Council Regulation (EC) No 362/2008 of 14 April 2008 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC) as regards the 2009 list of target secondary variables on material deprivation (Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 June 2003 concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC)⁽¹⁾, and in particular Article 15(2)(f) thereof,

Whereas:

Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003 established a common framework for the systematic production of Community statistics on income and living conditions, encompassing comparable and timely cross-sectional and longitudinal data on income and on the level and composition of poverty and social exclusion at national and European Union levels.
Under Article 15(2)(f) of Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003, implementing measures are necessary for the list of target secondary areas and variables to be included each year in the cross-sectional component of EU-SILC. For the year 2009, the list of target secondary variables included in the module on material deprivation should be laid down. This should be accompanied by the provision of variable codes and definitions.
The Statistical Programme Committee has not delivered a favourable opinion. This being so, following the procedure laid down in Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003, the Commission is, without delay, to submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken and shall inform the European Parliament,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The list of target secondary variables, the variable codes, and the definitions for the 2009 module on material deprivation to be included in the cross-sectional component of Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC) shall be as laid down in the Annex.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Luxembourg, 14 April 2008.

For the Council

The President

I. Jarc

ANNEX

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following units, modes of data collection, reference periods and definitions shall apply.

1. UNITS

The target variables relate to three different types of unit.

The variables relating to housing, the environment, financial stress and durables (except possession of mobile phones) are asked at household level and refer to the household as a whole.

Information on the possession of a mobile phone, basic needs, unmet needs as well as leisure and social activities in the category ‘adult items’ must be provided for each current household member or, if applicable, for all selected respondents, aged 16 and over.

Children’s items relate to all household members aged under 16 to be compatible with the data collection defined in the Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003.

The questions must be answered by the household respondent for the whole group of children aged under 16. If at least one child does not have the item in question, the whole group of children in the household is assumed not to have the item.

2. MODES OF DATA COLLECTION

For variables asked at household level (section 1 in the list below), the mode of data collection is personal interview with the household respondent.

For variables asked at individual level (section 2 in the list below), the mode of data collection is personal interview with all current household members aged 16 and over or, if applicable, with each selected respondent.

For children’s variables (section 3 in the list below), the mode of collection is personal interview with the household respondent.

Owing to the characteristics of the information to be collected, only personal interviews (proxy interviews as an exception for persons temporarily absent or incapacitated) are allowed.

3. REFERENCE PERIODS

All target variables relate to the current situation as the reference period, except for the two variables on the expectation of the household to change dwelling, which refers to the next six months, and the variables on unmet needs and on the visit to general practitioners and specialists, which refer to the past 12 months.

4. DEFINITIONS

(1) Housing items

(a) Change of dwelling:

the reference period is ‘the next six months’. If the household expects to change dwelling for several reasons during the reference period, the main reason should be given,
eviction/distraint: forced to move for legal reasons,
financial difficulties: problems paying rent/mortgage,
family-related reasons: change in marital/partnership status, to establish own household, to follow partner/parents, to obtain better school or care facilities for children or other dependants,
employment-related reasons: start new job or transfer of existing job, looking for work or made redundant, to be closer to work/easier to commute, retirement,
other reasons: housing-related reasons (desire to change accommodation or tenure status, wanting new or better house/apartment, seeking better neighbourhood/less crime), studies-related reasons (attending or leaving college/university), health and other reasons;

(b) Shortage of space: the variable refers to the respondent’s opinion/perception about shortage of space in the dwelling.

(2) Environmental items

(a) Accessibility: this relates to the services used by the household with regard to financial, physical, technical and health conditions. Accessibility of services is to be assessed in terms of physical and technical access, and opening hours, but not in terms of quality, price and similar aspects. Consequently, the access should refer to an objective and physical reality. It should not be based on a subjective feeling.

Access should be determined in relation to the services actually used by the household. Physical access has to be assessed in terms of distance but also of infrastructure and equipment for example for respondents with a physical disability.

The services provided at home should also be taken into account, if they are actually used by the household. Accessibility has thus to be evaluated regardless of the way(s) the household access to the service.

The respondent should give an answer for the household as a whole. If the respondent does not use a service but other household member(s) do, he or she should assess the accessibility according to this(these) other household member(s);

(b) Public transport: bus, metro, tram and similar;

(c) Postal or banking services: send and receive ordinary and parcel post, withdraw cash, transfer money and pay bills. Technical access could also intervene. Accessibility in terms of phone-banking and PC-banking should also be part of the assessment, if these ways are actually used by the household. Accessibility has to be evaluated according to the ease/difficulty to transfer and withdraw money, whether this is done by phone-banking and PC-banking or in a bank or post office.

(3) Durables

The possession of durables relates to the access of the specific product or service for the private use of the household. It can be rented or shared. If the product is shared, access to it should be easy and appropriate to household needs.

(4) Basic needs

(a) Shoes: this concept has to be understood in a broad sense. It could include boots, sandals, etc. according to the climatic conditions of the concerned country.

5. TRANSMISSION OF DATA TO EUROSTAT

The target secondary variables on ‘material deprivation’ should be sent to Eurostat in the household data file (H) and in the personal data file (P) after the target primary variables.

AREAS AND LIST OF TARGET VARIABLES
Module 2009		Material deprivation
Variable name	Code	Target variable
1. Household item questions asked at household level
2. Item questions asked at individual level
3. Children’s item questions asked at household level