The General Household Survey (GHS) is one of Stats SA’s longest-running surveys, and has been conducted for more than twenty years. The GHS collects information on a number of themes, including basic service delivery, access to health care, education, and agriculture, amongst others. The dataset is a rich source of information, allowing for the development of analytical reports on specific groups, such as children, women and the elderly.

To help inform decision-making, we must build an accurate picture of our diverse and changing population. Asking you questions allows us to gather a range of information to produce the statistics needed to help shape tomorrow. Your responses will provide information not available from any other sources.

A Survey Officer will contact you to arrange a suitable time to conduct the interview. During the interview we will ask questions on various themes including access to basic services such as water and electricity, access to healthcare services, what level of education you have, access to educational institutions, etc.

Data collection happens continuously, and selected households could be contacted in any month of the year. Follow-up interviews will be conducted in subsequent years to provide a picture over a five year period. Households have been scientifically selected to take part in the survey, and cannot be replaced.

Legally, Section 17 of the Statistics Act guarantees the confidentiality of your information, and Section 18 deals with the penalties that will be imposed on a Stats SA official who divulges any official information not authorised to do so. The data we collect is used for statistical purposes only and no-one can access any data we collect from your household on an individual level.

Quick fact

The GHS is one of the longest-running surveys conducted by Stats SA, and has been running for more than 20 years.

Information collected

Demographics; household composition; education; health; disability; social security services; housing; energy; drinking water; sanitation; refuse removal and recycling; telecommunications; transport; environmental trends; household assets and sources of income; access to food; agriculture.

Related surveys

Income and Expenditure Survey (IES); Living Conditions Survey (LCS)