Austria
Title of the survey:
Up to 2002: Microcensus (Mikrozensus). Beginning 2003: Labour Force Survey LFS (Arbeitskräfteerhebung).
Organization responsible for the survey:
Planning and conduct of the survey:
EUROSTAT and Statistik Austria (Bundesanstalt Statistik Austria).
Analysis and publication of the results:
Statistik Austria (Bundesanstalt Statistik Austria) and EUROSTAT.
Topics covered:
Employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work (normal hours of work, hours actually worked), duration of employment, duration of unemployment, discouraged workers, occasional workers (if working during the reference week), seasonal workers, industry, occupation, status in employment, education and qualification levels, main source of livelihood, second jobs; total questionnaire of Eurostat labor force surveys.
Coverage of the survey:
Geographical:
Whole country.
Population groups:
The survey covers the resident population of Austria, excluding unsettled persons. Persons living in institutions are covered by the quarterly Microcensus, but not by the annual Labour Force Survey.
Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:
Not applicable.
Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:
None.
Periodicity:
Conduct of the survey:
Quarterly in March, June, September and December of each year (Microcensus with 15 core questions on economic activity); annually in March (all other questions of the European Union Labour Force Survey). Beginning 2003: continuous survey.
Publication of results:
Quarterly (Microcensus); annually (whole Labour Force Survey).
Reference periods:
Employment:
Moving reference period of one week prior to the interview date.
Seeking work:
Moving reference period of four weeks prior to the interview date.
Availability for work:
Moving reference period of two weeks following the interview date.
Concepts and definitions:
Employment:
Persons aged 15 years or over who have a regular job of one or more hours per week, as well as persons with an irregular job if they worked for at least one hour during the reference week. Included are:
- contributing family workers at work during the reference week;
- full- or part-time workers seeking other work;
- persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week but who were subject to compulsory schooling, or retired and receiving a pension, or registered as job seekers at an employment office, or receiving unemployment benefits;
- full- time students working full- or part-time;
- part-time students working full- or part-time;
- paid or unpaid apprentices and trainees;
- participants in employment promotion schemes;
- persons engaged in the production of goods for own final use;
- members of the armed forces (career members, volunteers and conscripts and
- persons on civilian service equivalent to military service.
Also included are persons with a job or enterprise, who were temporarily absent from work during the reference week because of
- illness or injury,
- vacation or annual leave,
- maternity or paternity leave,
- parental leave,
- educational or training leave of a duration of up to one year,
- labour management dispute, or
- bad weather, mechanical breakdown, etc.
This includes contributing family workers temporarily absent from work during the reference week.
Excluded are:
- seasonal workers not at work during the off-season;
- persons on educational or training leave of a duration of more than one year;
- persons on temporary or indefinite lay-off without pay;
- persons on unpaid leave initiated by the employer;
- persons rendering unpaid or personal services to members of their own household; and
- persons engaged in volunteer community or social service work.
Unemployment:
Persons aged 15 years or over who were not employed during the reference week, had actively sought work during the last four weeks, and were available for work within two weeks.
Included are:
- persons without work and currently available for work, who had made arrangements to start a new job on a date subsequent to the reference week;
- persons without work and currently available for work, who were trying to establish their own enterprise;
- persons on indefinite lay-off without pay, who were looking for a job;
- persons seeking work and available for work who were subject to compulsory schooling or retired and receiving a pension;
- full- time students seeking full- or part-time work; and
- part-time students seeking full- or part-time work.
Excluded are persons without work and currently available for work, who were not actively seeking work for reasons other than (a) and (b) above, as well as persons without work who were not currently available for work.
Underemployment:
Time-related underemployment:
Employed persons willing to work additional hours, either in their current job, or in a new job, or in an additional job.
Inadequate employment situations:
This topic is not covered by the survey.
Hours of work:
Normal hours of work per week in the main job, hours actually worked during the reference week in the main job, hours actually worked during the reference week in the second job (if any).
Employment-related income:
Income from paid employment:
Not covered by the survey.
Income from self-employment:
Not covered by the survey.
Informal sector:
Not covered by the survey.
Usual activity:
Not covered by the survey.
Classifications:
Branch of economic activity (industry):
Title of the classification:
National classification of branches of economic activity.
Population groups classified by industry:
Employed persons; unemployed or economically inactive persons with previous work experience.
Number of groups used for coding:
31.
Links to ISIC:
ISIC-Rev.3.
Occupation:
Title of the classification:
International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88).
Population groups classified by occupation:
Employed persons; unemployed or economically inactive persons with previous work experience.
