Finland
Title of the survey:
Labour Force Survey
Organization responsible for the survey:
Planning and conduct of the survey:
Statistics Finland.
Analysis and publication of the results:
Statistics Finland.
Topics covered:
Employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work, duration of employment, duration of unemployment, discouraged workers, industry, occupation, status in employment, educational level - from the Register of Completed Education and Degrees, (usual activity - see below) and second jobs.
Coverage of the survey:
Geographical:
Whole country.
Population groups:
All persons aged 15 to 74 residing in the country, including foreign workers, citizens who are temporarily abroad (less than one year), members of the armed forces, non-resident citizens, unsettled and institutional populations.
Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:
Not applicable.
Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:
Yes.
Periodicity:
Conduct of the survey:
From 2000 onwards, continuous survey. Previously: monthly survey.
Publication of results:
Monthly, quarterly and annually.
Reference periods:
Employment:
One week. Prior to 2000, one fixed week (usually the week including the 15th of each month).
Seeking work:
Four weeks (moving reference period).
Availability for work:
Two weeks (moving reference period).
Concepts and definitions:
Employment:
All persons who during the survey week did some work (for at least one hour),for pay or a fringe benefit, or to gain profit, or were temporarily absent from work due to being laid off for a certain period of time. The employed may be employees, self-employed persons or unpaid family workers.
It also includes:
- persons with a job but temporarily absent from work due to illness, injury, vacation, annual leave, maternity or paternity leave, absence without leave, labour management dispute, bad weather, mechanical breakdown, etc. or on unpaid leave initiated by the employer;
- full and part-time workers seeking other work during the reference week;
- persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week, while being subject to compulsory schooling, or were retired and receiving a pension, or were registered as job seekers at an employment office or receiving unemployment benefits;
- full and part-time students working full or part-time;
- paid apprentices and trainees;
- paid and unpaid family workers, temporarily absent from work;
- private domestic servants;
- career members of the armed forces.
Unemployment:
All persons who, for the whole survey week were without work, had been seeking a job actively during the past four weeks as an employee or a self-employed person and could accept a job within two weeks. Persons without a job and waiting to start a job within two weeks are also recorded as unemployed as are persons laid off for an indefinite period from their work who meet the job seeking and job acceptance criteria.
Only if available and seeking work, it also includes:
- persons on unemployment pension;
- persons trying to establish their own enterprise;
- persons subject to compulsory schooling;
- full and part-time students seeking full or part-time work;
- participants in employment promotion schemes;
- seasonal workers awaiting agricultural or other seasonal work.
Underemployment:
Time-related underemployment:
Persons who were engaged in part-time work because full-time work was not available or whose employer has them work a reduced working week or who have had no work due to shortage of orders of customers or because of having been laid-off for a certain period of time.
Inadequate employment situations:
Not applicable.
Hours of work:
Actual hours and usual hours are collected. Hours actually worked during the reference week comprise all hours worked, both paid and unpaid, overtime and hours worked in secondary jobs. Usual hours refer to normal weekly hours of work of employed persons in the main job only. It is possible to present these two concepts separately when needed.
Employment-related income:
Income from paid employment:
Not applicable.
Income from self-employment:
Not applicable.
Informal sector:
Not applicable.
Usual activity:
(One question about the primary activity during the survey week is administered to non-employed persons. Employed persons are asked about their main activity but no special time-frame is given).
Classifications:
Branch of economic activity (industry):
Title of the classification:
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC1995).
Population groups classified by industry:
Employed and unemployed persons.
Number of groups used for coding:
About 95 groups at the 2-3 digit level.
Links to ISIC:
ISIC-Rev.3 at the 2-3 digit level.
Occupation:
Title of the classification:
Statistics Finland’s Classification of Occupations (CSO-2001), since 2002, at the four/five digit level.
Population groups classified by occupation:
Employed and unemployed persons.
Number of groups used for coding:
489.
Links to ISCO:
ISCO-88.
Status in employment:
Title of the classification:
Industrial status groups.
Population groups classified by status in employment:
Employed and unemployed persons.
Groups used for classification:
Three groups: Employee, Employer/own-account worker, unpaid family worker.
Links to ICSE:
ICSE-1993.
Education:
Title of the classification:
Finnish Standard Classification of Education 1997 (FSCED-97).
Population groups classified by education:
All persons aged 15 to 74 years.
Groups used for classification:
Data are obtained from the Register of Complete Education and Degrees, at the 6-digit level.
Links to ISCED:
ISCED-1997.
Sample size and design:
Ultimate sampling unit:
Individual persons (15 - 74 years old).
Sample size (ultimate sampling units):
12,000 persons per month.
Overall sampling fraction:
Approximately 1/311.
Sample frame:
Drawn from the Population Register, maintained by Statistics Finland, which covers the whole population.
Updating of the sample:
The sample data (addresses, etc.) are updated monthly using the changes which are received both from the CPR (which is continuously updated) and from interviewers.
Rotation:
Scheme:
The rotation pattern is a five wave system - the first interview takes place at "t", the second at "t+3", the third at "t+6", the fourth at "t+12"and the fifth at "t+15".
Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:
0 per cent (the samples overlap by 3/5 from one quarter to the next and by 2/5 after a year).
Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:
Five.
Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:
Eighteen months.
Field work:
Type of interview:
Computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) for 98 per cent and 2 per cent by computer assisted personal interview (CAPI).
Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:
Not applicable.
Duration of field work:
Total:
10 to 15 days.
Per sample area:
10 to 15 days.
Survey organization:
Permanent.
Number of field staff:
About 160 interviewers.
Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:
No.
Estimation and adjustments:
Total non-response rate:
14 per cent.
Adjustment for total non-response:
Yes.
Imputation for item non-response:
Hours worked per week, if unknown.
Adjustment for areas/population not covered:
Not applicable.
Adjustment for undercoverage:
No.
Adjustment for overcoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for seasonal variations:
Yes, using a slightly modified version of the Census X-11 Arima method for levels of employment, unemployment, labour force, employment rate and unemployment rate.
History of the survey:
Title and date of the first survey:
The Finnish Labour Force Sample Survey, 1958.
Significant changes or revisions:
1983: The postal enquiry was revised to the interview survey. Data contents were expanded.
1997: New survey design more closely aligned to ILO recommendations.
2000: Continuous survey.
Documentation and dissemination:
Documentation:
Survey results:
Statistics Finland, Labour Market Series; Employment and Labour Force Bulletin. (Periodicity: monthly).
Survey methodology:
Statistics Finland, Labour Market Series - Annual bulletin.
Dissemination:
Time needed for initial release of survey results:
Three weeks.
Advance information of public about date of initial release:
Yes.
Availability of unpublished data upon request:
Yes.
Availability of data in machine-readable form:
Yes.
Website:
http://tilastokeskus.fi/index_en.html.