The European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC)

Summary

Strengths: This survey is internationally harmonized, cross-dimensional and timely.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey different

Data gathering method
Telephone

Access to data

Conditions of access
Contact data administrator (see contact information).

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

Formats available
SPSS (default)

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Data has been collected since 2005 (2005-2011) with a total sample size of 9,000 individuals and their household members. Data collection is ongoing and is scheduled to continue at some point in the future.

First year of collection
2005

Stratification if applicable
Post-stratification and weight corrections using age, sex, household size, household income, living situation and province.

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Dutch population in non-institutional households.

Age range
No age restrictions

Statistical representativeness
Other, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
Detailed study of: Income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions.

Linkage

Standardisation
Internationally harmonised study.

Possibility of linkage among databases
Linkable to other person databases through anonymised personal number.

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Survey errors. Calculating confidence intervals is difficult because of the complex research design. Data are checked and corrected for validity.

Breaks

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
International comparability is more important than longitudinal consistency; changing income definitions, especially in the beginning (2005, 2006).

Governance

Contact information
Department of Labour, Income and Living conditions
Statistics Netherlands
Henri Faasdreef 312
2492 JP Den Haag Netherlands Phone: Infoservice: 003188 570 70 70
Email: info(at)cbs.nl
Url:

Timeliness, transparency
Data is collected annually.