About HFCS

This Luxembourg LU-HFCS survey is based on about 1,600 interviews with resident households. The cross-border HFCS involves about 1,600 households.

Since 2021, both surveys are conducted online. Invited household log on to a dedicated and secure website using their personal login and password received via the invitation letter and complete the survey on the internet. Households may choose the language English, French, German or Portuguese to complete the survey.

The average duration to complete the questionnaire is around 45 minutes, but the duration may differ depending on the household size and asset and liability positions. Households may interrupt the survey and continue some other time.

Most of the questions concern the household as a whole, while other questions concern each member of the household aged 16 or older.

Before 2021, the LU-HFCS survey was conducted face-to-face survey with an interviewer using a laptop computer.

Participating households have been selected randomly, according to a statistical procedure designed to provide two representative samples of

i) all households in Luxembourg and

ii) all cross-border commuter households in the Greater Region.

Although participation in these surveys is voluntary, it is critical for the success of the surveys that the households contacted agree to participate in the survey.

The surveys contain two kinds of questions: some treat all household members as a single entity, and others are addressed separately to individual members of the household.

Those concerning the household as a whole cover the following themes: real estate assets and their financing, other debts and credit constraints, private businesses and financial assets, intergenerational transfers (i.e. inheritances and gifts), consumption and saving.

Questions concerning household members individually cover the following themes: demographics, employment, pensions and insurance policies and income.

The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) is a public research institute specialised in socioeconomic research. This institute combines researchers in different human sciences under the common goal to develop, produce and analyse statistical sources. In the context of this study, LISER will conduct the survey.