Positioning Household Surveys for the Next Decade

Household surveys are a vital component of national statistical systems. They are the basis for official statistics on social and economic phenomena and are key to tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, despite their importance, household surveys face various challenges, including problems with data quality, timeliness, and policy relevance, among others. Prepared by the United Nations Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys (ISWGHS), this paper identifies eight technical priority areas for innovations in household survey design, implementation, and analysis. With these in mind, the paper also presents a set of recommendations for fostering enabling environments at the national and international levels to support the production of more and higher-quality household survey data that are affordable and responsive to policy needs. The paper aims to inform both the considerations of national statistical offices as they weigh priorities and pursue innovations to transform their household survey systems, as well as the work of ISWGHS in executing its mandate to support countries in achieving the SDGs.