Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Results from the 2010 LFS (Labour Force Survey) ad hoc module on the reconciliation between work and family life.
The aims of the module is to establish how far persons participate in the labour force as they wish and if not, whether the reasons are connected with a lack of suitable care services for children and dependant persons:
identification of care responsibilities (children and dependants);
analysis of the consequences on labour market participation taking into account the options and constraints given;
in case of constraints, identification of those linked with the lack or unsuitability of care services.
A further aim is to analyse the degree of flexibility offered at work in terms of reconciliation with family life as well as to estimate how often career breaks occur and how far leave of absence is taken.
3.2. Classification system
Classification of Economic Activities (NACE), which complies with NACE Rev.2, is used for the classification of statistical units to the 1-digit level.
Classification of occupation (ISCO), which complies with ISCO 88, by 1-digit level.
Classification of education (ISCED97), grouped as levels 0-2, 3-4, and 5-6.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Not applicable.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Care responsibilities
This set of tables looks at persons who either take care of children, or of ill, disabled or elderly relatives, their status in the work force (employed, unemployed, inactive), and their level of education. It also provides information on the use of childcare services, by used hours per week for those who do, and the reasons for not doing so for those who don't.
The question behind the table named 'Persons taking care of other children or persons in need of care' was asked to all persons in the sample aged 15 to 64. It gives information on persons who regularly take care of children aged up to 14 years, and who are not one's own or one's spouse's child. It also tracks those who regularly take care of ill, disabled and /or elderly friends or relatives aged 15 years or more, and who are in need of care.
The table 'Persons making weekly use of childcare services for their youngest child' surveys the extent of use of childcare services, including pre-school and paid child minders. The question was asked to all respondents aged 15 to 64, with at least one of one's own or one's spouse's child up to 14 years of age living in the household. The table is split on duration of the use of child care, and educational level, sex, and working time of the respondent.
'Main childcare related reasons for not working or working part-time' and 'Main care related reasons for not working or working part-time' are closely related, and differ only in that the first specifically deals with child care, and the other with care for persons who are ill, disabled or elderly.
Flexibility of working time
Here we provide information on the employees' influence over their own working schedule, combined with what kind of economic activity their workplace belong to, and if the work is part-time or full-time. This is also done by educational level. The possibility of having flexible start and end of the working day, or a whole day off, for family reasons is also looked at in relation to economic activity (NACE) and groups of professions.
Career breaks and parental leave
The tables here look at parents who either took parental leave, reduced their working hours, or stopped working all together, to take care of their youngest child, by length of the leave and the educational level of the parent
Methodology notes: Detailed information on the relevant methodology for the ad-hoc module (including the Commission regulation and explanatory notes) as well as to national documentation (national questionnaires and interviewers instructions) can be found on EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Modules.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical units consist of the individuals living in private households.
3.6. Statistical population
The target group of the module consisted of all persons aged between 15 and 64.
3.7. Reference area
European Union and Euro area + IS, NO, HR, MK. Data for Cyprus refer only to the areas of Cyprus controlled by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Data for France do not include the overseas departments (DOM).
3.8. Coverage - Time
Differences between countries: second quarter 2010, or all four quarters 2010.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
At European level: Commission Regulation (EC) No 365/2008 adopting the programme of ad hoc modules, covering years 2010 to 2012, to the labour force sample survey provided by Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 20/2009 adopting the specifications of the 2010 ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life provided for by Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
No international agreements for data sharing.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
EU-LFS micro data as received by Eurostat from the national statistical institutes does not contain any administrative information such as names or addresses that would allow direct identification. Access to this micro data is nevertheless strictly controlled and limited to specified Eurostat staff. After data treatment, records are aggregated for all further use.
LFS data for ad-hoc modules are released after the end of the reference period once data processing and validation is terminated. This is not scheduled in a release calendar.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Not applicable.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
News releases on-line.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The evaluation report summarizes the 2010 LFS (Labour Force Survey) ad hoc module on 'reconciliation between work and family life'. To access the report, please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Modules.
Eurostat also produces tailor-made tables not available online at the request of users (please refer to Eurostat user support).
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
EU-LFS anonymised microdata are available for research purposes. Please consult access to microdata.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
For information on the 2010 LFS (Labour Force Survey) ad hoc module on 'reconciliation between work and family life', please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Modules.
For a detailed description of methods and concepts used, as well as for other documents related to the EU-LFS, for general information please consult the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.
The concern for the quality of labour statistics in general and of the Labour Force Survey in particular has been expressed in Regulations, reflected in harmonised definitions and discussed in Working groups (such as the Labour Markey Statistics Working Group and its predecessor the Employment Statistics Working Group), workshops and seminars within the European statistical system.
