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.