Monitoring living and working conditions in the European Union

Robert Anderson

Eurofound

Centre for Workforce Futures

Macquarie University, Sydney

20 September 2013

• A decentralised agency of the EU established in 1975• Administered by a Governing Board

composed of national representatives of the social partners, national governments and the European Commission

• Generates policy-relevant research and findings which contribute to improving the quality of work and life in Europe, through: Comparative research and analysis of developments

affecting living and working conditions Monitoring of trends in living and working conditions Identification of emerging issues

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions

3

Monitoring living and working conditions: Surveys and Network of observatories

European Company Survey (ECS)2004; 2009; 2013

European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS)

1990/91; 1995/96; 2000; 2005; 2010; 2015

European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS)

2003; 2007; 2011/12; 2016

4

Eurofound surveys: country coverage

Survey # of countries Countries

European Quality of Life Survey

34(2011/2012)

EU27 CC6: Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey;IPA: Kosovo

European Working Conditions Survey

34(2010)

EU27CC3 (Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey)IPA3 (Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro)Norway

European Company Survey

32(2013)

EU27CC (Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey)

Survey implementation

• Eurofound develops questionnaires• Questionnaire translation and fieldwork tendered out• Tender specifications: balance between prescribing ‘best

practice’ and inviting contractors to outline merits of their approach

• Explicit quality assurance plan to accompany tender• Main difficulties

Limited number of potential contractors Multi-level management structure (contractor and sub-

contractors) Budgetary constraints

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1. Planning: using a systematic Quality Control Framework

developed specifically for each survey

2. Consultation: experts and users of the survey participate in the development of the questionnaire, concepts and methodology

3. Transparency: opening up the process both internally and externally

4. Documentation: keeping track of everything, making sure that interventions can be traced back

5. Assessment of the quality of the process and output: EF surveys subscribe to the quality criteria of European Statistical System. External quality assessments are carried out after each round.

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Key elements of the quality assurance strategy for Eurofound surveys

Extensive quality control

• Careful selection of sampling frames Separate enumeration in case of random route

• State-of-the-art procedures for questionnaire translation• Explicit procedures for respondent selection• Experienced, well trained field force• Systematic monitoring as well as local spot checks of fieldwork• Elaborate procedures for coding and data cleaning• External data quality assessment

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• Five waves: 1991, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010• 5th EWCS - 34 countries: EU27, NO, TR, HR, MK, MO, AL, XK• Employees and self-employed (15+; ILO definition)

Register based stratified random sampling

Random routes if no register available

Stratification by urbanisation and region• 43816 interviews

1000-4000 interviews per country Response rate (RR3) 44.2% (between 31.3% (ES) and 73.5% (LV))

• 40 minute ‘face to face’ interviews at peoples’ homes• 2010: 25 language versions of same questionnaire

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European Working Conditions Survey

Core surveyed aspects of working conditions

working time, pay work organisation precarious employment

work-related health risks cognitive and psychosocial factors work-life balance access to training

leadership styles worker participation

European Working Conditions Survey

EWCS 2010: 120 questions 288 items

Selected highlights fromEuropean Working Conditions Survey

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Vibrations

Noise

Breathing in smoke/ dust and/or vapours

Heavy loads

Low temperatures

High temperatures

Tobacco smoke

Standing

Chemical substances

Tiring or painful positions

Repetitive hand or arm movements

Infectious materials

Lifting or moving people

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Women Men

Exposure to physical risks (at least one quarter of the time)

EWCS, 2010

Exposure to physical risks, 1991-2010

Vibrations

Noise

High temperatures

Low temperatures

Breathing in smoke/ dust and/or vapours

Chemical substances

Tiring or painful posi-tions

Heavy loads

Repetitive hand or arm movements

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

2010 EU272005 EU272000 EU271995 EU151991 EC12

1. High demands and work intensity

2. Emotional demands

3. Lack of autonomy

4. Ethical conflicts

5. Poor social relationships

6. Job and work insecurity

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Psychosocial risks

• Work intensity is measured using three questions

The number of determinants of the pace of work Frequency of having to work at high speed Frequency of having to work to tight deadlines

