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2023. Pension and labour market participation (lfso_23)

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Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS)

Compiling agency: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

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The EU-LFS eight-yearly module 'Pensions and Labour market participation' conducted in 2023 provides information on:

  • the types of pension and pension age 
  • the labour market situation at beginning of old age pension receipt of persons receiving an old age pension
  • the main reason to stop or continue working with the beginning of the old age pension receipt 
  • the financial old age pension provisions of persons not receiving a statutory nor an occupational pension.

The module includes 11 variables.

  1. PENSTYP1: Old age pension
  2. AGEPENSO: Age at which the person started receiving an old age pension
  3. STATRECE: First statutory old age pension receipt with reduction or bonus
  4. PENSTYP2: Disability pension and other disability periodic cash benefit
  5. AGEPENSD: Age at which the person started receiving the disability pension or other disability periodic cash benefits
  6. PROVTYPE: Financial old age provisions
  7. PENSSITU: Situation at beginning of old age pension receipt
  8. WSTPREAS: Main reason to stop working with the beginning of the old age pension receipt
  9. WCONREAS: Main reason to continue working with old age pension receipt
  10. LMREENT: Re-enter the labour market after beginning of old age pension receipt
  11. LMENTREAS: Main reason to re-enter the labour market

6 December 2024

Target population

The 2023 LFS module includes persons aged 50-74. This group will be referred to as the target population of the survey. Most of the variables in the survey were limited further, thus dealing with sub-groups of the target population (e.g. persons receiving an old-age pension).

Definitions

Old age pension - old-age pension covers statutory pension, occupational pension and/or personal pension.

Disability pension - periodic payments intended to maintain or support the income of someone below the legal/standard retirement age as established in the reference scheme who suffers from a disability which impairs his or her ability to work or earn beyond a minimum level laid down by legislation.

Statutory pension - covers the provision of social protection against the risks linked to old age: loss of income, inadequate income, and lack of independence in carrying out daily tasks, reduced participation in social life.

Occupational pension - private supplementary plans linked to an employment relationship or professional activity. Contributions are made by employers or employees, or both, based on earnings. or by the self-employed. These plans may be mandated by national legislation but more commonly are established either in employment contracts or in sector- or profession-based collective agreements negotiated by social partners. Pension liabilities may be assumed directly by the sponsoring company (as book reserves), or contributions may be invested in private funds or insurance contracts. Funding may be based on defined benefit or defined contribution principles (the latter are increasingly common). Particularly in countries where public pensions only provide a minimal level of support, occupational pensions allow many employees to even out consumption over a lifetime and to enjoy in retirement a standard of living close to that which they had during working life.

Personal pension - private voluntary plans in which contributions are invested in an individual account managed by a pension fund or financial institution. They are usually defined contribution plans, where the level of assets determines the level of complementary pension benefits provided. To encourage this specific kind of savings, countries often provide tax incentives or additional contributions. A personal pension plan may have the following characteristics:

  • is based on a contract between an individual saver and an entity on a voluntary basis;
  • has an explicit retirement objective;
  • provides for capital accumulation until retirement with only limited possibilities for early withdrawal before retirement;
  • provides an income on retirement

 

Online tables and the coverage of data

Title Code Coverage
Persons receiving an old-age or disability pension by type and labour status lfso_23pens01 all persons aged 50-74
Persons receiving an old-age pension by type lfso_23pens02 persons (aged 50-74) receiving an old-age pension
Age at which the person started receiving an old-age pension lfso_23pens03 persons (aged 50-74) receiving an old-age pension
Persons receiving an old-age pension by first statutory pension receipt with/without reduction or bonus lfso_23pens04 persons (aged 50-74) receiving a statutory old-age pension
Age at which the person started receiving a disability pension or other periodic disability cash benefits lfso_23pens05 persons (aged 50-74) receiving a disability pension or other periodic disability cash benefits
Persons receiving an old-age pension by their work situation at the beginning of pension receipt lfso_23pens06 persons (aged 50-74) receiving an old-age pension
Persons receiving an old-age pension and stopped working at the beginning of pension receipt by reason lfso_23pens07 persons (aged 50-74) having stopped working with old age pension receipt
Persons receiving an old-age pension and continued working at the beginning of pension receipt by reason lfso_23pens08 persons (aged 50-74) who continued working with old age pension receipt
Persons receiving an old-age pension and re-entered the labour market after the beginning of pension receipt lfso_23pens09 persons (aged 50-74) who stopped working or were not working at the beginning of old age pension receipt
Persons receiving an old-age pension and re-entered the labour market after the beginning of pension receipt by reason lfso_23pens10 persons (aged 50-74) who re-entered the labour market
Persons receiving an old-age pension by their work situation at the beginning of pension receipt and current or previous professional status lfso_23pens11 persons (aged 50-74) who were working during the first old age pension receipt or re-entered the labour market
Persons receiving an old-age pension by their work situation at the beginning of pension receipt and current or previous occupation lfso_23pens12 persons (aged 50-74) who were working during the first old age pension receipt or re-entered the labour market
Persons not receiving a statutory nor an occupational old-age pension by type of financial old-age provision lfso_23pens13 persons (aged 50-74) not receiving a statutory nor an occupational pension

