The Household Budget Survey (HBS) is a large scale national household survey undertaken every five years. The main purpose of the HBS is to give a comprehensive picture of household expenditure over a whole range of consumer goods and services and to update the weighting basis of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). HBS surveys have been carried out periodically in Ireland since 1951. This chapter presents the 2015-2016 results with comparative information from previous years.
| Table 9.1 Average weekly household expenditure by livelihood of reference person | ||||||
| € | ||||||
| Livelihood of reference person | ||||||
| Commodity Group | Self-employed | Employee1 | Unemployed | Retired | Other | All livelihood status |
| Food | 147.49 | 140.86 | 86.86 | 96.53 | 100.03 | 123.28 |
| Alcoholic drink and tobacco | 28.46 | 32.60 | 25.73 | 19.99 | 23.73 | 28.00 |
| Clothing and footwear | 41.31 | 41.45 | 21.70 | 21.50 | 23.59 | 33.65 |
| Fuel and light | 46.09 | 39.88 | 29.88 | 36.87 | 35.41 | 38.56 |
| Housing | 178.47 | 216.47 | 113.78 | 78.22 | 116.67 | 164.36 |
| Household non-durable goods | 18.36 | 19.98 | 10.96 | 11.52 | 12.77 | 16.51 |
| Household durable goods | 32.78 | 33.47 | 15.58 | 20.23 | 18.86 | 27.50 |
| Transport | 168.02 | 152.19 | 62.06 | 90.34 | 73.31 | 124.39 |
| Miscellaneous goods, services and other expenditure | 359.96 | 355.02 | 121.23 | 196.23 | 163.62 | 281.21 |
| Total | 1,020.95 | 1,031.93 | 487.78 | 571.43 | 567.99 | 837.47 |
| 1Includes Community Employment Scheme. | ||||||
| Source: CSO | ||||||
Households where the reference person was an Employee spent the most on Housing (€216.47) in 2015-2016 while households where the reference person was Retired spent the least (€78.22). This reflects the tenure composition of these households. Households where the reference person was Self-employed spent most (€168.02) on Transport in 2015-2016 while households where the reference person was Unemployed spent the least (€62.06).
| Percentage distribution of average weekly household expenditure by household composition | 1 adult | 1 adult with children | 2 adults | 2 adults with 1-3 children | 3+ adults | Other households with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 13.3 | 16.2 | 15 | 13.8 | 15.4 | 15.8 |
| Alcoholic drink and tobacco | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 2.7 |
| Clothing and footwear | 3 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 5.2 |
| Fuel and light | 6.6 | 6.2 | 5.1 | 4 | 3.9 | 4 |
| Housing | 24.7 | 27.1 | 17.4 | 23.5 | 15 | 19.9 |
| Household non-durable goods | 1.6 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2 | 2.1 | 2.2 |
| Household durable goods | 3.3 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| Transport | 13.1 | 9.6 | 15.9 | 14.1 | 16.2 | 13.9 |
| Miscellaneous goods, services and other expenditure | 30.9 | 27.1 | 34 | 33.3 | 35.4 | 32.9 |
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Other households with children spent the most on Food (€184.29), Clothing and Footwear (€60.76), Fuel and light (€47.33), Household non-durable goods (€25.48) and Household durable goods (€40.44).
Households consisting of 3+ adults spent most on Alcoholic drink and tobacco (€47.21), Transport (€186.35) and Miscellaneous goods, services and other expenditure (€407.29).
Households with 2 adults with 1-3 children spent the most on Housing (€244.50), with more than half this expenditure on mortgages (€129.85)
Lone parent households had the highest expenditure for rent at €98.15.
