In the UK, financial information services company Markit and online research firm YouGov have launched a new survey designed to provide an indication of the actual changes in household finances each month.

The new Markit/YouGov Household Finance Index (HFI) tracks actual month-on-month changes of household spending, saving and debt levels. It is also intended to anticipate changes in consumer behaviour with the inclusion of several forward-looking opinion questions.

HFI is a ‘diffusion index’, which is calculated by adding together the percentage of respondents that reported an improvement plus half of the percentage that reported no change. The resulting index varies around the 50.0 ‘no-change’ level, with readings above 50.0 signalling an improvement and readings below 50.0 a deterioration.

‘YouGov is very pleased to be providing this important predictor of economic activity,’ said Tony Diamond, Consulting Director at YouGov. ‘The HFI will be of great value to those that need early and accurate information on household financial circumstances, including advance indications of how consumer behaviour and spending patterns are changing, and the implications of these changes for the wider economy.’

Diamond added that the Markit/YouGov HFI is the first in a series of polls and indices which will combine the two firm’s experience in business and consumer sector surveys.

Earlier this year, YouGov launched Wealth Tracker, following the attitudes and behaviours of affluent and high net worth individuals towards finance, media and general expenditure.

Web sites: www.markit.com and www.yougov.com .

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