Living Conditions Survey (LCS)

• 1Contact
  • 1.1Contact organisation
    National Statistics Institute of Spain
    
  • 1.5Contact mail address

    Avenida de Manoteras 50-52 - 28050 Madrid

    
    
• 2Metadata update
  • 2.1Metadata last certified
    02/02/2024
  • 2.2Metadata last posted
    21/07/2020
  • 2.3Metadata last update
    02/02/2024
• 3Statistical presentation
  • 3.1Data description

    The Living Conditions Survey is an annual statistical operation addressed to households that is carried out in all European Union countries.

    It is a harmonised statistic which is supported by Regulation (EU) No 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples.       

    The LCS was first conducted in 2004. The main objective of the survey is to provide information on the income, level and composition of poverty and social exclusion in Spain and to allow comparisons with other European Union countries.

    Among its uses, it stands out for constituting a fundamental reference element for the follow-up of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion.

    It also provides longitudinal information as it is a panel survey in which interviewees collaborate four years in a row. In this way, it is possible to know the evolution of the variables researched over time.

    Specifically, the LCS is designed to obtain information on:

    1. Income of private households and, in general, their economic situation (the information on income refers to the year prior to that of the survey).
    2. Poverty, deprivation, social protection and equal treatment.
    3. Employment and activity.
    4. Retirements, pensions and socio-economic situation of the elderly.
    5. Housing and associated costs.
    6. Regional development.
    7. Level of education, health and effects of both on the socio-economic condition.
  • 3.2Classification system
    • Carencia
      1   No puede permitirse ir de vacaciones al menos una semana al año
      2   No puede permitirse una comida de carne, pollo o pescado al menos cada dos días
      3   No puede permitirse mantener la vivienda con una temperatura adecuada
      4   No tiene capacidad para afrontar gastos imprevistos
      5   Ha tenido retrasos en el pago de gastos relacionados con la vivienda principal (hipoteca o alquiler, recibos de gas, comunidad...) en los últimos 12 meses
      6   No puede permitirse disponer de un automóvil
      7   No puede permitirse disponer de un ordenador personal
    • Comunidades y Ciudades Autónomas
      01   Andalucía
      02   Aragón
      03   Asturias, Principado de
      04   Balears, Illes
      05   Canarias
      06   Cantabria
      07   Castilla y León
      08   Castilla - La Mancha
      09   Cataluña
      10   Comunitat Valenciana
      11   Extremadura
      12   Galicia
      13   Madrid, Comunidad de
      14   Murcia, Región de
      15   Navarra, Comunidad Foral de
      16   País Vasco
      17   Rioja, La
      18   Ceuta
      19   Melilla
    • Nacionalidad 2
      1   Española
      2.1   De la Unión Europea sin España
      2.2   Fuera de la Unión Europea y otros
    • Problemas de la vivienda y entorno
      1   Escasez de luz natural
      2   Ruidos producidos por vecinos o del exterior
      3   Contaminación y otros problemas ambientales
      4   Delincuencia o vandalismo
      5   Ningún problema
  • 3.3Sector coverage

    Includes the income of all private households resident in Spain.

  • 3.4Statistical concepts and definitions
    • Imputed rent
      This is the rent that would be paid by the owner household of a dwelling as that occupied, where he or she were its tenant. This imputed evaluation of the dwelling affects both the family dwelling inhabited by the owner household, and use of the dwelling granted free of charge or at a low price to the household by other households and institutions.
    • Severe material deprivation
      These are the households with insufficiency in at least four concepts from a list of nine. The concepts considered are as follows:
      The person or household cannot afford to go on holiday at least one week a year.
      The person or household cannot afford a meal based on meat, chicken or fish at least every two days.
      The person or household cannot afford to keep the dwelling at an adequate temperature.
      The person or household is unable to handle unforeseen expenses.
      The person or household has been late paying expenses relating to the main dwelling (mortgage or rent, gas bills, community costs, etc.) or in the payment of instalment purchases in the last 12 months.
      The person or household cannot afford a car.
      The person or household cannot afford a telephone.
      The person or household cannot afford a colour television.
      The person or household cannot afford a washing machine.
    • Dedicado a las labores del hogar (situación autopercibida/autodeclarada)
      Personas que declaran que sin ejercer alguna actividad económica, se dedican a cuidar su propio hogar sin contraprestación económica alguna
    • Rotational design
      Refers to the sample selection based on a number of subsamples or replications, each of them similar in size and design and representative of the whole population. From one year to the next, some replications are retained, while others are dropped and replaced by new replications.
      
