Presentation of the EHS project EUROSTAT –Unit F3 Living conditions and social protection statistics Presentation of the EHS project Two main long term regular households/individuals surveys have been put in place at Community level, for specific purposes linked to the Union’s policies: LFS focusing on employment and SILC focusing on income and living conditions. Both surveys offer an annual possibility of specific ad-hoc modules, allowing for a limited number of additional variables to be collected, providing these variables are related to the main purpose of the surveys. Other general population data collections either have been, are being or will be established with greater or lesser degrees of harmonisation at EU level, like the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) household survey, the Adult Education Survey (AES), the Household Budget Survey (HBS), the Time Use Survey (TUS) and the Health Interview Survey (EHIS). Two of these data collections (HBS and TUS) have already existed for some time, but most of them have been recently implemented (ICT) or they are still in a development phase (AES, EHIS). At the same time, requests for new data collections are emerging and it is likely that they will increase in the future. There is consequently a need to look at possibilities to rationalise the data collection system and at the same time to create a flexible tool to quickly answer to new policy demands or existing policy demands which are not yet fulfilled. This is the reason why Eurostat has been, since 2005, working on the development of a new instrument, the EHS (European Household Survey or European System of Social Statistical Survey Modules). The system should have flexibility as a key characteristic aiming at improving timeliness and responsiveness. Several Commission DGs (in particular DG EMPL, SANCO, EAC, JLS) have already expressed a strong interest for this project. 1

In a nutshell… EHS = European Household Survey = European System of Social Statistical Survey Modules A system of social statistical modules designed for individual interviews Two objectives: To rationalize existing and future household surveys (Information and Communication Technologies Survey, Adult education survey…) To increase flexibility and timely response to user needs (through ad-hoc modules) Providing a coherent overall design structure for social statistics

Composition of EHS: Regular modules: core variables module 10’ (annual)  and a module corresponding to the current full ICT household survey 20’ (annual) [information and communication technologies] EHIS mini-module 15’ (annual) [health] the AES modules 35’(5-year survey) + possibly other (-year surveys [education] Irregular (one-off) modules (short-term and long-term) to answer new policy Commission needs (NCN) 15-35’ Core variables: 16 variables to be systematically included in the surveys carried out in the social field EHIS minimodule –previously called EHIS-BI (biennial indicators): 21 indicators developed by the Technical Group Health and EHIS and presented in June 2007 (no change done). List available on circa (document Tech-HIS/2007/5.4-2) http://circa.europa.eu/Members/irc/dsis/healthtf/library?l=/technicalsgroupshis/2007_20-21062007&vm=detailed&sb=Title

The EU recommended schema: basic requirements Maximum average interview duration: 45 min EU-27 sample of 337,500 persons aged 15+ (current working hypothesis) living in private households Minimum achieved sample size of each module: 135,000 interviews (over a 2-year period for the EHIS minimodule and possible for some NCN) Systematic inclusion of the core variables module Special populations (elderly people, disabled people, young people, women ….) are considered for some NCN modules The EU recommended schema is only a proposal (flexibility principle)

The schema proposal (February 2008)

Nota: The 3 subsamples are independent flexibility in term of sample sizes, and, for the 3rd subsample, there is a possibility to work on special populations (disabled people, elderly people…) – feasibility study in progress (mainly sampling and cost issues) Possibility to include the comprehensive EHIS later on in this structure (instead of a NCN L) feasibility to be further discussed No NCNL in 2010 (gradual implementation)

Short NCN modules: main characteristics (1) Whole sample size (EU27): 135,000 Maximum average duration: 15’ Sample size allocaiton (provisional, to be discussed during the EHS TF meeting on 1-2 July)

Country Sample Sampling rate AT Austria 4,195 0.599 BE Belgium 4,492 0.511 BG Bulgaria 4,133 0.622 CY Cyprus 2,895 4.531 CZ Czech Republic 4,496 0.510 DE Germany 10,493 0.148 DK Denmark 3,725 0.840 EE Estonia 3,018 2.641 ES Spain 7,906 0.208 FI Finland 3,714 0.849 FR France 9,068 0.176 GR Greece 4,618 0.482 HU Hungary 4,452 0.521 IE Ireland 3,526 1.026 IT Italy 9,002 0.177 LT Lithuania 3,403 1.195 LU Luxemburg 2,832 7.281 LV Latvia 3,209 1.635 MT Malta 2,819 8.299 NL Netherland 5,183 0.387 PL Poland 7,345 0.229 PT Portugal 4,520 0.504 RO Romania 5,821 0.319 SE Sweden 4,291 0.567 SI Slovenia 3,156 1.825 SK Slovakia 3,742 0.827 ∑fi 135,000 0.324

Short NCN modules: main characteristics (2) For countries which will adopt the proposed schema: One questionnaire with {core variables+ ICT variables + NCN variables}  Carried out only during the 2nd quarter (April/June) Possible shortcoming: seasonal effect to be tackled… Important asset: results available at the end of the year of the data collection

NCN modules considered 2010-2012 Culture (2010/2011)→ short NCN module on cultural participation & intercultural dialogue (DG EAC) Consumer protection (2010/2011) → short module on consumer empowerment (DG SANCO) EDSIM (2012) → long module on disabilities (DG EMPL) Currently: contacts with DG EMPL in order to check if EDSIM is appropriate to fulfil their needs

Next steps Discussion in the EHS Task Force meetings planned for July and autumn 2008 the objectives are to take final decisions on the EU recommended schema, to evaluate the results of the pilot data collection and to make a concrete proposal for all modules to be included in 2010 and 2011 Discussion in SDG on July, 3, 2008 Presentation to the DSS in September 2008 for opinion Presentation to the SPC in September 2008 for information Decision taken on implementation in the SPC meeting of February 2009 (following Eurostat Directors meeting opinion at the end of November 2008). SDG= strategic development group (TF of a reduced number of DSS, chaired by Eurostat) DSS September 2008: adoption of the schema and of themes of NCN for 2010 (maybe 2011)