Eurofound surveys: Next sampling Tadas Leoncikas Research manager DSS meeting, Eurostat 3-4 April 2014

What is Eurofound? A tripartite European agency Comparative socio-economic research Budget of EUR 20.6m (2014) 115 people in Dublin and Brussels combined Established in 1975 Tripartite nature: one representative from the government, employers organisation and trade union in each of the 28 EU Member States, plus four representatives from the European Commission. Eurofound’s budget : EUR 20.450.000 including the general subsidy (EUR 20,210,000) and services revenues (EUR 240,000) More than 80% of total financial resources devoted to Eurofound’s core activities: “the development and dissemination of knowledge”

Monitoring living and working conditions: Surveys and Network of observatories European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 1990/91; 1995/96; 2000; 2005; 2010; 2015 European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) 2003; 2007/8; 2011/12; 2016 European Company Survey (ECS) 2004; 2009; 2013 Network of European Observatories (NEO): in EU 27 + Norway We collect and analyse up-to-date information on developments in the area of industrial relations, working conditions and restructuring You find this information in the form of updates on the web pages of the observatories, but also in the annual reports we produce, for example on wage developments, working time developments or on restructuring. Eurofound builds on its various tools and expertise to provide a comprehensive picture of trends in Europe. Since 2011, findings from the surveys, from our observatories and from case-study and action research have been primarily used to analyse the impact of the crisis that Europe is experiencing. Let me give you just three short examples of how our research can provide answers to some of the burning questions associated with the crisis. Firstly, on the impact of the crisis on living conditions and quality of life of European citizens. Note: ERM data can be analysed by region. Example: Announced job losses / gains in large scale restructurings in NE England (NUTS: UKC), 2002-12 Next slide

Multidimensional nature of quality of life Quality of life domains surveyed: Subjective wellbeing Health and mental wellbeing Living standards Work-life balance Public services Trust and tensions Participation and exclusion Topic: quality of life = overall level of well-being of individuals Assessed in terms of outcomes and experiences (objective), but also how people feel about their lives (subjective) Core focus on domains of employment, economic resources, family, housing, community and health – and specifically on the inter-relationships between domains (e.g. work and family, health and economic situation) Addresses the quality of society – in terms of quality of services and environment, social capital and societal relations. 3rd EQLS: 73 questions 183 items Multi-wave integrated data set freely available at UK Data Service

3rd EQLS secondary analysis reports http://bit.ly/eqls2013 Our research output is guided by our Work Programme 2013-2016 From Crisis to Recovery. The evolution of social, health and material inequalities are examined for their impact on well-being, levels of trust and the perceived quality of society. The latest reports look at subjective well-being in Europe The Quality of society and public services report explores how Europeans perceive the quality of their communities and societal relations and their public services. It looks at such aspects of society as trust in institutions and other people, perceived tensions between social groups, attitudes towards migrants and the effects of the economic crisis on social inclusion and social cohesion. The report Social inequalities examines the distribution of freedoms and opportunities among individuals and population subgroups in Europe. It reports on social inequalities in four critical areas of life: health, standard of living, productive and valued activities, and individual, family and social life. Quality of life in Europe: Trends 2003–2012 - Executive summary This report explores patterns of stability or change in quality of life of the EU population aged 18 and over over the last decade. Particular attention is paid to differences between the Member States (EU12) joining the EU since 2004 and the older Member States (EU15) and between countries that have been more or less affected by the economic crisis. Specific attention is also paid to the situation of people in vulnerable situations: people on low incomes, elderly people in the EU12, single parents and the long-term unemployed. The policy briefs: Household over-indebtedness in the EU: The role of informal debts looks at issues around borrowing money from relatives and friends, in the context of overall debt problems in Europe; Political trust and civic engagement during the crisis examines the challenges for the EU of political disenchantment and the need to let citizens know that their voice counts. It also explores the connection between trust and active participation, such as volunteering.

Life satisfaction in Europe SMT - online

Example: Life satisfaction by income quartiles, for respondents with no arrears versus those with 4 arrears

Inactive women willing to have work if they could choose working hours Example: Social statistics & EF survey data combined

European Quality of Life Survey Three waves: 2003, 2007 and 2011-2012 (next – 2016) 3rd EQLS – 34 countries: EU28, TR, MK, IS, ME, RS, XK Residents (18+) Register based stratified random sampling Random route if no register available Stratification by urbanisation and region 43636 interviews 1000-3000 interviews per country Response rate (RR3) 41.3% (EU27) & 44.7% (non-EU) 38 minute face to face interviews at peoples’ homes 25 languages and 13 language variants Quality assurance substantially enhanced Topic: quality of life = overall level of well-being of individuals Assessed in terms of outcomes and experiences (objective), but also how people feel about their lives (subjective) Core focus on domains of employment, economic resources, family, housing, community and health – and specifically on the inter-relationships between domains (e.g. work and family, health and economic situation) Addresses the quality of society – in terms of quality of services and environment, social capital and societal relations.

Sampling frames Number of countries, by survey EWCS 2010 EQLS 2011 EWCS 2015 EQLS 2016 Population register 9 7 Address register 4 Enumeration via random route 21 18 ?

Sampling in Eurofound surveys Fieldwork, including sampling, contracted out Insisting on use of good quality registers (coverage of min 95%), and using enumeration where those are not available Innovation applied in EWCS-2010 and EQLS-2011: separation of sample enumeration and interviewing Potential issues: Not choosing the best sampling frame Not using the most recent sample

Deadwood in sampling frame by country and frame type (3rd EQLS)

Towards more synergies in European surveys? EQLS 2016: Sample top-up? At country level At regional level: (DG REGIO, Regional governments) Reliable samples from reliable sampling frames Advice on quality of the registers Access to sampling frames Samples Thank you! www.eurofound.europa.eu

Background information ESTAT – EF: current exchange Meetings of the Directors of Social Statistics (observer) Working Group on Living Conditions (EU-SILC group) Expert group on Measuring Quality of Employment coordinated by UNECE/ILO/Eurostat (EF was involved in task force since 2005, and in this expert group since 2012) Expert group on Quality of life indicators (2012-2013) Task force to prepare the 2015 LFS ad-hoc module on work organisation and working time arrangements Task Force for the 2016 SILC ad-hoc module on access to services (since November 2013) Also: EF research visits; 2013 renewal of the agreement on data access in process