      In the case of a rotational design based on four replications with a rotation of one replication per year, one of
      the replications shall be dropped immediately after the first year, the second shall be retained for two years, the third for three years, and the fourth shall be retained for four years. From the second year onwards, one new replication shall be introduced each year and retained for four years.
    • Age
      Age in years refers to the number of birthdays reached by the reference date, in other words, the age last birthday.
    • Estudiante (situación autopercibida/autodeclarada)
      Se considera estudiante a toda persona que declara que su actividad única (o principal) consiste en la adquisición de una instrucción sistemática de cualquier nivel y tipo de estudio, incluyendo como tal la preparación de oposiciones.
    • Household with low work intensity
      These are the households in which the members of working age actually worked for less than 20% of their total work potential during the year prior to that of the interview (income reference period).
      This calculates, on the one hand, the number of months in which the members of the household worked during the reference year, and on the other hand, the total months during which those same members theoretically could have worked. The ratio is calculated, and it is determined whether or not this is lower than 20%.
      This variable is not applied in the case of persons age 60 years old and over.
    • Household
      The person or persons who occupy a main family dwelling or part of it in common and consume and/or share food or other goods on the same budget.
    • Incapacidad laboral permanente (situación autopercibida/autodeclarada)
      Personas que declaran que se encuentran indefinidamente incapacitadas, tanto si han trabajado o no anteriormente e independientemente de si reciben una pensión por incapacidad.
    • Jubilado o retirado (situación autopercibida/autodeclarada)
      Persona que declara que ha dejado su trabajo por haber alcanzado el final de su vida activa a causa de su edad.
      .
    • Median
      This is the value which, listing all individuals from the least income to the greatest income, leaves half of them below said value, and the other half of them above it. Therefore, as this is a relative measurement, its value depends on the income level, and on how income is distributed among the population. Therefore, it increases or decreases in line with the median income.
    • Household Member
      The conditions established in order to determine whether or not a person is a member of the household endeavour to avoid the possibility of a single individual being classified in more than one household or, conversely, not being classified in any.
      
      Requirements for being a household member are:
      
      - To normally reside in the dwelling: a person normally resides in a dwelling if he or she spends most of his or her daily rest in said dwelling.
      - To share the household expenses: this means profiting from expenses (children, persons with no income, etc.) and/or contributing to the income. If expenses are not shared, the person constitutes a separate household at the same address.
    • Citizenship
      Citizenship is defined as the particular legal bond between an individual and his/her State,, acquired by birth or naturalisation, whether by declaration, option, marriage or other means according to the national legislation.
    • Nivel de formación alcanzado
      El nivel de formación alcanzado por una persona se define como "el máximo nivel que el individuo ha completado" y "se mide a partir del programa de máximo nivel que haya superado, validado, normalmente, por la correspondiente certificación".
    • Ocupados (situación autopercibida/autodeclarada)
      Los ocupados son todas aquellas personas de 16 años o más que, durante un período de referencia dado (semana de referencia, período actual...) declararon tener un empleo por cuenta ajena, asalariado, o ejercieron una actividad por cuenta propia, trabajadores por cuenta propia.
    • Parados (situación autopercibida/autodeclarada)
      Parados son todas aquellas personas de 16 años o más que, durante un período de referencia dado (semana de referencia, período actual...), declararon encontrarse desempleados o buscando un empleo.
    • Person aged 16 years old and over
      A person who is a member of the household, who is 16 years old or over on 31 December of the year prior to that of the interview.
    • Person responsible for the dwelling
      The person responsible for the dwelling is the household member whose name is on the property deed (owned property) or the lease contract or sub-lease contract (rented dwelling). In the case of a dwelling being used by a household free-of-charge, the member of the household to whom it has been granted shall be considered the person responsible.
    • Total disposable household income
      This is calculated by adding the income received by all the members of the household.
      
