I.

Household sector as an
institutional sector in national
accounts
Vu Quang Viet
Consultant to UNSD

Definition of a household
A household is defined as a group of persons who share
the same living accommodation, who pool some, or all,
of their income and wealth and who consume certain
types of goods and services collectively, mainly housing
and food.
Members of the same household do not necessarily
have to belong to the same family so long as there is
some sharing of resources and consumption.
Students who study away from home are still part of a
household.
Excluded are:
Hired domestic staff who live on the same premises;
People who live permanently in institutions (religious orders,
mental hospitals, prisons, retirement);

Household sector in SNA

Household as
producers of goods
and services

Operating
surplus

Compensation
of employees

Households as wage
earners
Household as net
income transfers
receivers

Property income
Social
benefits/cont
Other current
transfers

Household as
consumer of
goods and
services

Actual final consumption vs. actual final

consumption expenditure
Final consumption expenditure consists of expenditure
incurred by resident households on final goods and
services.
Actual final consumption consists of:
Final expenditure of goods and services paid by households;
Social transfers in kind received from the Government or NPISHs.
Purchases of goods and services by gov. and NPISHs and
distributed free to households ( including social security benefits
reimbursed on specified goods and services, other social security
benefits in kind except reimbursement; social assistance benefits in
kind);
Part of output of government that benefits directly individuals
(=individual government final consumption).

Social transfer in kind cannot be captured in Household

consumption survey and has to estimated from government
output and imputed by national accountants.

Final consumption expenditure

in the use table Social transfers
in kind

Other
Industries

General
government

General government final

consumption expenditure

Household
consumption
expenditure

Other final
uses

Collective
Individual
consumption consumption
Market
goods and
services
Government
services

Sale of
GO

Value added

VA

Output

IC

IC

Social
Benefits in
kind
Collective of Individual of
GO less
GO less
sales
sales

Other
expenditure
paid by HHs
Sale of GO

VA
GO (gov.
output)

Can be covered by household survey

Household sector accounts

Production / primary income

Uses

Resources

Operating surplus / Mixed income

30

Compensation of employees

190

Property income

GNI

10

225
Secondary dist. of income

Income taxes/Social contribution / benefits/ other current transfers

225
80

Social transfers (imputed by national accountants

70
30

Consumption (including social transfers)

200

Adjustment for change in net equity to pension funds (imputed)

10

Saving

35
Saving

35

Capital transfers

Gross capital formation

Net lending(+)/borrowing (-)
Net acquisition of financial assets
Net increase in liabilities

50
-10
20
30

Compensation of employees
Compensation of employees (D1)
Wages and salaries (D11)
Employers social contributions (D12)
Employers actual social contributions (D121)
Employers actual pension contributions (D1211)
Employers actual non-pension contributions(D1212)

Employers imputed social contributions

(D122)
Employers imputed pension contributions (D1221)
Employers imputed non-pension contributions
(D1222)

Employers social contributions

Employers social contributions are social
contributions payable by employers to social
security funds or other employment-related
social insurance schemes to secure social
benefits for their employees.
Social security schemes are operated by
general government;
Other employer-related social insurance
schemes may be operated by the employers
themselves, by an insurance corporation or may
be an autonomous pension scheme.

Employers imputed social

contributions: definition
Some employers provide benefits
themselves directly to their employees,
former employees or dependants without
involving an insurance enterprise or
autonomous pension fund, and without
creating a special fund or segregated
reserve for the purpose.
Existing employees may be considered as
being protected against various specified
needs or circumstances, even though no
reserves are built up to provide future
entitlement.

Employers imputed social

contributions: principle and practice
SNA Principle: Remuneration should be imputed
for such employees equal in value to secure the
de facto entitlements employees may obtain at
present and in the future.
SNA Recommended Practice: Use the unfunded
non-pension benefits payable by the enterprise
during the same accounting period as an
estimate of the imputed remuneration that would
be needed to cover the imputed contributions.
More Practical Practice: Use the current
unfunded pension and non-pension benefits
payable unless employers are legally liable to
their benefit policies, especially the government.

The end