1. Eurostat Workshop on ISCO - 19 November 2010
Future plans for the ESSnet on ESeG
European Socio economic Groups
Ana Franco asked me to present the work that could be undertaken by the ESS Net on ESeG.

2. 1. ESSnet objectives 2. Plan for the ESSnet
OUTLINE
1. ESSnet objectives 2. Plan for the ESSnet
First I will remind you of the ESS Net objectives as they were defined by Eurostat and then I will describe the work that can be performed package by package. These packages are mentionned for discussion of course. Finally, I will say a few words about the timing of the project

3. Part one ESS Net objectives

4. ESS Net objectives (1)
Workshop 27 November 2009: collection of occupational data
Adapt ESeG to ISCO-08 and build a new version of the classification
Focus on the improvement of the implementation of ISCO 08 since it is the main input in ESeG.
Continue to work on a derivation of ESeG exclusively on core variables to allow for an implementation in all social surveys (e.g. ISCO 2 digits, status in employment, sector)
As I told you 8 months ago, the list of objectives is a compiling of two documents sent by Eurostat: first of all a document for the workshop on collection of occupational data (Agenda item 4.1).
The objectives are the following: 4

5. ESS Net objectives (2)
Workshop 27 November 2009: data collection of occupational data
Study the possibility of providing more precise results from the LFS with additional variables already available in this survey (if necessary, e.g. size of the enterprise, ISCO at 3 digits, Supervision variable).
Test the quality of this new ESeG, taking into account that it could be slightly different from the initial ESeC used by researchers.
And 11th December 5

6. ESS Net objectives (3) The 2 main objectives of ESeG are:
Precisions from Eurostat added by mail, 11 December 2009
The 2 main objectives of ESeG are:
Discrimination: the classification needs to group together individuals with similar economic, social and cultural characteristics, comparable lifestyles and patterns of behaviour in order to drive analyses in a wide set of domains in the field of EU comparative research in human sciences
Structure: the classification should improve the presentation of social statistics to allow comparisons and contrast analyses on the basis of one single classification for most social domains (core variables) and users.

7. ESS Net objectives (4) The program would have two main components:
Precisions from Eurostat added by mail, 11 December 2009
The program would have two main components:
Taking into account that the new ISCO incorporates already the dimension of supervisory responsibilities, what would be the core social variables which combined with the occupation could give a classification fulfilling the objectives above mentioned. This would request to test different combinations of variables in different Member States to analyse this derived classification would be relevant for the EU 7

8. ESS Net objectives (5) The program would have two main components:
Precisions from Eurostat added by mail, 11 December 2009
The program would have two main components:
Improve the quality of the different components agreed in 1. The variables considered relevant in 1 should be deeply analysed in terms of comparability between countries and between surveys. Best practices for the collection of the data should be identified. A particular attention would be dedicated to the variable "Occupation" using as input the results coming from the Task force on the implementation of ISCO 08. 8

9. ESS Net objectives (6)
Precisions from Eurostat added by mail, 11 December 2009
Apart from these 2 areas, of research the ESSnet could also work on investigating the applicability of the ESeG on the social policies and possible extensions to other domains. 9

10. ESS Net objectives Proposals
to test different combinations of core variables to analyse which derived classification would be relevant for the EU
to study the possibility of providing more precise results from the LFS
to test the quality of ESeG and its components
to reach an agreement with the statistical information users
to investigate the applicability of the ESeG on the social policies 10

11. An approach combining ESSnet proposals, consultation of statistical information users and statistical validation
To be adopted the final classification should
meet the requirements of a majority of statistics users
(2) have a good discriminatory power in a large number of domains 11

12. PART 2 Plan for the future ESSnet

13. Main actors NSI participating in the ESSnet a board of researchers
a board of social policies specialists
Eurostat
network of NSIs
European Statistical Advisory Commitee (ESAC) 13

14. Main actors: co-partners
France
INSEE
Italy
ISTAT
Portugal
INE
Denmark
DST
Finland
STAT FI
Poland
GUS
Hungary
KSH
Czech Republic
CSÚ
Bulgaria
To be confirmed
Belgium 14

15. Main actors QUESTION: How to work with theESAC?
By creating a temporary working group on the subject?
- Is this working group to replace the board of researchers and policies specialists?
Shall we presente once or twice to the ESAC the work undertaken by the ESSnet?
Shall we let the final decision on the classification to ESAC members?
The ESAC (European Statistical Advisory Committee) shall assist the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in ensuring that user requirements and the costs borne by information providers and producers are taken into account in coordinating the strategic objectives and priorities of the Community's statistical information policy. That assistance shall cover all statistical domains relevant to the Community's statistical information policy. The Committee should contribute to a close cooperation in the programme-planning process in order to improve the governance of the European Statistical System and enhance the quality of Community statistics. 15

