1. Meeting of the Directors of Social Statistics 02-03 March 2017
Agenda Item 4.2 erm Standardisation of social variables – progress report

2. Background (1/4) November 2013, DSS issued a mandate for activities to
standardise variables across social micro-data collections
List of standardised variables 28 (of which 18 are core)
Work organized in two waves (P1 and P2)
P1 variables (13 variables, of which 6 are core)
DSS endorsed standard descriptions of P1, October 2016

3. Background (2/4)
List of P1 variables

4. Background (3/4) P2 variables (15 variables, of which 10 are core)
November 2016, consultation launched – all concerned WGs asked to review Eurostat's consolidated proposals for the P2
A total of 26 Member States replied to the consultation, which ended in mid-January 2017
Revised version for 14 of the 15 P2 variables were prepared (the standard description for 'current household income' is in development)
 Not replies from EE and IE

5. Background (4/4)
List of P2 variables

6. Outcome of consultation on P2 (1/5)
For the 'country' variables (14 to 18)
Information to be transmitted at country level
Country of birth (14), and of father/mother (16 and 17)
Allowing different grouping
According to current boundaries, with exceptions for (14)
According to current boundaries, if available (16 and 17)
Country of usual residence of the mother at time of delivery; only if this information not available the place where the birth took place should be reported (as indicated in implementation guidelines)
 Country of birth (14), according to current boundaries, exception: in the case of a person whose mother's place of usual residence was, at the time of his/her birth, part of the person's actual country of origin (e.g. as indicated by his/her citizenship or current place of usual residence) but is not any more due to changed borders. In this case the country of birth can exceptionally be enumerated at the boundaries at the time of birth.
A recognized-non citizen is a person who is not a citizen of the reporting country nor of any other country, but who has established links to that country which include some but not all rights and obligations of full citizenship. A majority of these persons were citizens of the former Soviet Union living in the Baltic States who are permanently resident in these countries but have not acquired any other citizenship. Recognised non-citizens are not included in the number of European Union (EU) citizens.

7. Outcome of consultation on P2 (2/5)
Country of birth of father/mother (16 and 17)
Reference to the concept of 'social' father/mother, removed
Preference to that who raised the person in an affective or legal sense, e.g. the male/female guardian
Country of main citizenship (variable 15)
Multiple nationalities, preference: reporting country; other EU MS; if both EU MS but not the reporting country, the person might decide
The category 'recognised non-citizen' can be used for transmission
Country of birth of father/mother (16 and 17): in the case of a person having not only a natural (biological) father/mother but also e.g. an adoptive or stepfather/mother, the information to be transmitted "should refer to who actually raised the person and acted as father/mother in an affective or legal sense, e.g. the male/female guardian".
Variable 19: 'duration of stay in the country of residence in completed years'

8. Outcome of consultation on P2 (3/5)
Variable (19), provides information on
Duration of stay in the reporting country for both the foreign-born,
and for the native-born who have been living abroad for a period of at least one year
Region of residence (20), new paragraph to clarify that
Levels of detail for the NUTS indicated refer to data transmission
Dissemination will be at a more aggregated level, taking account of the rules for confidentiality and reliability

9. Outcome of consultation on P2 (4/5)
Degree of urbanisation (21)
Labels for communication at EU level: 'cities', 'towns and suburbs', and 'rural areas' (common practice for regional statistics domain)
Labels 'densely populated areas', 'intermediate density areas', and 'thinly populated areas' are equivalent, may be used at national level
Labour market variables (22 to 24)
Minor modifications/corrections made following the WG consultation
Degree of urbanisation, the labels to use for communication at EU level were indicated by colleagues in E4 – regional statistics and geographical information

10. Outcome of consultation on P2 (5/5)
Health-related variables (25 to 27)
Reference to the use of proxy interviews removed,
its use specific to each social micro-data collection, this information not included in the description of the standardised variables
Limitation in activities because of health problems (27)
The two-question version is proposed
TF GALI & additional qualitative study, concluded that it improves the understanding of the concept from a respondent perspective
The full MEHM is to be included at least in EU-SILC and EHIS, while EU-LFS could include variables 25 and 27.

11. Following steps Continue work on 'current household income'
Data from 11 MS being analysed
Heterogeneity in income components and scales of measure
Possibility of extending work on variables standardisation
Comprehensive list of (new) common variables, DSSB June 2017
New variables listed might mainly concern EU-LFS and EU-SILC
Examples: 'gross earnings', 'size of the local unit', 'level of education of the parents', 'supervisory responsibilities'...
'Current household income' in this 3rd block of variables

12. Members of the DSS are invited to:
Take note of the outcomes of the consultation with the Working Groups
Comment/endorse the proposed standard descriptions of the P2 variables 14 to 27
The DSS is also invited to take note and comment on the next steps