Concerning the Labour Force Survey, major milestones in the improvement of its quality have been the adoption of Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a continuous, quarterly sample survey in the Community; the adoption of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000 concerning the operational definition of unemployment and the 12 principles for formulating questions on labour status; the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 1991/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council making the continuous survey mandatory from 2003 onwards (except Italy from 2004 and Germany from 2005) and the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 2257/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council extending the survey characteristics and introducing the distinction between structural and quarterly variables.
Eurostat and the Member States have continuously worked also on a voluntary basis to improve the quality of the Labour Force Survey. Annual quality reports were introduced in 2002 and quarterly accuracy reports were introduced in 2004. Standards and rules for preparing ad hoc modules were adopted in 2004. At the initiative of Member States, a programme of annual LFS workshops was started in 2005.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The overall quality of LFS statistics is considered as high. LFS surveys are considered as reliable sources applying high standards with regard to the methodology. However, the LFS, like all surveys, is based upon a sample of the population. The results are therefore subject to the usual types of errors associated with random sampling. Based on the sample size and design in the various Member States, Eurostat implements basic guidelines intended to avoid publication of figures that are unreliable or to give warning of the unreliability of the figures.
A Task Force composed of several national experts, policy representatives and Eurostat analyses the outcome of the module. The results are published in the final evaluation report. Please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Modules.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
A multiannual ad hoc module programme is agreed between Eurostat, the National Statistical Institutes and the main policy users (basically Commission services).
EU-LFS results are used mainly by the DG Employment and a number of other Directorates of the Commission for measurement and monitoring of policy agendas purposes. Key users include National Statistics Institutes (NSIs), international organisations, news agencies and researchers, which use of various aspects of EU-LFS data for international or intra EU comparisons. Finally, LFS data are used by Eurostat for compiling detailed regional indicators, for estimates on current education and education levels, higher education and research, and for accurate estimates of labour input of national accounts.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Eurostat does not carry out any satisfaction survey targeted at users of labour markets statistics. The relevance of the LFS statistics for the users can thus only be assessed by indirect means. These requests are subject to scrutiny by the national experts and representatives of the NSIs. For major topics of interest, the instrument of ad hoc modules has proven to be useful and flexible. For users other than the Commission, anecdotal evidence for relevance can be found in positive feedbacks from individual users, or even in the absence of complaint. The main institutional users, however, are known to the unit for Labour Market Statistics. Many of them are frequently consulted on various aspects of development and dissemination of labour force statistics.
12.3. Completeness
Even if otherwise adhering to the EU-regulations on the EU-LFS, countries do not always provide data for all the variables. This can be for various reasons, such as assessment that the variable in question is irrelevant to the labour market situation in the country or (temporary) inability to implement the variable in the national questionnaire.
Some NSIs implement the full set of questions only in the spring or to a certain survey wave. For more details see evaluation report at EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Modules.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The overall accuracy is considered as high. The LFS covers persons aged 15 years and over, living in private households, to ensure a comparable coverage for all countries. The sampling designs in the LFS are chosen on a country by country basis (sampling rates vary between 0.2 % and 1.6 % ). Most of the National Statistics Institutes employ multi-staged stratified random sample design, especially those that do not have central population registers available. As the results are based on a sample of population they are subject to the usual types of errors associated with sampling techniques and interviews.
According to Commission Regulation (EC) No 365/2008 of 23 April 2008 adopting the programme of ad hoc modules, covering the years 2010, 2011 and 2012, the deadline for the transmission of results of the AHM 2008 was 31 March 2011. The release of EU-LFS data is not bound by an advance calendar of publication.
14.2. Punctuality
Of the 32 participating countries (EU27 + IS, NO, HR, MK and RS), 30 delivered the data on time. Several countries sent revisions after the initial transmission. Initial validation of the data sets was finished in November 2011.
Published estimates stemming from the LFS are considered fully internally coherent, since arithmetic and accounting identities in the production of LFS datasets are observed.
The duration of the extra interview time of the AHM varied from 50 seconds to 13 minutes between countries, with an average of 5 minutes.
17.1. Data revision - policy
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
17.2. Data revision - practice
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
18.1. Source data
The source of the data is the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS). The EU LFS is a rotating random sample survey of persons in private households. It is organised in thirteen modules, covering their demographic background, labour status, employment characteristics of the main job, hours worked, employment characteristics of the second job, time-related underemployment, search for employment, education and training, previous work experience of persons not in employment, situation one year before the survey, main labour status, income, and technical items relating to the interview. An additional so-called ad-hoc module can be added to address specific subjects that change from year to year. For details see Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community (OJ No L 77/3).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data collection is quarterly or annually.
18.3. Data collection
The data is acquired by interviewing the sampled individuals directly. For the sample design and rotation patterns applied in each country, please consult the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.
