Survey on Family and Intergenerational Relationships

Summary

Strengths: - The Insee is the most reliable French institute in the field of data collection and analyses; - ERFI is the French part of an international survey, thus allowing for international comparisons; - Data are available in English. Weaknesses: - People aged 80 and over are not surveyed; - This survey only collects self-reported data; - This is not a periodic survey; - Data from the last wave (2011) won’t be available to the public before 2014.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey same

Data gathering method
Face-to-face

Access to data

Conditions of access
Downloadable files for France, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungry, Netherlands, Romania, Russia. Free access for wave 1, waves 2 & 3 are available only with the standard procedure detailed below (complete free access in 2014).

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Anonymised microdata

Formats available
SAS

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Wave 1: Data collected in 2005 with a sample size of 10,000 individuals. Wave 2: Data collected in 2008 with a sample size of 6,500 individuals. Wave 3: Data collected in 2011 with a sample size of 5,700 individuals.

First year of collection
2005

Stratification if applicable

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns

Age range
people aged 18-79

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
The questionnaire allows for a detail analysis of intergenerational relationships (including contacts, emotional support, material support...) and attitudes toward them (agreement with statements such as “When parents are in need, daughters should take more caring responsibility than sons”; “Children should have their parents to live with them when parents can no longer look after themselves”…). ERFI data also allow for a brief overview for some other topics, including health and performance, social systems and welfare, work and productivity, education and learning, housing, wellbeing. Last but not least, there are a few questions regarding public attitudes toward older age, with questions measuring the level of agreement with the following statements: care for older persons in need of care at their home is mainly a task for society/the family; Grandparents should look after their grandchildren if the parents of these grandchildren are unable to do so; When jobs are scarce, younger people should have more right to a job than older people.

Linkage

Standardisation
This survey is designed for international comparisons, as a part of an international scheme.

Possibility of linkage among databases
No

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Unknown

Breaks

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Good consistency across the three waves.

Governance

Contact information
Arnaud RÉGNIER-LOILIER
INED (Institut National des Etudes Démographiques=National Institute for demographic studies)
133 boulevard Davout
75980 PARIS Cedex 20 France Phone: 33(0)1 56 06 20 71
Email: arnaud.regnier-loilier(at)ined.fr
Url: http://www.ggp-i.org/data/data-access.html

Timeliness, transparency
Approximately 12 months between collection and publication of the data.