| Table 9.2 Average weekly household expenditure on items included in the commodity group Miscellaneous goods, services and other expenditure by location | |||
| € | |||
| Expenditure category | Urban | Rural | State |
| Medical | 40.78 | 45.47 | 42.14 |
| Phone | 19.12 | 21.97 | 19.95 |
| Charitable donations | 3.51 | 4.35 | 3.75 |
| Sports and leisure activities | 18.46 | 16.38 | 17.85 |
| Television1 | 16.21 | 12.31 | 15.08 |
| Betting and lotteries | 3.52 | 3.62 | 3.55 |
| Education and training | 20.26 | 13.14 | 18.19 |
| Holidays2 | 36.34 | 25.14 | 33.08 |
| Pension contributions | 36.71 | 39.32 | 37.47 |
| Childcare | 11.16 | 9.44 | 10.66 |
| Money given to those outside of household | 7.99 | 14.82 | 9.98 |
| Reading materials | 7.23 | 8.13 | 7.49 |
| Remainder | 59.03 | 69.29 | 62.01 |
| Total | 280.32 | 283.37 | 281.21 |
| 1Includes television bundle subscriptions. | |||
| 2Includes package holidays, money spent abroad on holidays and holiday accommodation (foreign and domestic). | |||
| Source: CSO | |||
Overall Rural households spent more than Urban households on the Miscellaneous goods, services and other expenditure commodity group (€283.37 compared with €280.32).
Rural households spent more on Money given to those outside of household (€14.82), Medical (€45.47), Phone (€21.97), Pension contributions (€39.32), Charitable donations (€4.35), Betting and lotteries (€3.62) and Reading materials (€8.13).
However, Urban households spent more on Holidays (€36.34), Education and training (€20.26), Sports and leisure activities (€18.46), Television (€16.21) and Childcare (€11.16).
| Table 9.3 Percentage of households using select household facilities and appliances, 2004-2005, 2009-2010 and 2015-2016 | |||
| % | |||
| 2004-2005 | 2009-2010 | 2015-2016 | |
| Household facilities | |||
| Piped gas | 31.3 | 40.1 | 37.7 |
| Electricity | 100.0 | 99.9 | 100.0 |
| Telephone (fixed) | 85.9 | 70.2 | 65.9 |
| Mobile phone | 84.3 | 96.0 | 97.4 |
| Double glazing | 76.1 | 89.2 | 90.9 |
| Triple glazing | * | * | 2.8 |
| Burglar alarm | 32.6 | 39.1 | 44.1 |
| Internet access | 42.2 | 65.8 | 72.9 |
| Garage | 34.2 | 27.4 | 27.9 |
| Patio doors | 44.5 | 57.9 | 57.6 |
| Motor car - one only | 45.8 | 49.0 | 49.5 |
| Motor car - 2 or more | 32.8 | 31.6 | 31.2 |
| Motor cycle | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.3 |
| Second home | 5.1 | 4.2 | 3.1 |
| Household appliances | |||
| Vacuum cleaner | 95.5 | 94.5 | 94.9 |
| Tumble dryer | 61.7 | 66.2 | 64.8 |
| Washing machine | 95.3 | 96.3 | 97.5 |
| Dishwasher | 50.1 | 63.2 | 64.7 |
| Refrigerator | 43.4 | 26.1 | 25.6 |
| Refrigerator with freezer | 63.4 | 79.4 | 81.6 |
| Separate deep freeze | 35.4 | 35.3 | 36.1 |
| Microwave oven | 86.0 | 91.0 | 91.7 |
| Television set | 99.2 | 97.2 | 96.5 |
| One TV set only | 50.5 | 32.4 | 41.0 |
| Two or more TV sets | 48.7 | 64.8 | 54.5 |
| Home computer | 56.2 | 77.3 | 80.8 |
| One home computer only | * | * | 29.9 |
| Two or more home computers | * | * | 50.9 |
| Games console | 29.2 | 38.9 | 38.1 |
| * Not included in reference year. | |||
| Source: CSO | |||
In 2015-2016, less than two thirds (65.9%) of households had a fixed telephone compared with just under 86% ten years earlier. Almost 73% of households reported having Internet access, up from nearly 66% in 2009-2010 and just 42.2% in 2004-2005.
In 2015-2016, nearly 81% of all households reported having at least one Home computer, compared with 77.3% and 56.2% as recorded in the 2009-2010 and 2004-2005 surveys respectively. In 2015-2016, more than half (50.9%) of all households indicated having Two or more home computers.
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