      The disposable household income (net after taxes and social security contributions paid) includes:
      
      - All income from work (wages of wage earners and income from self-employed workers)
      - Capital and property income
      - Transfers between households
      - All the social benefits received in cash, including retirement pensions
      - Income from private pension plans
      
      The disposable household income does not include:
      
      - Social benefits in kind
      - Imputed rent
      - Income in kind, with the exception of company cars
      - Auto-consumption
      - Tax on wealth
      
      It is possible to find information broken down for each component of income in Commission Regulation (EC) no. 1980/2003, and in the EU-SILC guidelines.
    • Average income per person
      Income per person is obtained, for each household, by dividing the net household income by the number of members of said household
    • Average income per consumption unit
      Equivalised income is a measure of household income that takes account of the differences in a household's size and composition, and thus is equivalised or made equivalent for all household sizes and compositions. The equivalised income is calculated by dividing the household's total income by its equivalent size,
      which is calculated using the modified OECD equivalence scale.This scale attributes a weight to all members of the household:
      1.0 to the first adult;
      0.5 to the second and each subsequent person aged 14 and over;
      0.3 to each child aged under 14.
    • Regular residence according six months criteria
      A person is considered to usually reside in a dwelling if he or she spends most of his or her daily rest in said dwelling in said dwelling, and the period that should be taken into account are the last six months.
      Persons forming new households or incorporated into existing households will normally be regarded as members of the new new residence; in the same way, persons who leave their household to go and live anywhere else will cease to be regarded as members of the original household.
      The abovementioned criterion for the last six months will be replaced by the intention to reside for a period of six months or more in the new place of residence.That which may be regarded as permanent entering or leaving households should be taken into account. In other words, a person who sets up home for an indefinite period of time, or with the intention residing for a period of six months or more will be regarded as a member of that household, even if he or she has not yet spent six months there, and even if he or she has actually spent most of that time in any other place of residence. Likewise, a person who has left his or her household to go to any other place of residence with the intention of being away for six months or more will cease to be regarded as a member of the previous household.
      If a person who is temporarily absent is in a private, he or she will be regarded as a member of the current household or of the previous one, depending on the amount of time his or her absence lasts. Exceptionally, specific categories of persons who maintain close ties with the household may be regarded as members of the latter, regardless of the time that their absence lasts, so long as they are not considered members of another private household.
    • Sex
      Sex refers to the biological sex of the person. According to the WHO, "sex" refers to biological and physiological features defining to men and women, whereas "gender" refers to the roles, behaviour, activities and attributes constructed socially that a specific culture regards as appropriate for men and women. In accordance with this description, the WHO regards "man" and "woman" as sex categories, whereas "male" and "female" are gender categories.
    • Situación principal autopercibida/autodeclarada en relación con la actividad económica.
      Se refiere a la situación principal en que se clasificaría cada persona según la propia percepción de su relación con la actividad económica: ocupado, parado, jubilado, estudiante, incapacitado para trabajar, dedicado a las labores del hogar u otras situaciones.
    • Size of the household
      Number of members of the household
    • Risk of poverty rate
      The at-risk-of-poverty rate is the percentage of persons who are below the poverty threshold.
    • Type of household
      Classification of the different compositions of the households, based on the age, sex and kinship relations of their members.
    • Type of dwelling
      Classification of the dwellings, according to occupancy rate and use
    • Poverty threshold
      The poverty threshold is calculated in euros. A person with anual income per consuption unit under this threshold is considered at risk of poverty.
      The poverty threshold depends on the distribution of the income per consumption unit of persons. This threshold is established as 60% of the median income per consumption unit of persons.
    • Dwelling
      Structurally separate and independent building that, due to the way in which it was built, rebuilt, transformed or adapted, is conceived to be inhabited by persons, or even if was not initially conceived as such, constitutes the regular residence of one or more persons during the reference period of the Statistical Operation. As an exception, the following are not considered dwellings: those buildings that, despite having been initially conceived for human inhabitation, at the time of the Statistical Operation are totally dedicated to other purposes (for example, those that are being used solely as locales, such as a doctor's office or an attorney's office).
    • Group dwelling
      Dwelling designed to be inhabited by a group of persons subjected to a common authority or scheme that is not based on family ties or specific coexistence schemes. The group dwelling may only partially occupy a building, or more frequently, the entirety of the building.
    • Family dwelling
      A dwelling designed to be inhabited by one person or more who do not constitute a group, regardless of the links between them.
    • Main family dwelling
      A family dwelling is considered main when it is used all or most part of the year as the regular residence.
  • 3.5Statistical unit

