Households’ changing structure and consumption: the effect of the economic crisis during the period 2008-2013

Between 2007 and 2013, the structure of Italian households was changing, particularly in the central and southern areas of the country. Focussing on this observation, we are interested in studying whether the Variations in consumptions expenditures during the 2008-2013 recession related not only to variations in households’ propensity to spend but also to changes in households’ composition. At this aim, we refer to average per capita expenditures of different types of households, each weighted by its frequency. We gathered data on expenditures by two categories of consumption goods, namely “Food and Beverages” and “Non-food”; in addition, we used data on the relevance of the household type of the Household Budget Survey carried out by Istat. Our results confirm the difference between the southern areas of the country compared to the others, as well as the relevance of changes in the households’ structure consequent to the crisis, particularly in the south of Italy.