1. WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November Occupation as a core variable in social surveys
Sylvain Jouhette Nicola Massarelli

2. Outline of the presentation
Core variables in social surveys
Occupation in employment as core variable
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

3. Core variables in social surveys
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

4. Harmonisation of social statistics: background (cont’d)
London Workshop, November 1996, 3 Eurostat Task Force Meetings, ,
Working Group meeting, May 2000, final document endorsed by Directors of Social Statistics (DSS) in 2000
In 2005 new proposal to go one step further in the harmonisation
to introduce systematically a set of core harmonised variables in each social survey (or data gathering through registers) involving transmission of microdata to Eurostat
Goal: to produce statistics which are comparable across countries and across domains for different subpopulations of interest
Task Force on Core Social Variables launched in 2006
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

5. Outcome of Task Force on Core Social Variables
List of core variables
Recommended definitions for each variable
Recommendations for the implementation of core variables in each social surveys
Final report (*) takes into account remarks from DSS and acknowledges endorsement by SDG
(*)
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

6. List of core variables Demographic information Geographic information
Sex
Age in completed years
Country of birth
Country of citizenship at time of data collection
Legal marital status
De facto marital status (consensual union)
Household composition
Geographic information
Country of residence
Region of residence
Degree of urbanisation
Socio-economic information
Self-declared labour status
Status in employment
Occupation in employment
Economic sector in employment
Highest level of education completed
Net monthly income of the household
European Socio-economic Classification (when available)
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

7. key principles for variables definitions
Relevance
Simplicity
Ease of implementation
Feasibility
Avoidance of burden
Output harmonisation
Use of tested definition
International comparability
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

8. Surveys concerned Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Survey on income and living conditions (EU-SILC)
Household budget survey (HBS)
Adult education survey (AES)
ICT usage in households and by individual (ICT)
Health interview survey (EHIS)
Time use survey (TUS)
Census
Structure of earning survey (SES)
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

9. Endorsement and remarks by DSS, Sept. 2006
Agreement on proposed list of variables and definitions
details of definitions to be further tested
Agreement on principle that all core variables should be introduced in all EU social surveys
Goal: all core variables included in all surveys by 2010
Subject to detailed discussions in the relevant working groups
Support to the proposal to continue methodological developments and tests on a revised version of the self declared labour status
Further steps to be discussed at national and EU levels
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

10. Proposals for implementation by DSS, Sept. 2008
Requirements for implementation
a survey-by-survey approach (discussion in the related working groups)
a by variable approach (consistent introduction of variables one after the other).
Need for coordination
At Eurostat level  to ensure cross-country consistency
At Member State level  to ensure consistency in national implementation
Monitoring implementation over time
Temporary Working group on the implementation of core variables
comprising national coordinators and Eurostat in Spring 2009
Approach by stages (1 variable or small sets of variables at a time)
Priorities for variables implementation still to be decided
Review timetable (2010 too ambitious)
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

11. 3 phases of implementation
Geographic data linked to migration (country of birth, of citizenship and of residence)
Highest level of education completed
Phase 2
Demographic data (sex, age, legal and de facto marital status, household composition)
Employment-related socio-economic information (self-declared labour status, status in employment, occupation in employment, and employment by industry)
Phase 3
geographic data linked to the address (region of residence, degree of urbanisation)
Net monthly income of the household
Socio-economic classification.
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

12. Occupation in employment as core social variable
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

13. Rationale
It is generally recognised that the type of work performed can have a great influence on the living conditions of the individual and household. Hence, “social stratification” and “social mobility” researchers pay attention to the type of job as a central element in studies of inequalities of opportunities and results, and their reproduction over life cycles and generations.
(From the final report of the TF on Core Social Variables)
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

14. Summary of main discussion
The ISCO level recommended: 2 digits
Level 1 is not appropriate for a direct collection
Level 2 is already implemented in most surveys
For register based data, ISCO is often coded at even a more precise level.
A shorter coding list could be studied if reduced breakdowns (manual/non manual, skilled/unskilled) prove to be of better quality in some surveys
Needs for more details in certain categories will need to be checked for implementation of the classification ESeC
Quality of ISCO
No complete information at Eurostat on the way ISCO is collected or derived in each country and survey
Specific actions should be launched at EU level to ensure comparable ISCO data. This should be done in parallel to the implementation of the 2008 ISCO (e.g grants)
Coverage of the variable for persons not currently working (last job)
Burden on respondents recognised too high
Although relevant for certain surveys like the LFS, EU-SILC or the EHIS
Needed for the full version of the classification ESeC
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008

15. Classification used Codification
ISCO-COM (88), until ISCO 2008 is introduced in most EU social surveys at once in 2011
Basis for classification in the ISCO-88:
Nature of the job itself
Level of skill required
Coding: 36 positions
OCCUPATION AS A CORE VARIABLE IN SOCIAL SURVEYS
WORKSHOP ON THE DATA COLLECTION OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA Luxembourg, 28 November 2008