    The statistical units considered are the households and the persons who are members of these households.

  • 3.6Statistical population

    The population under study are persons resident in Spain, members of private households residing in main family dwellings, as well as these households.

    Although all persons are part of the target population not all persons are thoroughly investigated, only those who are 16 years of age or older as at 31 December of the year prior to that of the interview.

    Persons living in collective households are not included.

  • 3.7Reference area

    The entire Spanish territory.

    Results are published for both the national total and at Autonomous Community level.

  • 3.8Time coverage

    The statistics are carried out on an annual basis. There are results available since 2004.

    The LCS had its predecessor in the European Union Household Panel (EUHP), during the period 1994-2001, with similar characteristics and objectives.

  • 3.9Base period

    The first year in which the survey was carried out was 2004.

• 4Unit of measure
  • 4.1Unit of measure

    The majority of the tables have as the unit of measurement the percentage of households or persons.

    The amounts are expressed in euros.

• 5Reference period
  • 5.1Reference period

    The following reference periods are distinguished:

    a) The current time, a term that is used primarily in questions related to the activity.

    b) The calendar year prior to the conduct of the survey, a period to which some questions of the household questionnaire and the individual questionnaire are referred, related to the income received in the last year. This is the so-called income reference period.

    c) The biographical period of the person, since the survey collects biographical information, so the time period will be different for each person.

    d) In some isolated questions, information is collected referring to other moments of time, such as, for example, the period of the last twelve months, the last four weeks, etc.

    Data referred to the period: Anual A: 2023

• 6Institutional mandate
  • 6.1Legal acts and other agreements

    The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15  December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).

    
    

    In view of the use of the LCS to provide information to the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), it is subject to the Community regulations governing the EU-SILC.

    The framework regulation is Regulation (EC) 2019/1700 of the Parliament and of the Council.

    There are also some Commission regulations: 

    • COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2020/258 of 16 December 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council by specifying the number and the titles of the variables for the income and living conditions domain.

    •  

      COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2019/2242 of 16 December 2019 specifying the technical items of data sets, establishing the technical formats and specifying the detailed arrangements and content of the quality reports on the organisation of a sample survey in the income and living conditions domain pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

    https://www.ine.es/normativa/leyes/UE/minine.htm#30453

  • 6.2Data sharing
    The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.
    
• 7Confidentiality
  • 7.1Confidentiality - policy

    The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics 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

    
    
  • 7.2Confidentiality - data treatment
    INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.
    
• 8Release policy
  • 8.1Release calendar

    The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.

    
    
  • 8.2Release calendar access

    The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)

    
    
  • 8.3User access

    The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice

    
    
• 9Frequency of dissemination
  • 9.1Frequency of dissemination

    Data are disseminated on an annual basis.

