Netherlands
Title of the survey:
The Labour Force Survey.
Organization responsible for the survey:
Planning and conduct of the survey:
Central Bureau of Statistics.
Analysis and publication of the results:
Central Bureau of Statistics.
Topics covered:
Employment, unemployment, hours of work, informal sector employment, duration of unemployment, industry, occupation, status in employment, education/qualification skills, usual activity, other subjects such as, for example, working conditions and parental leave.
Coverage of the survey:
Geographical:
Whole country.
Population groups:
Persons aged 15 to 64 years, living in the Netherlands, except persons living in institutions.
Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:
No.
Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:
Children below 15 years.
Periodicity:
Conduct of the survey:
Continuous survey.
Publication of results:
Annually.
Reference periods:
Employment:
When interviewed.
Seeking work:
When interviewed.
Availability for work:
When interviewed.
Concepts and definitions:
Employment:
All persons aged 15 to 64 years living in private households surveyed during the reference week, with the exclusion of the institutional population.
From 1992 onwards, national data are based on a definition of employment which includes only persons who worked 12 hours or more per week. For international purposes, the one hour criterion is applied.
Also included in the employed are:
- persons with a job but temporarily absent from work due to illness or injury, vacation or annual leave, maternity/paternity or parental leave, educational or training leave, absence without leave, labor management dispute, bad weather or mechanical breakdown, etc, as well as persons on temporary or indefinite lay-off without pay or on unpaid leave initiated by the employer and full or part-time workers seeking work during the reference period;
- persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference period but were subject to compulsory schooling, retired and receiving a pension, registered as jobseekers at an employment office or those receiving unemployment benefits;
- full or part-time students working full or part-time;
- paid apprentices and trainees and participants in employment promotion schemes;
- unpaid family workers at work during the reference period or temporarily absent from work;
- volunteers and career members of the armed forces and persons in civilian service equivalent to military service.
Unemployment:
National unemployment data include persons looking for work for 12 hours or more per week. Persons working less than 12 hours are no longer classified in the labor force, except if they are seeking to work 12 hours or more per week; in this case, they are classified as unemployed.
Also included in the unemployed 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 period or who were trying to establish their own enterprise;
- persons who were seeking work and/or available for work but were subject to compulsory schooling or retired and receiving a pension;
- full or part-time students seeking full or part-time work;
- unpaid apprentices and trainees.
Underemployment:
Time-related underemployment:
Not applicable.
Inadequate employment situations:
Not applicable.
Hours of work:
Not available.
Employment-related income:
Income from paid employment:
Not applicable.
Income from self-employment:
Not applicable.
Informal sector:
No information provided.
Usual activity:
No information provided.
Classifications:
Branch of economic activity (industry):
Title of the classification:
ISIC-Rev.3.
Population groups classified by industry:
Employed persons.
Number of groups used for coding:
18 groups.
Links to ISIC:
ISIC-Rev.2 and Rev.3.
Occupation:
Title of the classification:
ISCO-88.
Population groups classified by occupation:
Employed persons.
Number of groups used for coding:
11 groups.
Links to ISCO:
ISCO-88.
Status in employment:
Title of the classification:
No information.
Population groups classified by status in employment:
Employed.
Groups used for classification:
Employees, employers and family workers.
Links to ICSE:
Indirect links to ICSE-1993.
Education:
Title of the classification:
ISCED-1997.
Population groups classified by education:
Employed and unemployed persons.
Groups used for classification:
5 groups.
Links to ISCED:
ISCED-1997.
Sample size and design:
Ultimate sampling unit:
Household.
Sample size (ultimate sampling units):
8,000 households each month.
Overall sampling fraction:
1 per cent.
Sample frame:
The survey is based on a stratified two stage sample. The Geographic Basic Register (GBR) constitutes the sample frame. The GBR is a list of all addresses in the Netherlands established by the Post office of the Netherlands. For the labour force survey, a sample of about 11,000 addresses is drawn each month.
Updating of the sample:
No information provided.
Rotation:
Scheme:
No information provided.
Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:
No information provided.
Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:
Five times.
Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:
One year.
Field work:
Type of interview:
CAPI and CATI: personal interviews during the first wave and by telephone during the second, third, fourth and fifth waves. The time between each wave is three months.
Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:
No information provided.
Duration of field work:
Total:
Continuous.
Per sample area:
Continuous.
Survey organization:
Permanent.
Number of field staff:
About 300 persons.
Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:
No.
Estimation and adjustments:
Total non-response rate:
45 per cent.
Adjustment for total non-response:
No.
Imputation for item non-response:
No.
Adjustment for areas/population not covered:
No.
Adjustment for undercoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for overcoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for seasonal variations:
No.
History of the survey:
Title and date of the first survey:
1987 Labour force survey.
Significant changes or revisions:
1992 and 2000.
Documentation and dissemination:
Documentation:
Survey results:
No information provided.
Survey methodology:
No information provided.
Dissemination:
Time needed for initial release of survey results:
One year.
Advance information of public about date of initial release:
No.
Availability of unpublished data upon request:
Yes.
Availability of data in machine-readable form:
Excel spreadsheets on request and Internet website.
Website:
http://www.cbs.nl/.