Reference period of the estimates

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The Survey of Household Spending (SHS) estimates are produced by combining twelve monthly data cycles and annualizing them so that all expenditures collected over differing reference periods are based on a standard period. Therefore, the estimates produced by combining twelve collection cycles do not represent a calendar year, as under the previous model where all households reported their expenses for the calendar year preceding collection. The total period covered by the expenditure estimates under the new model is based on the length of the reference period and the collection months considered (see Section 2.7 of the 2010 SHS User Guide).

Similarly, reducing the reference period for expenditures has an impact on the variability (i.e., coefficient of variation) of the estimates of some expenditures. This impact depends in part on the length of the reference period used for collection and the frequency of households' spending on a given expenditure item.