• 10Accessibility and clarity
  • 10.1News release

    The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web

    
    
  • 10.2Publications

    All relevant documents related to the LCS (methodology, indicators, etc.) are published at https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176807&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976608

    Detailed results are available on this LCS website. There are two bases:

    - Base 2004. Household income data are obtained through personal interview.
    - Base 2013. A new methodology is adopted in the production of household income data using administrative files.

    The following chapters are included in both bases:

    1. Income
    2. Risk of poverty
    3. Material deprivation
    4. Housing
    5. Risk of poverty or social exclusion (new definition 2021)  
    6. Risk of poverty or social exclusion (Europe 2020 strategy)

    There is also a chapter dedicated to the Ad hoc module that changes every year.

    Likewise, on the occasion of the adoption in the 2013 survey of a new methodology for the production of data relating to household income, retrospective estimations have been carried out since 2008, comparable with the 2013 data.

  • 10.3On-line database

    INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.

    
    

    Access to the on-line database of the LCS in INEbase is made through the link

    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176807&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976608

  • 10.4Micro-data access
    A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section
    

    The survey provides, free of charge, duly anonymised microdata files that are available on the INE website, via the following link:

    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176807&menu=resultados&secc=1254736195153&idp=1254735976608

    (Transversal files and Longitudinal files)

  • 10.5Other

    Customised requests are made of exploitations not included in the detailed results that are published.

    These customised requests take into account both the confidentiality of the data and their robustness, so that requests that might infringe any of the above points are not dealt with.

    The request is made through the User Service Area at the following link: https://www.ine.es/prodyser/informacion

  • 10.6Documentation on methodology

    The available methodological documentation is the following:·

    • a manual with the survey methodology https://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco42/condivi/ecv_metodo_en.pdf
    • questionnaires in pdf format https://www.ine.es/en/metodologia/t25/t2530453cues_en.htm
  • 10.7Quality documentation

    The LCS, being the source of the EU-SILC of Spain, produces quality reports for Eurostat.

    Article 13 of the Regulation (EU) No 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples, establishes that quality reports must be sent at the latest, three months after the deadline for transmitting the data.

    These are available on the Eurostat website:

    https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/income-and-living-conditions/quality

     

    Fields 10.6 to 17 of this document are the user-oriented quality report for this operation.

     

• 11Quality management
  • 11.1Quality assurance

    Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.

    
    

    The LCS, as source of the EU-SILC of Spain, is based on a framework regulation (2019/1700) which determines the scope, definitions, reference period, data characteristics, etc. of the survey. In addition, Eurostat and the Member States have developed the technical aspects of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2242 of 16 December 2019 specifying the detailed arrangements and content of the quality reports.

    Eurostat and the member states have developed several methodological studies in different areas. The following is a non-exhaustive list of topics analysed: household definition, negative income, imputation techniques, treatment of single payments, imputed income, data collection, administrative data versus survey data...

  • 11.2Quality assessment

    Eurostat carries out a review of the survey data before the results are published. Subsequently a comparative quality report is generated showing the strengths and weaknesses of the survey.

    One of the weak points of the LCS is the relatively high percentage of proxy interviews (interview with a member of the household responding on behalf of another person). However, this percentage has been decreasing since 2010.

    As a strong point of the LCS is the adequate adjustment of the definitions of income variables.

    For more information on these aspects, please refer to the comparative quality report prepared by Eurostat:

    https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/income-and-living-conditions/quality

     

     

     

• 12Relevance
  • 12.1User needs

    The main users of the LCS are:

    • Ministries and other public bodies.
    • Territorial administrations ( Autonomous Communities).
    • Media.
    • Researchers and universities.
    • Services of the European Commission and ECB.

    And the main uses of the survey are as follows:·

    • It is used as a reference element for monitoring the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion.
    • Informs in the press releases about household income, poverty, deprivation, etc.
    • Provides customised information as long as the data to be provided is of quality and does not violate statistical secrecy.
    • Provides users with microdata files. These are mainly used by universities and Autonomous Communities.
    • Production of comparative statistics at the European Union level.

