1. Usefulness and limitations of ESeC prototype in the French context
Workshop on the collection of occupational data Eurostat
Usefulness and limitations of ESeC prototype in the French context 1

2. Plan Application to working conditions
1. Is the ESeC prototype relevant for describing French society?
Application to working conditions
Application to cultural participation
Application to occupational mobility
2. How is the prototype ESeC perceived by the general public?
How easy is it to classify oneself in the prototype ESeC
Do respondents understand the ESeC prototype ?
3. Proposals 2

3. INTRODUCTION 3

4. PARTIE 1 Is the ESeC prototype relevant for describing French society ?4

5. Application to working conditions5

6. Working conditions Classifications « tested » :
national classification
ISCO
prototype ESeC (full version)‏ 6

7. Working conditions The results no classification is better than others
messages vary from one classification to another 7

8. Working conditions Two ESeC classes are quiet heterogenous :
ESeC 6 (Higher grade blue collar workers)‏
some workers combine supervision and manual tasks while others are only responsible for supervision
ESeC 9 (Routine occupations)‏
Non skilled blue-collar workers and lower-grade white-collar workers are amalgated 8

9. Application to cultural practices9

10. Cultural practices Results
Full and simplified ESeC versions yield relatively similar results.
The supervision dimension does not seem relevant for analysing cultural participation 10

11. Application to occupational mobility11

12. Changes in prototype ESeC among employees between 1998 and 200318 24
Semi- and unskilled workers 9 29 28
Skilled workers 8 21 33
Lower grade white collar workers 7 48 38
Higher grade blue collar workers 6 4
Petit bourgeoisie or independants (domaine agricole)‏ 5 20
Petit bourgeoisie or independants 19 35
Higher grade white collar workers 3 12 22
Lower salariat 2 17
Higher salariat 1
Femmes
Hommes
Nom
Code ESec 12

13. Occupational mobility
Results
The ESeC prototype yields results that are fairly consistent with what we know of recent occupational mobility in France
The very high mobility of men classified in ESeC 6 (supervisors) is a limitation
The instability of this classe at an individual level makes it difficult to analysis long term phenomena (eg. health, property …) 13

14. PARTIE 2 How is the prototype ESeC perceived by the general public?14

15. How easy is it to classify oneself in the prototype ESeC?15

16. Do the respondents know how to classify their occupation in ESeC?
The self-classification test used both versions
 half the sample answered version A (for researchers )
 half the sample answered version B (for general public)

17. Do the respondents know how to classify their occupation in ESeC?17

18. Alternative proposals
PARTIE 2
Alternative proposals
to ESeC prototype 18 18

19. 2) skill specialisation 3) status
Proposal 1 : The future European socio-economic classification could be based on three dimensions :
1) skill level
2) skill specialisation
3) status 19

20. by combining sub-major groups
Proposal 2 :
The future European socio-economic classification could be built from the second aggregation level of ISCO-08
by combining sub-major groups 20 20

21. Proposal 3 :
Eurostat classification could comprise two aggregated levels, the second level (available in the LFS, SRCV) offering greater flexibility for rearrangements than the first, especially for researchers. For instance, a classification similar to the prototype ESeC could be built from the second level. 21 21

22. First implication : For skill (level-specialisation) reasons
sub major groups could be rearranged (especially SMG 41 to 96)
Second implication : The aggregated classification does not include a class entirely composed of supervisors 22 22

23. An example of classification based on ISCO-08 two-digits and core variables
Low-skilled blue-collar workers
Low-skilled white-collar workers
Skilled blue-collar workers
Skilled lower-grade white-collar workers
Intermediate occupations
Farmers
Intellectual and scientific occupations (i.e.management-level workers in public-interest services )‏
Business owners, craft workers and retailers
Business executives and managers
2 groups composed of self- employed workers
7 groups composed mainly of employees 23

24. An example based on ISCO-08 two-digits and core variables
2 groups composed
of self-employed
7 groups composed
mainly of employees 24

25. But this is just an example !
The weight to be assigned to each dimension (skill level, sector, status) should be discussed among NSI and with users
and of course the classification should be validated using harmonised data sources 25

26. Thanks you for your attention