Notes
The 2008 Living Standards Survey comprises modules aimed at households and individuals whose characteristics are investigated through the sections of the form; at the community to find out collective perceptions; and at local establishments selling food products.
1. At the level of Dwellings, Households and Persons
Physical characteristics of housing, rent payments, tenure and title, source of funds for home acquisition and improvements, costs of improvements, rooms used by the household, bedrooms, access to water, energy, telephone, internet, cellular, cable, rubbish collection, consumption levels, costs and quality.
Social capital perceived by the head of household or housewife, collective actions in which household members participate, solidarity and trust in the community; social benefits received from programmes, projects or activities with community participation; perception of well-being and changes in their living conditions in the last five years, opinion on the problems and causes of poverty.
Structure, characteristics, size, composition of households and family nuclei; educational levels and occupations of non-household parents.
Child care for children under five years of age, breastfeeding, food subsidies, check-ups and immunisation, presence of diarrhoea and respiratory diseases, demand for and access to health services for all household members, monthly expenses for illness, accidents, preventive treatments and check-ups, breast and pap smears.
Demand for pre-school education services, food subsidies, annual and monthly expenditures. Literacy, mother tongue and other languages, demand for formal education services (enrolment, repetition, access, etc.), food subsidies, annual and monthly expenditures, non-attendance (time and reasons), scholarships for studies, highest level of education and diplomas. Training for work, institutions, courses, costs, certificates and benefits received.
Place of birth and previous residence, reasons and time of migration.
Economic activities, activity status (employed, unemployed, inactive), inactivity ratio, occupation, branch of activity, working time, time in the enterprise, size of the enterprise, occupation category, income from self-employment, income of employees, payments in kind, subsidies, workplaces, means of transport and time. Income from pensions, pensions, transfers, remittances and cash benefits, age at starting work.
Savings, Insurance and Credit (loans), existence or not of household savings, depository banking institution, life and health insurance membership, car ownership and insurance, request or not for cash, credit granting institutions, number and purpose of loans obtained in the last 12 months.
Number, monitoring and costs of pregnancy and childbirth, live births, care and type of delivery, birth weight, delivery institutions, reproductive health.
Weight and height registration of all household members. Malnutrition and obesity.
Expenditure, self-consumption, self-supply of food, beverages and tobacco, credit purchases, frequent shopping sites, other household expenditure, within 7 days, monthly and yearly. Goods received or donated and purchases on credit.
Household income other than from work. Investments, purchase and sale of assets, household equipment.
Household businesses, independent and own-account non-agricultural activities. Business characteristics, staff employed, loans and credit, capital and inventory, reasons for starting the business and expectations (short-term plans).
Agricultural and Forestry Activity. Data on the production unit, production by crop, inputs and expenses, forestry and livestock production, stock of animals, maintenance expenses, labour force, technical assistance, agricultural equipment and working animals, cash loans and credit purchases.
2. At the community level
Community characteristics, main basic services (roads and transport, aqueduct, sewerage, rubbish collection, electricity, street lighting, telephones, post office, public market), other community services (recreation areas, parks, meeting places, security service).
Health. Most common diseases in children and adults, institutions, distances, accessibility, assessment of the state of public facilities, equipment and facilities, maintenance, evaluation of human resources, existence of private services.
Education. Type and number of public institutions, distances, accessibility, state of infrastructure, equipment, furniture and human resources assessment, existence of private sector schools, proportion of school-age children and youth not attending school, main causes of non-attendance, existence of adult literacy and job training programmes.
Labour market. Possibilities of getting paid work, difficulties in finding a job, groups that have more problems in finding a job.
Labour Migration.
Community Organisation. Organisations, participation, main problems and participation in the search for solutions.
Main problems linked to the environment. Serious problems and factors that deteriorate the environment of people and the community, presence of some diseases linked to the state of the environment.
Agricultural activity (only for rural and indigenous areas). Main activities of agricultural production, marketing, sales, credit, main problems, reforestation projects.
Prices in establishments. Price quotations for a set of everyday consumer items: food, beverages and tobacco (48 items), and personal and household hygiene goods (20 items) in urban (except Panama City and San Miguelito District), rural and indigenous areas throughout the country.