    There is a demand for the production of indicators with a more detailed geographical breakdown. We are studying how to improve the accuracy of the indicators at the Autonomous Community level.

  • 12.2User satisfaction

    The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013,  2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...

    On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click  next link)

     

    
    

    In the user satisfaction surveys carried out to date, the sector "Socio-economic surveys of households. Household Budget Survey, Living Conditions Survey (EPF, ECV) " in which the statistical operation is framed is assessed, which can guide the users' opinion about it.

  • 12.3Completeness

    The LCS covers all the variables required in the survey Regulation.

    The rate of available mandatory statistical results is   R1=100%.

• 13Accuracy and reliability
  • 13.1Overall accuracy

    One of the major difficulties of the survey is the collection of household income. Since the beginning of the survey in 2004, income has been collected by personal interview and individuals generally tend to under-report it.

    As of the 2013 survey, a new methodology has been adopted that combines information collected through personal interview with information from administrative files, improving the accuracy of said variable.

    In previous studies, a comparative analysis was made in working document 01/2011 “Linking data from administrative records and the Living Conditions Survey” (www.ine.es).

  • 13.2Sampling error

    The latest available data of the standard error of the at-risk-of-poverty rate for the national total (2021 survey) is  A1=2.4%.

    For more information on sampling errors, see the quality reports for Eurostat (section 6.2.1 of the ESQRS):

    https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/income-and-living-conditions/quality

     

     

  • 13.3Non-sampling error

    The non-response rates per unit in the new sample relating to the 2022 survey are shown in the following table:        

    Ra       0.99                                                                                                                                                                          
    Rh       0.62                                                                                                                                                                        
    NRh   A4=38.3%                                                                                                                                                                              
    Rp        0.98                                                                                                                                                                            
    NRp  2.17%                                                                                                                                                                              
    NRp2  39.66%     

    
    Ra-Proportion of contact with the dwelling
    Rh-Proportion of households interviewed accepted for the database
    NRh-Household non-response rate (%)
    Rp-Proportion of persons interviewed in households accepted for the database
    NRp-Individual non-response rate (%)
    NRp2-Total individual non-response rate (%)

    For more information on non-sampling errors, you can consult the quality reports for Eurostat (section 6.3.3 of the ESQRS):

    https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/income-and-living-conditions/quality

    To evaluate the distribution of non-response according to different characteristics of the household and its members, as well as to expand the above information you can access the document on the evaluation of non-response in the link:

     

    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176807&menu=metodologia&idp=1254735976608

     

• 14Timeliness and punctuality
  • 14.1Timeliness

    The LCS has different reference periods (household income refers to the year prior to that of the survey, another type of information refers to the time of the interview). Taking the time of the interview as the reference period, the final data have been published some  TP2=8 months after the data collection.

  • 14.2Punctuality

    Each publication has been disseminated on the date announced in the publications calendar.

• 15Coherence and Comparability
  • 15.1Comparability - geographical

    The processing of this statistic in all its phases is the same for the whole territory. In this way, the results are fully comparable for any geographical breakdown.

    In the construction of the variables relating to household income, the tax administrative files in Álava have not been used. In order to ensure geographical comparability, corrective factors have been applied in this province.

    Likewise, they are comparable with the rest of the European Union countries as they follow the Eurostat recommendations established for all the countries

  • 15.2Comparability - over time

    The LCS was first carried out in 2004.

    From 2004 until the 2012 survey there have been no significant methodological changes. As of the 2013 survey there is a significant methodological change consisting of the use of administrative files. For this reason, retrospective estimates have been prepared since 2008, comparable with the 2013 data.

    Therefore, the number of comparable elements of the time series is   CC2=16 years.

  • 15.3Coherence - cross domain

    The comparison with external sources presents problems due to the lack of correspondence in the definitions used. These problems are due to the definition of the income component itself, which affects both the comparison of the number of people receiving an income component and the comparison of the average amount.

