This paper compares the estimates of financial wealth in the Irish Household
Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) with estimates from statistical and
administrative data sources. The cross-checking exercise yields three key
results. First, like most wealth surveys in other countries, the Irish HFCS
significantly under-records the total value of deposits held by Irish households:
we estimate the HFCS captures around one-third of the aggregate figure.
Second, this level of under-recording is broadly similar across the distribution
of deposits. Thus, the HFCS appears to provide an accurate picture of the
distribution of household deposits. Third, the degree of under-recording does
not appear to be heavily concentrated in any one population group, i.e. by
region or age group – although the degree of under-recording is higher for
older households, this falls some way short of being a key explanatory factor.
With regard to the reason for the under-recording, we find no one single factor
behind the under-recording. Issues identified in the survey design literature
around sample design (sampling the wealthy), item and unit non-response all
appear to play some role.