• Work intensity increased over the last two decades but the increase slowed down since 2005

• 62% of workers report to be working to tight deadlines and 59% of workers report to be working at high speed (almost) all of the time

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High demands and work intensity

• Ability to change or choose

Order of tasks Speed or rate of work Method of work

• 53% of workers control all these aspects• Autonomy increases with age• On aggregate, men and women do not differ

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Lack of autonomy

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Work intensity and job autonomy by sector and occupation, EU27

25 30 35 40 45 50 5540

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

Other services

Health

Education Public administration

Financial services

Transport

Wholesale & retail

Construction

Industry

Agriculture

Elementary occupations

Plant and machine opera-tors

Craft and trades workers

Skilled agricultural workers

Service and sales workers

Clerical support workers

Technicians

Professionals

Managers

Work intensity

Job

auto

nom

y

Research on job quality Job level characteristics of work associated with health, well being in a positive or negative way

Indices of job quality Brief contents of the indicators used

Earnings index Hourly earnings

Prospects index Job security, career progression, contract quality

Intrinsic job quality Skills and discretion

Good social environment

Good physical environment

Work intensity

Working time quality index

Duration, scheduling, discretion, short term flexibility

See results: Eurofound (2012) Trends in job quality in Europe

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Average job quality by establishment size

Under 5 employees Between 5 & 49 employees

More than 49 employees

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Earnings in Euros

Under 5 employees Between 5 & 49 employees

More than 49 employees

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

WTQ IJQ

Prospects

Rank lowest on earnings, intrinsic job quality and prospects but better on working time quality than cluster 3

Score highest in terms of earnings, intrinsic job quality and prospects, but lower than cluster 2 on working time quality

Have the highest level of working time quality and the second-highest levels of intrinsic job quality and prospects; they score slightly lower than cluster 3 in terms of earnings

Have the second-highest level of earnings, but rank third in terms of intrinsic job quality and prospects and lowest on working time quality

Four job quality clusters

Low-quality jobs by Member State (%)

(Eurofound, Fifth European Working Conditions Survey)

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Capacity to change: Job quality indices in EU 15 countries, 1995-2010

Skills and Discretion (T) Work Intensity(T) Good Physical Environment(T) Working Time Quality(T)0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1995200020052010

Working Conditions:• Physical environment has hardly improved – in spite of efforts• Increase in index for skills and discretion in some countries is positive• Working Time Quality has improved in all countries• Evidence of work intensification is confirmed• Countries/groups exposed to different trade-offs• (Approach can be narrowed to employment quality or enlarged)

One-fifth ‘at risk’ jobs: How acceptable and sustainable?This calls for a wide front of actions … in improving working conditions

Changes in:• Work organisation and HRM practices may be necessary (the quest for the win-win

practices)• As well as in developing the public authorities actions in relation to limiting

externalities, promoting good practice etc.

Monitoring is important

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To sum up, job quality over time in Europe

Selected highlights fromEuropean Quality of Life Survey

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• Three waves: 2003, 2007 and 2012• 3rd EQLS – 34 countries (EU27, TR, HR, MK, IS, ME, RS, XK)• Residents (18+)

Register based stratified random sampling

Random routes if no register available

Stratification by urbanisation and region• 43636 interviews

1000-3000 interviews per country Response rate (RR3) 41.3% (EU27) & 44.7% (non-EU)

• 38 minute ‘face to face’ interviews at peoples’ homes• 25 languages and 13 language variants

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European Quality of Life Survey

Eurofound’s conceptual framework for measuring quality of life in EQLS

• Scope that people have to attain their goals. • Quality of life is measured by objective as well subjective indicators. • Quality of life as overarching frame that entails concepts at level of

individual, family, community, and society.

• EQLS is based on a multi-dimensional concept of QoL: Goes beyond focus on living conditions or resources, The survey covers broad spectrum of domains of life (employment,

housing, family, health, community, participation in society, socioeconomic (in)security);

and analyses interrelationship between domains (such as work, family, health and wellbeing);

Addresses quality of society: trust, intergroup relations, quality of public and neighbourhood services.