    The comparisons carried out to date have been made with data from the 2022 survey.

    • Comparison between the National Accounts and the LCS:

    As regards income from salaried employment, the amount given by the LCS is 465,902 million euros (2022 survey, with income referring to 2021). The wages and salaries item in the National Accounts takes the value  449,929 (year 2021).

    Self-employment income, property income and capital income of the LCS are poorly collected in the interviews and cannot be compared. Property income of the LCS is considered as mixed income in the National Accounts.

    Social benefits show a higher degree of adjustment.

     

    • Comparison between the Tax Agency and the LCS:

    The Tax Agency annually produces the publication Labour Market and Pensions in Tax Sources.

    There are no important differences between the two sources.

    For more information consult the quality report for Eurostat:

    https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/income-and-living-conditions/quality

    Section 8 of the ESQRS.

  • 15.4Coherence - internal

    The estimations of the main LCS indicators have complete internal coherence, since they are based on the same set of microdata and are calculated using the same estimation methods.

• 16Cost and burden
  • 16.1Cost and burden

    The estimated budget appropriation necessary to finance this statistic foreseen in the 2024 Annual Programme is  1,682.18 thousand euros.

    In relation to the burden of respondents, the estimated time to respond to the survey is about 45 minutes. This time does not include the extra time devoted to contacting the respondent and explaining the content of the survey.

• 17Data revision
  • 17.1Data revision - policy

    The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).

    This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow:  routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.

    
    

    The LCS is an annual survey. From the 2010 survey until the 2013 survey, provisional data have been published around October of year n and final data around October of year n+1, so that some indicators were given in two versions (one provisional and one final). As of the 2013 survey, provisional data are no longer published, and the publication of the final data has been brought forward by a few months.

    Inclusion of new population data

    As of the publication of 22 November 2013, LCS data are calculated using the 2011 Census population.
    The Population and Housing Census is an operation carried out by the INE every ten years. The last Census refers to the year 2011 and offers, among other data, updated information on population figures, as well as its age structure and household composition.
    This information is fundamental in household surveys to elevate the data obtained to the population as a whole.
    The change of populations introduced in the LCS in the publication of 22 November 2013 causes a cut in the series of data published to that date. For this reason, the results of the different years (from 2004 to 2012) have been recalculated taking into account the new population estimates derived from the Population Census.

  • 17.2Data revision - practice

    As of the 2013 survey, provisional data will no longer be published, so there is currently no revision policy.

    When provisional data were published, the average size of the revisions (difference between the two estimates) for the reference indicator “at-risk-of-poverty rate” is shown in the following table (2011 data is provided as it is the last comparable data with respect to the population data used):

    At-risk-of-poverty rate

    Survey	Provisional data	Final data	Absolute difference
    LCS2011	21.8	21.8	0

    As of the 2013 survey, provisional data will no longer be published, and the publication of final data will be brought forward a few months.

• 18Statistical processing
  • 18.1Source data

    SAMPLE DESIGN

    • Type of sampling:

    The Living Conditions Survey (LCS) is an annual survey with a rotating panel design in which the sample is made up of four independent sub-samples, each of which is a four-year panel. Each year the sample is renewed in one of the panels.

    For each sub-sample a two-stage sample design is followed with stratification of the first stage units. The first stage is formed by the census tracts and the second stage by the main family dwellings. Within them, no sub-sampling is carried out, investigating all households that have their usual residence in said dwellings.

    In each Autonomous Community, the first stage units are grouped into strata according to the size of the municipality to which the tract belongs.

    The framework used for the selection of the sample is a framework of areas formed by the relation of census tracts used in the Municipal Register of inhabitants (in order to select the new sample, the Municipal Register is used with an approximate reference date of February of the year prior to that of the survey). For the second stage units, the list of main family dwellings has been used in each of the tracts selected for the sample.

