EUROSTAT
Directorate E: Social and regional statistics and geographical information system
Unit E-4: Regional indicators and accounts, population and geographical information system /
DOC. DEM/CEN/E4/2/01-AN7 EN
ORIG:EN
Working Party Demographic Statistics
and Population and Housing Censuses
Meeting on 22 and 23 February 2001
Bech Building, Room AMPERE
Luxembourg
DEMOGRAPHY
ANNEX 7
Item 4 of the agenda
1
/ EUROPEAN COMMISSIONEUROSTAT
Directorate E: Social and regional statistics and geographical information system /
Doc. Eurostat/E0/00/DSS/2/6/EN
document for item 7. of the agenda
“harmonisation of core variables”
meeting of the european directors of social statistics
luxembourg, 13-14 june 2000
bech building, room “quételet”, starting at 10.00 a.m.
The work on harmonisation of social statistics started with the London Workshop November 1996, and was followed by three Task Force Meetings 1997-1999, and the Working Group meeting in Luxembourg 2-3 May 2000 (see DOC. E0/HARM/21/2000). Harmonisation has been a topic in several Mondorf and Siena meetings, where representatives of the NSIs in the Member States and Eurostat have had the opportunity to discuss the theoretical background and practical implications of this work, and give guidelines for the further work (see DOC E)/HARM/23 and 26/2000).
The work on harmonisation is also in good accordance with policy-statements from the Statistical Programme Committee. The Council Decision of 22 December 1998 on the Community Statistical Programme 1998 to 2002 (1999/126/EC) states that ‘the structuring/integration of household surveys and similarly between surveys and registers, will be pursued with a view to rationalising resources and improving comparability of output’ (p. 23 concerning social statistics).
The first step of the Eurostat harmonisation project is to harmonise variables, and not questions or operationalisations. The aim is that a common set of core units, core variables and core classifications will be used in main sources for social statistics at Eurostat and at national level. This does not mean that each and every survey has to include all variables, but when they are included, it is recommended that they follow the guidelines for harmonisation.
For some time, there has been an interest in Member States for harmonisation, primary for internal purposes. A natural next step is to harmonise social statistics across countries in order to increase data comparability. That reason is also very important for several administrations at national and international level. As more and more countries use administrative register information as sources for social statistics, harmonised sources as available in Eurostat will include or be used together with register data. Register sources cannot be input harmonised, - output harmonisation on the level of variables is the only way to make them compatible with surveys.
Before further developments, Eurostat needs the approval of the Directors of Social Statistics on the choice of core units, variables and classifications, and their opinion on whether any are missing.
This document presents 21 core units, variables and classifications used for social statistics. The aim is to have approved Eurostat recommendations for these 21 elements which can be used by the EU Member States, EFTA countries, countries in transition and Eurostat for the further harmonisation of social statistics with a view to producing improved comparable outputs.
For that, the document is organised in the following way:
I. Firstly, under the heading of each core unit, variable or classification, the definition is mentioned and the reference is given. The whole list of references used for this document is available as annex 1 (numbered). This document does not treat each unit, variable or classification in any exhaustive way. The references are given for the reader to look up the more detailed information.
II. Secondly, for the variables, the aggregate classification is shown and explained. The availability of this information depends on the variable treated, e.g. international/European standards are readily available in some areas whereas others are still under development.
III. Thirdly, the main reference source used in Eurostat is mentioned and its treatment explained.
IV. Finally, further explanatory notes are provided, also with the aim of looking forward for solving possible problems identified.
The list is not supposed to be an exhaustive list and the choice of items have mainly been done in accordance with the importance of the variables for analysis of social phenomena (see doc. HARM/23).
The present document is based on the introduction and the discussion at the Working Group on Harmonisation of Social Statistics 2-3 May 2000. The document has been revised after the Working Group in order to include comments made by the delegates. On the advice of the Working Group, the list now contains four core units, followed by 13 core variables (plus 3 under development), and ending with 4 core classifications (plus 2 under development). The full list is given below:
Core units (CU):
CU1Locality
CU2Housing unit (dwelling)
CU3Private Household
CU4Number of Rooms
Core variables (CV)
CV5Place of usual residence
CV6Country/(Place) of birth
CV7Country of citizenship
CV8Sex
CV9Age
CV10Legal marital status
CV11Living arrangement
CV12Household relationship (including reference person)
CV13Labour status
CV14Status in employment
CV15Hours worked
CV16Main activity status
CV17Tenure status of household
V18Income
V19Current education and training activity
V20Health status
Core classifications (CC)
CC21Region (NUTS)
CC22Occupation (ISCO 88(COM))
CC23Educational attainment (ISCED 1997)
CC24Activity (NACE rev. 1)
C25Standard classification of households
C26European Standard for Socio-Economic Classification (E-SEC)
Five items are included in this list with another status than being ‘core’, - they are in a waiting position for becoming ‘core’ for two reasons: - firstly because important development work regarding the item is going on presently, - and, secondly, there is no international or Eurostat agreement as to their definition and/or classification at the moment. The five items are the variables ‘income’, ‘current education and training activity’ and ‘health status’, plus the ‘standard classification of households’ and the ‘socio-economic’ classification. In the list above, these items are marked without the ‘C’ for ‘C’ore.
