1. LAMAS Working Group 7-8 December 2016
Agenda Item 3.1 Definition of household and residence
Eurostat

2. Background
IESS FR: harmonise concept of resident population and household across all social surveys
LFS, SILC, AES, HBS, EHIS, ICT HH, TUS
1st step: inventory of current national situations for each survey
LFS: 2 LAMAS consultations
2nd step: proposal for harmonisation
For each survey  today: LFS only
Eurostat (unit F1) consolidated proposal to DSS
- Based on inventories and conclusions for each survey
- Planned for next February
Eurostat

3. Resident population LAMAS position: follow UN definition
Usual residence, 12 months, special cases
27 in favour, 7 against, 2 no answer
Comments received
Special cases: issues related to tertiary students, conscripts, people working away from home, on water transports, 6 months/12 months
 further guidelines to be developed
Sampling frame with different definition
additional measures to be taken in the LFS to get closer to UN concept
Additional measures:
Already done in many countries
No recommended model question: survey instructions / interviewer guidelines could be sufficient
Each country to decide best / most pragmatic approach
Eurostat

4. Household concept LAMAS position: housekeeping concept
29 in favour, 6 against, 1 no answer
Comments received
Criteria for housekeeping concept
 criteria proposed because already widely applied and census recommendations compliant
Additional burden
 simple and practical implementation: interviewer guidelines might be enough
Housekeeping concept not relevant for LM analyses
 impact on indicators for household composition and jobless households (room document)
- members live in the same private dwelling;
- members provide themselves with food and possibly other essentials for living;
- members share expenses (benefiting from expenses and/or contributing to expenses).
Implementation: same as for population: already done in many countries, no recommended model question: survey instructions / interviewer guidelines could be sufficient; each country to decide best / most pragmatic approach
Eurostat

5. Conclusion for LAMAS opinion
LAMAS position for future LFS
Population: UN usual residence definition; guidelines to be developed for special cases (students)
Household: housekeeping concept 'provide themselves with essentials for living and share expenses'; if another concept, then differences for indicators published by Eurostat should be proofed to be negligible (<0.1 pp.)
Remaining concerns to be brought forward for further consideration in the proposal for the DSS
Eurostat