input and transmit data to the NBS headquarter and provide services to the surveyed localities from the neighbourhood. The task of each interviewer is to visit 6 households monthly in rural area, 6 in towns, and 12 households in big cities (mun. Chisinau and Balti).

Cercetarea se desfășoară în următoarele localități:

Registration applies to all members of the randomly selected individual households from the territory of the country. The survey does not cover people who live permanently in the institutional units following facilities/common living units as jails, sanatoriums, institutions for older people, orphanages/orphan homes, students’ dormitories etc, except the workers' hostels that are included in the research."
 

The information obtained from the processing of the data provided is used for statistical purposes only and is presented in a generalized form for the country. The Law on Official Statistics guarantees this fact, and those who collect data are required to respect the confidentiality of personal data.

According to article 19 of the Law on Official Statistics No. 93 dated 26.05.2017, producers of official statistics shall take all regulatory, administrative, technical and organizational measures to protect confidential data and prevent their disclosure. Chapter VII of the above-mentioned law stipulates that the data collected, processed and stored for the production of statistical information are confidential if they allow the direct or indirect identification of the respondents. 
 

More information on the survey results is available on the official website www.statistica.gov.md and can be accessed free of charge by anyone under the headings:

•  Statbank / Social statistics / Living standard of the population
• Statistics by themes  / Society and social conditions / Living standard of the population
• Metadata / Population incomes and expenditures (Household Budget Survey)
• Glossary / Living standard of the population
• Calendar for dissemination of statistical information