Public Cooperation with the Household Expenditure Enquiry, 1953-1954

The Household Expenditure Enquiry of 1953-54 was the first
large-scale enquiry into household expenditure and income in the
United Kingdom since the Family Budget Enquiry of 1937-1938. It was
intended to cover 20,000 households and the Ministry of Labour and
National Service (MLNS) proudly proclaimed that public cooperation
with the survey had 'exceeded our most optimistic hopes'. But just
how compliant were members of the public, and were there complaints
about government intrusion? Mark Dunton discusses these records,
now fully opened up to researchers thanks to the British Living
Standards Project delivered by the University of Sussex.