This technical note aims to facilitate the analysis of consumption patterns of Young Lives households over the past 12 years, since 2005 (Rounds 2 to 5). It describes how the consumption aggregate indicators for the Younger Cohort have been computed. As part of the household questionnaire, household heads were asked about their household’s usual food and non-food consumption. Consumption data were collected in Rounds 2 to 5 for the Younger Cohort, and in Rounds 2 and 3 only for the Older Cohort.

Consumption aggregates combine a number of items which can be grouped into food items and non-food items. Most items are similar across the four Young Lives countries. Country-specific food and non-food items were incorporated into the design of the questionnaire and therefore into the consumption aggregates. After adjusting for local inflation and for household size across time, these consumption aggregates indicators included total per capita monthly expenditure, per capita monthly food consumption, and per capital monthly non-food expenditure, in both nominal and real terms, across the last four rounds of Young Lives data collection.