ECE/ILO/Eurostat seminar on measurement of the quality of work (11-13 May 2005)

The EU Labour Force Survey and indicators of quality in work

Overview

1. Quality in work as understood by the European Commission

– The dimensions– The indicators

2. Changes in the EU-LFS affecting the quality-in-work indicators

3. Discussion of how the improved EU-LFS may contribute to better quality-in-work indicators

ECE/ILO/Eurostat seminar on measurement of the quality of work (11-13 May 2005)

Quality in work as understood by the European Commission

10 dimensions of quality in work

1. Intrinsic job quality2. Skills, life-long learning and career development3. Gender equality4. Health and safety at work5. Flexibility and security6. Inclusion and access to the labour market7. Work organisation and work-life balance8. Social dialogue and worker involvement9. Diversity and non-discrimination10. Overall work performance

31 statistical indicators

• The statistical indicators– Cover all dimensions but No 8– Consist of 8 key indicators, one for each

dimension, and– 23 context indicators

• EU-LFS the source for:– 3 key indicators– 13 context indicators

ECE/ILO/Eurostat seminar on measurement of the quality of work (11-13 May 2005)

Changes in the EU-LFS affecting the quality-in-work indicators

Improvements of the EU-LFS

• Education and training

• 6 new variables and changes to existing ones

• Future improvements

• Other developments

Education and training 2003-

• Participation in formal education vs courses

• Field of this education

• Is the course job related or personal

• Is the course participation during paid working hours

• Field of attained education

Major revision 2006-

• New variables– Supervisory responsibilities– Need for care facilities

+ four other variables

• Other changes– Better measurements of family responsibilities,

incl. Care for children and incapacitated adults– Income variables from 5 to 1; restricted to main

job

Future improvements planned

• Improvement of the explanatory notes, new manual for the EU-LFS

• Increasing the coverage of the income variable; ultimately covering all Member States

Other developments

• Quality profiles

• Ad hoc modules

• Migrants – foreign born population

• Annual hours worked

ECE/ILO/Eurostat seminar on measurement of the quality of work (11-13 May 2005)

How the improved EU-LFS may contribute to better quality-in-work

indicators

1 Intrinsic job quality

• Problem:– Missing context indicator: Job satisfaction not

measured in the EU-SILC

• Suggested solution:– Employed persons looking for another job and

reasons for doing so

• Note also:– Convenience of atypical working times for

personal life situation in the ad hoc module on work organisation in 2004

2 Skills, life-long learning and career development

• New core module since 2003– Matching of training field and job

specialisation ?– Matching of level and field of completed

education and job skill and specialisation requirement ?

– Monitoring of certain key training fields:• Computer skills• Languages

3 Gender equality

• New core module variable:– Supervisory responsibilities; gender aspect

• With better coverage of income:– Income outcomes by gender

• Gender segregation indices may need further evaluation

4 Health and safety at work

• No index suggested

• However,– Ad hoc module on accidents at work and

work related deceases in– 1999– 2007

5 Flexibility and security

• Problem:– Use of part-time and involuntary part-time

unsatisfactory

• Solution:– Since 2005 possible to use in ALL Member

States the ILO definition from 1998 of “time-related underemployment”

7 Work organisation and work-life balance

• New core variable:– Need for care facilities

• Also changes to existing variables– enabling measurement of care for children and

incapacitated adults

• See also– Ad hoc modules on working times 2001, 2004– Ad hoc module in 2005 on reconciliation of family

and working life

9 Diversity and non-discrimination

• Ad hoc module 2008 on labour situation of migrants and their descendants

• Improvement of the coverage of the foreign born population in the core EU-LFS

• Note also:– ad hoc module in 2002 on the employment

of disabled persons

10 Overall work performance

• Improvements in methodology and imputation of annual hours worked

Conclusion

• The EU-LFS is the major source for measuring quality in work within the EU

• Recent developments and improvements of the EU-LFS enable still better and more precise quality-in-work indicators

• This presentation suggests some avenues of improvement

ECE/ILO/Eurostat seminar on measurement of the quality of work (11-13 May 2005)

Thank you !