Number of groups used for coding:
78.
Links to ISCO:
Not applicable.
Status in employment:
Title of the classification:
National classification of status in employment.
Population groups classified by status in employment:
Employed persons; unemployed or economically inactive persons with previous work experience.
Groups used for classification:
(a) Employers in agriculture and forestry; (b) unpaid family workers in agriculture and forestry; (c) employers or self-employed persons in production, trade or tourism; (d) unpaid family workers in production, trade or tourism; (e) self-employed persons in other services (lawyers, doctors, etc.); (f) unpaid family workers working with self-employed persons in other services; (g) apprentices; (h) employees in blue-collar jobs; (i) employees in white-collar jobs (private sector); (j) employees in white-collar jobs (public sector).
There are 46 groups in total. Groups (a) to (d) are subdivided according to the size of the enterprise. Group (g) is subdivided into blue-collar jobs and white-collar jobs. Groups (h) to (j) are subdivided according to the skill level of the job.
Links to ICSE:
ICSE-1993.
Education:
Title of the classification:
National classification of levels of educational attainment.
Population groups classified by education:
All persons aged 15 years or over.
Groups used for classification:
(a) No compulsory schooling completed; (b) compulsory schooling; (c) apprenticeship (vocational school); (d) intermediate vocational school (excluding part-time vocational schooling); (e) general upper secondary school; (f) higher vocational school (normal type); (g) higher vocational school (course leading to qualifications for higher education); (h) institute of higher education; (i) university or equivalent.
Links to ISCED:
ISCED-1976 and ISCED-1997.
Sample size and design:
Ultimate sampling unit:
Dwelling.
Sample size (ultimate sampling units):
30,800 dwellings/addresses.
Overall sampling fraction:
0.9 percent of dwellings.
Sample frame:
Area frame based on the address lists of the latest housing census, supplemented with information on new buildings.
Updating of the sample:
The sample is updated once a year to include newly constructed buildings; these new addresses are a special stratum of the sample.
Rotation:
Scheme:
Households in sample dwellings participate in the survey up to eight times during a period of two years. Every quarter, one eighth of the sample dwellings is rotated out of the sample and replaced by other addresses entering the sample.
Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:
87.5 percent.
Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:
Eight.
Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:
Two years. All the above information on sample size and design is valid up to 2002.
Field work:
Type of interview:
Information is obtained through personal interviews.
Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:
25 addresses at maximum.
Duration of field work:
Total:
Three weeks for each quarterly round of the Microcensus; three weeks for the annual Labour Force Survey.
Per sample area:
Three weeks at maximum.
Survey organization:
A permanent survey organization exists for the survey.
Number of field staff:
About 1,200 interviewers.
Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:
No replacement is made for cases of non-response.
Estimation and adjustments:
Total non-response rate:
4.1 percent of all sample addresses. 7.3 percent of the total sample are cases, in which no household member can be contacted, and 9.9 percent of the sample are cases of noninhabited dwellings, secondary residences or incomplete addresses.
Adjustment for total non-response:
Yes.
Imputation for item non-response:
Missing values are imputed on the basis of information provided by persons with similar characteristics. However, such imputations are made only for data of the annual Labour Force Survey and quarterly Microcensus in March, and not for data of the Microcensus in June, September and December.
Adjustment for areas/population not covered:
Not applicable.
Adjustment for undercoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for overcoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for seasonal variations:
No.
History of the survey:
Title and date of the first survey:
The first Microcensus was conducted in March 1968, and the first European Union Labour Force Survey (based on ILO guidelines) in March 1995.
Significant changes or revisions:
Changes from national to international definitions were introduced to the Microcensus in March 1994. There has been no significant change in the Labour Force Survey since 1995.
Documentation and dissemination:
Documentation:
Survey results:
Statistik Austria, Beiträge zur österreichischen Statistik, Heft 1.303: Arbeitskräfteerhebung (annually); Statistik Austria, Statistische Nachrichten (monthly). The first publication presents detailed survey results, while the second contains, on an ad-hoc basis, articles presenting an overview of the main results or analyzing data on specific topics.
Survey methodology:
The above-mentioned publications include methodological information on the survey.
Dissemination:
Time needed for initial release of survey results:
Six months for the annual Labour Force Survey.
Advance information of public about date of initial release:
No.
Availability of unpublished data upon request:
Yes, in the form of standardized tables.
Availability of data in machine-readable form:
Standardized LFS tabulations are available in electronic form. Microcensus tables can also be made available in electronic form.
Website:
http://www.statistik.at/.