Living Standards Survey 2003-2004

HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE

• Household Information: Ethnicity, demographic characteristics and identification of household members, information on parents of household members and economic activities undertaken and unemployment/under-employment status of household members 5 years and older.
• Housing: Types of dwelling, housing expenses, expenditure on utilities and amenities and collection of firewood.
• Access to Facilities: Distance of 15 kinds of different public services/facilities from the household's residence.
• Migration: Migration and its determinants for all household members 5 years and older.
• Food Expenses and Home Production: Consumption and expenditures of 68 food items. The monthly consumption of home production, monthly expenses on purchase and annual value of in-kind receipts of foods were included with the reference period of past 12 months.
• Non-food Expenditures and Inventory of Durable Goods: Frequent expenditures (fuels, clothing, day-to-day consumption expenses, etc.) and infrequent non-food expenditures (taxes, ceremonial expenses, durable goods expenses, etc.), valuation of inventory of durable goods and own account production of goods.
• Education: Literacy and educational status of all household members 5 years and older. Schooling/level of educational attainment, past enrolment/dropouts, current enrolment and educational expenditures were captured under this section.
• Health: Chronic and acute illnesses, uses of medical facilities, expenditures on them, familiarity with HIV/AIDS, treatment of children under 5 years with diarrhoea and immunization.
• Marriage and Maternity History: Maternity history of all ever married women aged 15-49 who had given live birth, pre- and post-natal care of all women who had given live birth during the past 36 months and marriage and family planning practices of all currently married women aged 15-49 years.
• Wage Employment: Wage employment in agriculture and outside agriculture for all persons 5 years and older with activities and income on daily, long term and contract bases.
• Farming and Livestock: Agricultural activities like landholding (land owned, land sharecropped/rented/mortgaged-in, increase/decrease in holdings), production and uses of crops, expenditures on agricultural inputs (seeds and young plants, fertilizers and insecticides, hiring labour) earnings/expenditures of farming, ownership of livestock, earnings/expenditures of livestock, and ownership of farming assets and extension services.
• Non-agricultural Enterprises/Activities: Self-employed non-agricultural enterprises and activities such as their types/operation and income/expenditures of the enterprises.
• Credit and Savings: Loans borrowed by the household or any outstanding transaction on borrowing during the reference period, loans owed to others by household or any outstanding transaction on lending during the reference period and other assets (land, property and other fixed assets) owned by the household.
• Remittances and Transfers: Remittances sent from the household members to others including recipient's activities and remittances received by members of the household from others including donor's work activities.
• Other Income: Income from all other sources (especially on financial assets) not covered elsewhere in the questionnaire.
• Children Away from Home: Children (currently non-household members) under 15 years who were away from home including their parents' situation, education, work activities, etc.
• Adequacy of Consumption and Government Services/Facilities: Households' opinion on their standards of living and the standards of government services/facilities that the households consuming.
• Panel Sample Household Tracking: Tracking of the panel households visited in 1995/96 (NLSS I) including their movements if not found, their composition in 1995/96 and situation of both current and the then household members.

URBAN COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

• Population Characteristics and Infrastructure: Characteristics of the community, status of electricity supply, water supply and sewerage system in the ward.
• Access to Facilities: Distance from the community to various places and public facilities and services.
• Markets and Prices: Availability and prices of different food and non-food commodities in the local shops/markets.
• Quality of Life: Quality of welfare items compared to their status 5 years ago.

RURAL COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE

• Population Characteristics and Infrastructure: Characteristics of the community, status of electricity supply, water supply and sewerage system in the ward.
• Access to Facilities: Services and amenities, education status and health facilities existing in the VDC of the enumeration area.
• Agriculture and Forestry: Land situation, irrigation systems, and crop cycles, wages paid to hired labour, rental rates for cattle and machinery and use of forestry.
• Migration: Main migratory movements out and in the community.
• Development Programmes, User Groups and Quality of Life: Development programmes, existing user groups and quality of life in the community.
• Rural Primary School: Educational enrolment and infrastructure and supplies in the community.
• Rural Health Facilities: Health facilities, equipment and services available and health personnel in the community.
• Markets and Prices: Local shops, Haat bazaar, availability and prices of different goods in local shops/Haat bazaar, agricultural inputs and conversion of local units into standard units.