 

Output variables

Table lfso_23pens01: Persons receiving an old-age or disability pension by type and labour status

  • Old-age pension only - People who receive the statutory pension, occupational pension or personal pension and do not receive the disability pension or other periodic disability benefits (PENSTYP1 = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and PENSTYP2 = 2)
  • Disability pension or other periodic disability benefits only - People who do not receive an old-age pension and receive the disability pension or other periodic disability benefits (PENSTYP1 = 8 and PENSTYP2 = 1)
  • Old-age and disability pension or other periodic disability benefits - People who receive both old-age pension and the disability pension or other periodic disability benefits (PENSTYP1 = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and PENSTYP2 = 1)
  • Any pension - People who receive at least one type of pension (old-age pension or/and disability pension or other periodic disability benefits) (PENSTYP1 = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 or PENSTYP2 = 1)
  • None - People who do not receive any type of pension (PENSTYP1 = 8 and PENSTYP2 = 2)

Table lfso_23pens02: Persons receiving an old-age pension by type

  • Statutory old-age pension only - People who receive only statutory pension without occupational or personal pension (PENSTYP1 = 1)
  • Statutory old-age pension and occupational and/or personal pension - People who receive statutory pension with occupational and/or personal pension (PENSTYP1 = 2,3,4)
  • Occupational and/or personal pension only - People who receive occupational and/or personal pension without statutory pension (PENSTYP1 = 5,6,7)

Persons aged 50-74, living in private households.

Persons aged 50–74, living in private households.

  • 27 EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden
  • 3 EFTA countries: Iceland, Norway and Switzerland

Refrence period by variables 

Variable ID Variable name Refrence period
PENSTYP1 Old age pension reference week 2023
AGEPENSO Age at which the person started receiving an old age pension reference week 2023
STATRECE First statutory old age pension receipt with reduction or bonus reference week 2023
PENSTYP2 Disability pension and other disability periodic cash benefit reference week 2023
AGEPENSD Age at which the person started receiving the disability pension or other disability periodic cash benefits reference week 2023
PROVTYPE Financial old age provisions reference week 2023
PENSSITU Situation at beginning of old age pension receipt time period starting when the old age pension receipt began and ending 6 months later
WSTPREAS Main reason to stop working with the beginning of the old age pension receipt time period starting when the old age pension receipt began and ending 6 months later
WCONREAS Main reason to continue working with old age pension receipt time period starting when the old age pension receipt began and ending 6 months later
LMREENT Re-enter the labour market after beginning of old age pension receipt reference week 2023
LMENTREAS Main reason to re-enter the labour market reference week 2023

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

Number of persons, expressed in thousands. Percentages.

Aggregate figures are calculated by adding up all the national data series. 

All of the Eurobase tables present percentages of the reference population total. The calculation of percentages is based on a total excluding the number of people classified in the non-response category. As such, all exhaustive breakdowns presented in the tables should amount to 100 % (allowing for rounding errors).

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. The Regulation (EU) 2019/1700, also called the Integrated European Social Statistics Framework Regulation (IESS FR), and its Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2240 for the labour force domain provide a precise description of the survey content (module and submodules of the questionnaire).

The main characteristics of the new EU-LFS methodology based on the revised Regulation are available in the article: EU labour force survey - methodology

Not applicable.

The deadline for data transmissions to Eurostat was 31 March 2024.

Ireland, the Netherland, Sweden and Norway do not have system of bonus or reduction of statutory pension, consequently the variable STATRECE was not applicable.

Not applicable.