18.4. Data validation
Prior to the dissemination of national data, LFS results are validated by the Member States and checked for plausibility by Eurostat.
18.5. Data compilation
EU and Euro area aggregates are calculated on the basis of quarterly population totals. For the data expressed in absolute values for each quarter (i.e. number of persons) no weighting is used - aggregate figures are calculated by adding up all the national data series.
Rates/Ratios are subsequently calculated from the data expressed in absolute values (i.e. number of persons).
Results from the 2010 LFS (Labour Force Survey) ad hoc module on the reconciliation between work and family life.
The aims of the module is to establish how far persons participate in the labour force as they wish and if not, whether the reasons are connected with a lack of suitable care services for children and dependant persons:
identification of care responsibilities (children and dependants);
analysis of the consequences on labour market participation taking into account the options and constraints given;
in case of constraints, identification of those linked with the lack or unsuitability of care services.
A further aim is to analyse the degree of flexibility offered at work in terms of reconciliation with family life as well as to estimate how often career breaks occur and how far leave of absence is taken.
20 June 2014
Care responsibilities
This set of tables looks at persons who either take care of children, or of ill, disabled or elderly relatives, their status in the work force (employed, unemployed, inactive), and their level of education. It also provides information on the use of childcare services, by used hours per week for those who do, and the reasons for not doing so for those who don't.
The question behind the table named 'Persons taking care of other children or persons in need of care' was asked to all persons in the sample aged 15 to 64. It gives information on persons who regularly take care of children aged up to 14 years, and who are not one's own or one's spouse's child. It also tracks those who regularly take care of ill, disabled and /or elderly friends or relatives aged 15 years or more, and who are in need of care.
The table 'Persons making weekly use of childcare services for their youngest child' surveys the extent of use of childcare services, including pre-school and paid child minders. The question was asked to all respondents aged 15 to 64, with at least one of one's own or one's spouse's child up to 14 years of age living in the household. The table is split on duration of the use of child care, and educational level, sex, and working time of the respondent.
'Main childcare related reasons for not working or working part-time' and 'Main care related reasons for not working or working part-time' are closely related, and differ only in that the first specifically deals with child care, and the other with care for persons who are ill, disabled or elderly.
Flexibility of working time
Here we provide information on the employees' influence over their own working schedule, combined with what kind of economic activity their workplace belong to, and if the work is part-time or full-time. This is also done by educational level. The possibility of having flexible start and end of the working day, or a whole day off, for family reasons is also looked at in relation to economic activity (NACE) and groups of professions.
Career breaks and parental leave
The tables here look at parents who either took parental leave, reduced their working hours, or stopped working all together, to take care of their youngest child, by length of the leave and the educational level of the parent
Methodology notes: Detailed information on the relevant methodology for the ad-hoc module (including the Commission regulation and explanatory notes) as well as to national documentation (national questionnaires and interviewers instructions) can be found on EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Modules.
The statistical units consist of the individuals living in private households.
The target group of the module consisted of all persons aged between 15 and 64.
European Union and Euro area + IS, NO, HR, MK. Data for Cyprus refer only to the areas of Cyprus controlled by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Data for France do not include the overseas departments (DOM).
The overall accuracy is considered as high. The LFS covers persons aged 15 years and over, living in private households, to ensure a comparable coverage for all countries. The sampling designs in the LFS are chosen on a country by country basis (sampling rates vary between 0.2 % and 1.6 % ). Most of the National Statistics Institutes employ multi-staged stratified random sample design, especially those that do not have central population registers available. As the results are based on a sample of population they are subject to the usual types of errors associated with sampling techniques and interviews.
Number of persons, expressed in thousands.
EU and Euro area aggregates are calculated on the basis of quarterly population totals. For the data expressed in absolute values for each quarter (i.e. number of persons) no weighting is used - aggregate figures are calculated by adding up all the national data series.
Rates/Ratios are subsequently calculated from the data expressed in absolute values (i.e. number of persons).
The source of the data is the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS). The EU LFS is a rotating random sample survey of persons in private households. It is organised in thirteen modules, covering their demographic background, labour status, employment characteristics of the main job, hours worked, employment characteristics of the second job, time-related underemployment, search for employment, education and training, previous work experience of persons not in employment, situation one year before the survey, main labour status, income, and technical items relating to the interview. An additional so-called ad-hoc module can be added to address specific subjects that change from year to year. For details see Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community (OJ No L 77/3).
Not applicable.
According to Commission Regulation (EC) No 365/2008 of 23 April 2008 adopting the programme of ad hoc modules, covering the years 2010, 2011 and 2012, the deadline for the transmission of results of the AHM 2008 was 31 March 2011. The release of EU-LFS data is not bound by an advance calendar of publication.
