Discussion Paper
Measuring Spending in the Survey of Consumer Finances
Abstract: The United States has long lacked comprehensive household spending data across all types of households. Data sources whose primary purpose is to measure spending routinely miss the highest-income and wealthiest households (Bee, Meyer, and Sullivan, 2015; Sabelhaus, Johnson, Ash, Swanson, Garner, Greenlees, and Henderson, 2015; Pfeffer, Schoeni, Kennickell, and Andreski, 2016), while data sources that cover the full distribution of income and wealth lack comprehensive spending measures (Attanasio and Pistaferri, 2016; Fisher, Johnson, Smeeding, and Thompson, 2022).
https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.4198
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)
Part of Series: FEDS Notes
Publication Date: 2026-10-09
Number: 2026-10-09-5
Note: Authors acknowledge assistance from Payton Crawford and Eve Devens.