    • Sample size:

    In order to cover the objectives of the survey of providing estimates with an acceptable degree of reliability at the national and Autonomous Community levels, a sample of 16,000 dwellings distributed in 2,000 census tracts has been selected.

    Starting with the 2016 survey, a sample extension has been carried out in Cataluña in collaboration with Idescat, incorporating 224 additional census tracts.

    The sample size will be duplicated. The process has been initiated in 2019 and will be
    consolidated in 2022. The new-subsamples are duplicated (some adjustments have been carried out in the allocation by Autonomous Communities) in the period 2019-2021.

     

    • Selection of the sample:

    The tracts are selected within each stratum with probability proportional to their size. The dwellings, in each tract, with equal probability by means of systematic sampling with random start. This procedure leads to self-weighted samples in each stratum.

    For more details consult the LCS methodology (Section 8 Sample design):https://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco42/condivi/ecv_metodo_en.pdf

    As of the 2014 survey, a change is introduced in the selection of the dwellings of the new sample, which consists of the elimination of substitutions. Instead of having tracts with 8 principal dwellings and 8 reserve dwellings, from 2014 onwards there will be tracts with 12 principal dwellings.

     

     

  • 18.2Frequency of data collection

    The data collection has an annual character and is normally carried out during the months of March to June of each year.

    Exceptionally, the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 surveys have been collected between September and November of the survey year.

    Since the 2023 survey the data collection is carried out from February to May of each year.

  • 18.3Data collection

    Since 2005, the collection method is mainly the personal interview of the members of each of the households under study, the interviewers visit the households and request the information with the aid of portable computers (CAPI), sometimes completing the interviews with telephone calls in order to obtain omitted data or correct erroneous data. In 2004, the PAPI method was used (personal interview using paper questionnaires).

    In 2020, due to the COVID-19 crisis, the mode of data collection was changed to CATI. From 2021 the mode of data collection is multichannel (CAWI, CATI, CAPI).

    From the 2013 survey onwards, the data relating to household income have been constructed using a mixed methodology combining the information provided by the respondent with the administrative registers of the Spanish Tax Agency, the Social Security, the Navarre Tax Office, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.

    There are four basic questionnaires:·

    • follow-up sheet·
    • household sheet·
    • household questionnaire·
    • individual questionnaire

    The questionnaire was designed in such a way as to collect sufficient information to have the target variables included in the Commission Regulation. No additional questions have been included to cover other areas at the national level.

    In the design of the questionnaire, the experience of the European Union Household Panel and, above all, of the Pilot Survey of Living Conditions (year 2002) was used.

    As of the 2017 survey, data collection is carried out through outsourcing and is exhaustively supervised by the INE.

  • 18.4Data validation

    1. During data collection, an initial cleaning is carried out, controlling some inconsistencies and out-of-range values. On the other hand, some variables are available from the information provided in the previous cycle.

    2. Subsequently, an exhaustive control is carried out in the INE Central Services in which various aspects are cleaned in phases.

  • 18.5Data compilation

    Imputations are fundamentally made for income variables in cases in which sufficient field information is not available or information is not available in the administrative files. These are carried out after data cleaning.

     

    • Imputation of income

    As the LCS is a panel survey, prior information is already available as of the second cycle. For the imputation of income, this information will be very useful, since it is first checked if there is previous information. If this is the case and it has not been imputed but collected from the field, the current value is the result of multiplying said value by an inflator factor, in order to update it to the year of the survey.

    If there was information but it was imputed, or the information did not exist, then we proceed to apply a multivariate sequential regression method based on models implemented by the IVE software.

    The procedure is based on creating imputations by means of a sequence of regressions. It is intended to collect the correlation of all variables, both complete and those that have lost values. The program allows different types of regressions (linear, logistics, generalized logistics and Poisson). However, in the case of LCS only linear regression is used to impute income, after applying to it a logarithmic transformation. The explanatory variables can be discrete, continuous or binary.

  • 18.6Adjustment

    No adjustments are made.

• 19Comment
  • 19.1Comment