16. Main actors Should we set up one or two boards (of researchers
QUESTION:
Should we set up one or two boards (of researchers
and social policies specialists)?
The ESAC (European Statistical Advisory Committee) shall assist the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in ensuring that user requirements and the costs borne by information providers and producers are taken into account in coordinating the strategic objectives and priorities of the Community's statistical information policy. That assistance shall cover all statistical domains relevant to the Community's statistical information policy. The Committee should contribute to a close cooperation in the programme-planning process in order to improve the governance of the European Statistical System and enhance the quality of Community statistics. 16

17. The work packages and their timing17

18. Work package A: research on available sources and test of the methodology.
January 2011 – April 2011 18

19. Work package A: research on available sources and test of the methodology
assessment of european data available
agreement with providers to get access to the data collected outside the ESS
test how Eurostat can deliver the data collected inside the ESS to the ESSnet partners 19

20. Work package A: research on available sources and test of the methodology
assessment of the quality of the data
writing conversion tables from ISCO88 to ISCO08
- test of the methodology 20

21. Work package A: 21

22. Work package A: research on available sources and test of the methodology
QUESTION:
Could Eurostat provide the ESSnet partners with micro-data?
Else, could Eurostat put a programmer at the disposal of the ESSnet to reproduce programmes tested at national level? 22

23. Work package B: analyse the quality of professional status and occupations.
January 2011 – March 2013 23

24. Work package B1: analyse the quality of professional status
comparison of the share of self-employed/employed in MS
evolution of self-employment over the last 15 years by MS
distinction of « false » self-employed (degree of dependency to clients, entrepreneurial freedom)(with ESWC, EU-SILC, and ESHFC)
This work package is not linked to any other tasks. It can be done at any time during the action provided the data are available 24

25. Work package B1: analyse the quality of professional status
comparison of questions used in MS to collect professional status (including instructions given to interviewers)
- recommendations to improve the quality of professional status
This work package is not linked to any other tasks. It can be done at any time during the action provided the data are available 25

26. Work package B2: analyse the quality of the coding of occupations
identification of ISCO-08 categories that are atypical (LFS 2012)
- discussion with NSIs to know if the specifities are caused by the coding process
- recommendations to improve the quality of the coding process in the EU
This work package can start as soon as data providing occupations coded into ISCO08 are available (that is to say June 2012) 26

27. Work package B1 and B2: analyse the quality of professional status and occupations coding
QUESTION:
Should we make tests of additional variables to distinguish between managers, supervisors…?

28. Work package C: definition of 3 to 4 ESeG prototypes and validation of their construction principles.
May 2011 – March 2012 28

29. Work package C: definition of 3 or 4 ESeG prototypes and validation of their construction principles
draw inspiration from the practice of researchers, polling institutes, NSI and Eurostat,
build 3 to 4 prototypes, first and second level
contact ESeC consortium leaders and proposing to them to include their prototype in the study, provided it is based on core variables

30. Work package C: definition of 3 or 4 ESeG prototypes and validation of their construction principles
agree on a theoretical framework or criteria (employment relations, skills) for the statistical analysis of its validity
If necessary, developing the second level before the first one (about 30 subgroups) 30

31. Work package D: consultation of statistical information users.
June 2011 – March 2013 31

32. Work package D: consultation of statistical information users
identifying the main users of future ESeG in the EU and selecting about 100 respondents
writing, testing and translating an interview guidebook
parts will be interviewed through writing procedures, parts through oral procedures
Translation and synthesis of responses, ranking of prototypes according to the respondents preferences 32

33. Work package D: consultation of statistical information users
.QUESTIONS:
How to identify a hundred experts (researchers, social policies experts, trade unions representatives …) interested in classification matters?
How to conduct face to face interviews in the countries not covered by the ESSnet?
It depends on the languages spoken by the partners, and the opportunity to resort to researchers/translators. 33

34. Work package E: test of the discriminatory power of ESeG prototypes.
April 2012 – March 2013 34

35. Work package E: test of the discriminatory power of ESeG prototypes
according to the two boards defining the fields for the validation
assessment of the discriminatory power of the prototypes in the different fields (variance analysis)
synthesis and ranking of the prototypes 35

36. Work package Diss: presentation to ESAC and dissemination
April 2013 – December 2013 36

37. Work package Diss: presentation to ESAC and dissemination
Deliverables could include:
 a validated two levels classification (derivation matrix, rationales and manual for implementation)
 guidelines to improve the harmonisation of the core variables used in the derivation matrix
 a panorama of the European society through final ESeG ie a in-depth description of socio-economic groups using ESS sources (broad sense) 37

38. Work package Diss: presentation to ESAC and dissemination
Deliverables could include:
 a presentation of a set of socio-economic indicators at the national and European level according to final ESeG (agregated and detailed level) (2)
 a breakdown of households account into socio-economic groups
 a history of socio-economic groups since 2000 38