Data project

Data Warehouse Labour Market and Social Protection (DWH LM&SP) – sickness, maternity and invalidity

Datawarehouse Arbeidsmarkt en Sociale Bescherming (DWH AM&SB) – ziekte, moederschap and invaliditeit

Summary

Strengths The typical strengths associated with administrative data apply. The use of administrative data is cost-effective, data quality is high, non-response is inexistent, etc. Specifically for life-course researchers, there are several added advantages, such as lack of attrition in between waves, lack of memory bias, etc. Typical for the Belgian situation is that all administrative datasets contain the National Register number and can therefore accurately be linked. Weaknesses Apart from the typical weaknesses of administrative data (e.g. lack of data on opinions, motivations etc.), the following problems can be mentioned: (1) There is no information on educational levels; (2) Due to an evolution in register systems, the data contain some statistical breaks; (3) Data on personal and household characteristics only become available with a three year time lag; (4) Information on the Data Warehouse Labour Market and Social Protection is only available in French and Dutch; (5) Belgian social security is extremely complex. As a consequence, the data that follow from it are also highly technical. This means that it is almost impossible to use the data without a thorough and detailed knowledge of the Belgian social security system. We therefore strongly advise foreign researchers to collaborate with Belgian research teams that have experience with the data.

Type of data

Data Source
Registry

Type of Study
Other: longitudinal administrative data

Data gathering method
Registries

Access to data

Conditions of access
The data are available for academic and policy research. Researchers and policy-makers can either use the microdata or online modules to generate aggregate data.

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

Formats available
SAS, Excel, PDF

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
1997-2010

First year of collection
Data on sickness and maternity benefits for employees: 2003; Data on invalidity benefits for employees: 1997

Stratification if applicable

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Breakdown by region (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels Capital Region), by province, by municipality and by district.

Age range
The total population is covered.

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
The DWH LM & SP is the most important dataset to study social systems and welfare in Belgium. Data on sickness and maternity are provided to the Data Warehouse by the Belgian National Intermutualist College `Nationaal Intermutualistisch College / Collège Intermutualiste National`. Data on invalidity benefits for employees are provided by the National Institute for Sickness and Invalidity Insurance `Rijksinstituut voor ziekte- en invaliditeitsverzekering / Institut national d’assurance maladie-invalidité`. To understand these datasets, some understanding of existing regulations is necessary. In Belgium, sickness cash benefits for employees and the self-employed are provided for the first year of work incapacity; invalidity benefits are provided from the second year onwards. In addition to these benefits, there are regulations guaranteeing continued wage payment by the employer during the first month (white collar workers) or first two weeks (blue collar workers). Such wage continuation regulations do not exist for the self-employed. Maternity benefits are available for employees and the self-employed.

Linkage

Standardisation
The ICD-9 classification is used (i.e. the International Statistical Classification of Diseases – developed by the World Health Organisation).

Possibility of linkage among databases
The National Register number is integrated in all administrative datasets. In this way, information available in the Data Warehouse Labour Market and Social Protection can be linked to data from the National Register `Rijksregister / Registre National`, containing additional information on personal and household characteristics. As many other administrative datasets and survey datasets contain National Register numbers, it becomes possible to link the Data Warehouse Labour Market and Social Protection data to several other datasets. In this regard, it is important to notice that the Privacy Commission has stated under what conditions survey data from Statistics Belgium can be linked to the Data Warehouse Labour Market and Social Protection.

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
General information on data quality of the DWH LM&SP: Data quality is high. However, given the detail of the information, data cleaning is far from straightforward and requires a thorough understanding of Belgian social security. Given the complexity of the recoding that is needed to make the data available for scientific research, errors can occur. These errors can be adjusted in collaboration with the Crossroads Bank for Social Security. Changes in legislation and registration can impact the content of the variables. Specific information related to the study of sickness, maternity and invalidity: Sickness, maternity and invalidity benefits for civil servants are paid out by the employer and cannot be distinguished from general salary. Data on wage continuation (i.e. the first month (white collar workers) or first two weeks (blue collar workers) of incapacity) cannot be distinguished from general wage.

Breaks

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection

Governance

Contact information
Chris Brijs
Crossroads Bank for Social Security
Willebroekkaai 38
1000 Brussels Belgium Phone: +32 2 741 83 67
Email: chris.brijs(at)ksz-bcss.fgov.be
Url: www.ksz-bcss.fgov.be/nl/bcss/nodepage/content/websites/belgium/

Timeliness, transparency
The data are available two years following collection.