Core units (CU)
CU1Locality
I: Definition:.
(A) locality is defined as a distinct population cluster, that is, the population living in neighboring buildings which either:
(a) form a continuous built-up area with a clearly recognizable street formation; or
(b) though not part of such a built-up area, form a group to which a locally recognized place name is uniquely attached; or
(c) though not coming within either of the above two requirements constitute a group, none of which is separated from its nearest neighbour by more than 200 metres.
Derived core topic (b) in ‘Recommendations for the 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing in the ECE Region’, jointly prepared by the UN/ECE and Eurostat (1).
IV: Explanatory notes
Usually, locality is based on the address where the person is registered on the statistical micro file. Some Member States do not register the address on the survey file but some kind of locality (for example postal code). Address or locality is identified on the basis of usual place of residence (CV 5), and is used to identify the NUTS-region of this place. Thus, it is a necessary background variable for classifications used in much analysis, but it is not of interest as a harmonised variable in itself.
CU2Housing unit (dwelling)
I: Definition:
The main content of the definition is that a housing unit is used as the principal usual residence of at least one person, it is separate in the sense that persons living there can isolate themselves from other persons, it is independent in the sense that it can be accessed without passing through anybody else’s accommodation.
The concept of housing unit relates to the definition of living quarters as referred to in the UN/ECE and Eurostat Census recommendations (core topic 17 as well as previous pages) (1).
The variable ‘housing unit’ is included in the list of core variables as a tool to have a harmonised definition of private household, but does not carry any relevance independent of helping defining the household.
CU3Private household
I: Definition:
The two concepts on private household as defined in the Census Recommendations (see section (v) Households and families); co-residence (household-dwelling concept) and common consumption (housekeeping concept), are both used in different countries and surveys. A household defined by the housekeeping concept will be identical with a subgroup of the same households defined by co-residence.
The Census recommendations note the following: ‘The household-dwelling concept does not provide direct information on the number of housekeeping units sharing housing units. It is recommended that countries applying the household-dwelling concept give an estimate of the total number of housekeeping units’ (see section (v) Households and families) (1).
A private household is defined, according to the household dwelling concept, as: the aggregate number of persons occupying a housing unit, (see CU2 above).
None of the register-based sources report use of the housekeeping concept, however a register-based dwelling household might be split into family units in the registers. In an interview, the dwelling and the housekeeping concept can both be collected.
III: Eurostat reference source:
In the guidelines for the Community programme on population censuses the following is noted regarding the choice of the dwelling or the housekeeping concept: ‘In the European Union context, the use of one concept or the other does not lead to greatly differing household structures. Moreover, countries which use the ‘housekeeping unit’ concept are always able to aggregate their results according to the more simple ‘household dwelling’ concept, while the contrary is often impossible. So, for the priority statistical tables, it is recommended in the Census that countries use the ‘household-dwelling’ definition of private households.’
See ‘Guidelines and Tableprogramme for the Community Programme of Population and Housing Censuses in 2001 Volume 1: Guidelines’, Eurostat May 1999 (page 23), and ‘Guidelines and Table programme for the Community Programme of Population and Housing Censuses in 2001, Volume II: Table Programme’, Eurostat Working Papers 3/1999/E/n.10 (5).
An extensive documentation of the use of the housekeeping or dwelling concept is documented for the Household Budget surveys in the EU Member States, ‘Household Budget Surveys Methodology and Recommendations for Harmonisation 1997’, theme 3E, Eurostat 1997 (10).
CU4Number of rooms.
I: Definition:
The recommended census definition of a room is rather detailed and therefore a simplified wording has been developed:
Definition of room: a room is defined as a space of a housing unit of at least 4 square meters as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics.
The following space of a housing unit does not count as rooms: a kitchenette (i.e. a kitchen less than 4 square meters), bathrooms, toilets, corridors, verandas, utility rooms and lobbies. Rooms used only for business or professional purposes are excluded
III: Eurostat reference source:
The variable number of rooms is specified in the same sources as ‘tenure status of household’ (CV17) within Eurostat, e.g. in the Household Budget Surveys and the ECHP.
Core variables (CV)
CV5Place of usual residence
I: Definition:
Definition: A person’s usual residence should be that at which he/she spends most of his/herdaily night-rest.
Core topic 1 in ‘Recommendations for the 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing in the ECE Region’ (1).
III: Eurostat reference source:
The information on ‘place of usual residence’ is collected in all sources but not necessarily transmitted to Eurostat given that the information is aggregated because of confidentiality reasons and in itself does not have any interest for Eurostat.
IV: Explanatory notes
The concept place of usual residence is a necessary tool for allocating persons to households and regions. This variable captures where the respondent actually lives, the de facto approach, based on the definition given under I. It should reflect neither where some legal rules or instruments define place of residence of a person, (often called the de jure approach), nor subjective measures like where the person feels to belong or has his/her centre of interest. When the variable place of usual residence is based on a person register, it is important that the register definition of usual residence it as close as possible to the Census definition. For some comparative purposes, it is important to be aware of the differences between the two approaches, and whenever possible, the numerical effects of not following the census recommendation should be estimated.
