The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) annually asks the country’s people about their incomes and costs. The respondents are selected randomly, while the obtained information is used mainly to determine the people’s living conditions. The head of the Social Services and Living Conditions Statistics Division Ala Negruta has told IPN that the people from Chisinau are more reticent than those from villages and fewer persons from the capital city agree to become involved in the research.

The NBS assures that the collected information is used only for statistical purposes and is presented in a generalized way, while individual data are not furnished. Confidentiality begins to be ensured when hiring operators and when collecting the data and putting them into the computer. The identity data of the respondents are indicated nowhere and there is no criterion for identifying the person.

The study shows that though the difference is not very great, the costs incurred by the Moldovans are greater than their incomes. The situation is typical of other states too. To get a more realistic picture, the welfare indicator is determined based on the information about the costs because the people are more willing to speak about expenses than about incomes.

The study covers the whole territory of the country. About 10,000 households are surveyed annually. The research includes all the persons from the private households selected arbitrarily. The prisoners and those who live in old people’s homes, orphanages and student dorms are not polled.