22 December 2008

In order to provide data for the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003, the 2002 European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS) contained an ad hoc module concerning the employment of disabled people. The module consisted of 11 variables dealing with the existence, type, cause and duration of longstanding health problem or disability, work limitations (regarding the kind of work or the amount of work, and mobility problems), and assistance needed or provided to work.

The results refer to persons aged 16-64 years, living in private households. Disabled persons are those who stated that they had a longstanding health problem or disability (LSHPD) for 6 months or more or expected to last 6 months or more.

The indicator used is the percentage prevalence of people with disabilities in various socioeconomic groups as well as the percentage distribution of certain characteristics of disability or of certain socioeconomic characteristics among those reporting disability.

The survey was conducted in all the 15 old Member States of the EU as well as in 9 at that time acceding or candidate countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Slovenia, Slovak Republic and Romania) and in Norway.

The following standard classifications were used:

• NACE Rev.1:economic activities in the European Community
• ISCO-88: international standard classification of occupation
• NUTS: nomenclature of territorial units for statistics
• ISCED: international standard classification of education

For full details on these classifications, please see our nomenclature server Ramon.

The employment and activity related concepts and definitions used in the survey follow the guidelines of the International Labour Organisation:

Employed persons are those who during the reference week did some work for pay or profit lasting at least one hour, or were not working but had jobs from which they were temporarily absent. Family workers are included.

Unemployed persons comprise persons who were without work during the reference week, were currently available for work and were actively seeking work or who had found a job commencing at a later date.

Inactive persons are those who are neither classified as employed nor unemployed.

The unemployment rate represents unemployed persons as a percentage of the active population.

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The statistics are based on a survey performed as an ad hoc module in connection with the second quarter of the 2002 Labour Force Survey.

The module consisted of 11 variables dealing with the existence, type, cause and duration of longstanding health problem or disability, work limitations (regarding the kind of work or the amount of work, and mobility problems), and assistance needed or provided to work.

Although harmonised, translated questions for the variables were proposed by Eurostat, some re-wording was felt necessary at national level, which may have some effect on the comparability of data.

A detailed description of the sampling methods and definitions for the LFS can be found in The Labour Force Survey - Methods and Definitions, 2001

Disabled persons are those who stated that they had a longstanding health problem or disability (LSHPD) for 6 months or more or expected to last 6 months or more.

Restriction levels: This criterion was constructed from the combination of the three variables on how disabled people were restricted regarding (1) the kind of work and (2) the amount of work that can be done, and (3) mobility to and from work. Possible replies were "Yes, considerably", "Yes, to some extent" and "No".

• Very severe disability applies to those who replied "considerably" or "to some extent" to all three questions.
• Severe disability applies to respondents who replied "considerably" or "to some extent" to two of the three questions.
• Moderate disability applies to those who replied "considerably" or "to some extent" to one of the three questions.
• Mild disability applies to those who replied "no" to the three questions, but had a longstanding health problem or disability.

Assistance needed / assistance provided: Data on the type of assistance provided or needed applies to the sub-populations of disabled persons who answered "considerably" or "to some extent" to the question concerning problems of restriction in the kind of work, the amount of work or limitations in their mobility to and from work (i.e. those who had either very severe, severe or moderate disability).

Assistance provided was asked for persons who did some work for pay or profit lasting at least one hour during the reference week or were not working but had a job or business from which they were absent during the reference week.

Assistance needed was asked for persons who were not working because they had been made redundant or who either did not have a job or business during the reference week. It refers to whether assistance would be needed for them in order to be able to work.

Since the questions on type, cause of longstanding health problem or disability and the questions on the type of assistance provided or needed were not compulsory in Germany and, concerning assistance needed, Hungary, the EU25 aggregate does not include these countries for the respective results.

The main indicators used in this domain comprise:

• the percentage prevalence of people with disabilities in various socioeconomic groups
• the percentage distribution of certain characteristics of disability among those reporting disability

the percentage distribution of activity status (in the labour market) by severity of disability.

Disabled persons are those who stated that they had a longstanding health problem or disability (LSHPD) for 6 months or more or expected to last 6 months or more. If the same person had several health problems, the main problem was coded. The main problem was the one which respondents thought limits their work activities the most.

The results refer to persons aged 16-64 years, living in private households.

Breakdowns are available by age, sex, marital status, occupation (ISCO-COM 1-digit), economic activity (NACE 1-digit), region (NUTS) and education level (ISCED 1997).

EU-15 and Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Romania and Norway.

The data refer to the second quarter of Labour Force Survey 2002.

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The data refer to answers collected during the second quarter of the 2002 Labour Force Survey.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1566/2001 of 12 July 2001 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community concerning the specification of the 2002 ad hoc module on employment of disabled people

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1571/98 implementing the Council Regulation N°577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community.

Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics.

Council Decision 1999/126/EC on the Community statistical programme 1998-2002

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Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

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In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Dissemination format') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Only 2002 data are available

Eurostat Statistics in Focus - theme 3 - nº 26/2003.

Please consult free data on-line or refer to § 1 Contact.

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Eurostat Statistics in Focus - theme 3 - nº 26/2003.

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Adhoc module, major results were published in June 2003, i.e. 6 months after the survey.

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Study on men and women with disabilities in the EU: statistical analysis of the LFS ad hoc module and the EU-SILC

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No revisions are foreseen for this one time exercise.

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Survey data collected by the member States according to the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1566/2001 of 12 July 2001 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community concerning the specification of the 2002 ad hoc module on employment of disabled people.

LFS is a sample survey. The national institutes are responsible for drawing the sample design and selecting the sample. A detailed description of the sampling methods and definitions for the LFS can be found in 'The Labour Force Survey - Methods and Definitions, 2001

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The Labour Force Survey which is carried out according to the principles of a household survey. The ad hoc module on employment and disabled people is integrated into the LFS questionnaire. Member states conduct the direct interviews among households.

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National LFS ad hoc data were collected according to the defined methodology and were sent to Eurostat.

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