The recommended Eurostat standard is to use the Census approach, as this is the information of interest for statistical analysis. The surveys will often use Census-based information for defining the sampling frame, and then it is important that sample surveys have definitions in accordance with the Census.
CV6Country(/Place) of birth
I: Definition:
Place of birth is defined as the place of residence of the mother at the time of birth. For persons born outside the country, it is sufficient to ask for the country of residence of the mother at the time of birth.
Core topic 6 in ‘Recommendations for the 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing in the ECE Region’ (1).
II: Classification:
The recommended classification:
1. Born in the resident country (of the survey)
2. Born outside the resident country
If 2, which country should be coded according to ISO 3166-1, see ‘International Standard, ISO 3166-1: 1997: Codes for the representation of Names of Countries (18).
III: Eurostat reference source:
The reference sources for information on this variable is the Eurostat census information (see tabulation programme (6)) and Eurostat’s migration statistics. For publication purposes, there should be an agreement on a standard of groups of countries, (this also concerns CV7). It seems quite reasonable to use the system applied in the Census publication plan, probably on the almost highest level of aggregation. Anywhere where the interest is in immigrant status, there is a need to differentiate at least between immigrants coming from other industrialised countries, and those coming from the rest of the world.
IV: Explanatory notes
The harmonisation of this variable means
- to clarify the definition in use and
- for persons born outside the country, if the country is specified by a code or not.
Coding of countries not existing any longer gives some problems. Such countries (Soviet Union and others) should be coded in a way that handles regional aggregations in a correct way. To apply the code according to present-day borders will take care of this.
CV7Country of citizenship
I: Definition:
Citizenship is defined as the particular legal bond between an individual and his/her State acquired by birth or naturalisation, whether by declaration, option, marriage or other means according to national legislation.
Core topic 7 in ‘Recommendations for the 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing in the ECE Region’ (1).
II: Classification:
The countries should be coded according to ISO 3166-1, see ‘International Standard, ISO 3166-1: 1997: Codes for the representation of Names of Countries, (18).
See also: ‘Joint Questionnaire on International Migration Statistics Data for 1998’ United Nations Statistical Division, Council of Europe, UN/ECE, ILO, Eurostat. Annex II gives the Eurostat country of citizenship list (for population statistics) (11).
There are a few differences between the classifications mentioned in the references above. The Eurostat list includes some old country codes (e.g. Soviet Union), which are dropped from the ISO list after a certain period. On the other hand, in some cases countries are grouped into bigger entities (e.g. British citizenship corresponds to more countries than the United Kingdom). For harmonisation purposes, it is important to capture all answers that might be given in the surveys and Censuses.
III: Eurostat reference source:
The reference sources for information on this variable is the Eurostat census information (see tabulation programme) and Eurostat’s migration statistics. Both the LFS and the ECHP also record this variable.
IV: Explanatory notes
Citizenship is probably not a better variable than country of birth for describing country background. It is a purely de jure concept, and for example discrimination does not follow the colour of the passport, but the colour of the skin. A problem with citizenship is that it can be changed, easily in some countries like the Nordic and the Netherlands, more difficult in Germany and Italy and others. This makes it more difficult to produce comparable data. Citizenship is important for several legal purposes.
According to the Census recommendations, persons with dual or multiple citizenship should declare all. For the purposes of household surveys, this seems unnecessary. If a person holds the citizenship of the country of residence, that citizenship will normally be given priority, and could be the only one to collect.
CV8Sex
II: Classification:
1. man
2. woman
CV9Age
I: Definition:
(I)t is recommended to collect information on date of birth. Collecting information on the date of birth has the advantage of permitting the tabulation of data in two ways - by year of birth and by completed years of age.
Core topic 4 in ‘Recommendations for the 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing in the ECE Region’, (1).
II: Classification:
A classification by single years of age is recommended. These can be grouped according to needs for statistical analysis.
III: Eurostat reference source:
The Labour Force Survey collects information on year of birth and the date of birth in relation to the end of the reference period of the survey. The latter was implemented for confidentiality reasons.
The European Community Household Panel collects information on year and month of birth.
CV10Legal marital status
I: Definition:
Definition: Conjugal status of each individual in relation to the marriage laws of the country (i.e. de jure status). Information on this status should be collected for persons aged 15 or more.
Core topic 5 in ‘Recommendations for the 2000 Censuses of Population and Housing in the ECE Region’ (1).
II: Classification:
The classification recommended of legal marital status is the following :
1. Single (i.e. never married)
2. Married
3. Separated (and legally married)
4. Widowed (and not remarried)
5. Divorced (and not remarried)
The married and separated are often grouped together, as in the Census Recommendation, but it is useful to have them in a separate category, as recommended particularly for identifying ‘living arrangments’ see CV11.