Core surveyed aspects of quality of life

Subjective well-beingLiving standards and deprivationHome, housing, local environment

Employment and work-life balanceFamily and social lifeSocial exclusion and community

involvement

Public services, health, healthcareQuality of society

European Quality of Life Survey

EQLS 2011: 73 questions 183 items

Monitoring change over time:Happiness

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

8.5

9.0

5.8

6.8

6.9 7.0

7.0 7.07.3

7.3

7.3 7.4 7.47.5 7.5 7.5 7.5

7.6

7.7 7.7 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.98.0 8.0 8.0

8.28.3 8.3

6.3 6.7

7.27.1

6.97.0 7.0

7.7

6.5

6.8

7.3 7.4 7.4

7.16.9

7.8

7.6

7.1

7.47.6 7.6

7.2

7.7 7.77.8 7.8

8.1 8.2

Happiness 2007

Happiness 2011

Consistent social inequalities: health satisfaction (scale 1-10), EU27, EQLS

Lowest quartile 2nd 3rd Highest quartile6.0

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7.0

7.2

7.4

7.6

7.8

8.0

6.9

7.1

7.4

7.8

6.7

7.1

7.5

7.8

Views on the quality of long-term care services

More and Better Jobs in Home Care Services - Brussels, 12 September 2013

In general, how would you rate the quality of long-term care services in your country? (on a scale of 1-10, where 1 means very poor and 10 means very high quality)

EQLS, 2012

Bulgaria

Poland

Portugal

UK

Spain

Germany

France

Netherlands

Denmark

Austria

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

3.8

4.9

5.4

5.8

6.2

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.7

7.1

Difficulties in accessing long-term care (%)

More and Better Jobs in Home Care Services - Brussels, 12 September 2013

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Unpaid work

Source: EQLS 2011

Challenges for work-life balanceby working hours (% at least several times a month)

Too tired to dohousehold jobs

Family responsibilities suffer Difficult toconcentrate at work

21–34

35–40

41–47

48+

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

21–34

35–40

41–47

48+

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Women Men

21–34

35–40

41–47

48+

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

EU27 14%

EU15 12%

EU12 21%

Men with children 15%

Women with children 17%

Involved in childcare ‘every day’ 16%

Involved in eldercare ‘every day’ 21%

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Family life and work –Pressures at home and at work

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Proportion reporting problem at least several times a month

Working carers Non-carers

Too tired to do household jobs 54% 53%

Difficult to fulfil family responsibilities

32% 29%

Difficult to concentrate at work 18% 13%

Problems at both home and work 17% 13%

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Health and well-being of carers aged 18-64

Working carers Other carers Non-carers

Bad or very bad health 4% 15% 6%

Feeling tense most of the time

14% 19% 12%

Feeling lonely most of the time

7% 10% 6%

Feeling depressed most of the time

6% 14% 5%

Global life satisfaction 7.2 6.6 7.1

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Material well-being of carers aged 18-64

Working carers

Other carers

Non-carers

Proportion:

In lowest income quartile

15% 42% 24%

Having difficulty making ends meet

45% 59% 46%

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Social exclusion among people of working age (18-64)

Proportion who "agree or strongly agree"

Working carers Other carers Non-carers

What I do in life is worthwhile 82% 76% 79%

Free to decide how I live my life 72% 67% 75%

Seldom time to do things I enjoy 46% 41% 38%

Left out of society 11% 16% 10%

Value of what I do not recognised 26% 29% 22%

Life complicated, can't find my way 20% 29% 19%

People look down on me 16% 26% 17%

Social exclusion index 2.2 2.5 2.2

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Social exclusion index

unable to work

unemployed 12 months +

unemployed <12 months

at work as an assisting relative

full-time homemaker

on leave

at work

retired

student

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00

2.812.76

2.422.36

2.282.112.102.092.09

Overview report (2012) Quality of Life in Europe: Impacts of the crisis

EU27 analytical reports (forthcoming 2013)

Trends in quality of life 2003-2007-2011Subjective well-being and quality of lifeQuality of society and public servicesSocial inequalities in quality of life

Enlargement country reports (2013)

7 country profiles in spring 2013

Trend analysis later in 2013:

Turkey 2003-2007-2012 Croatia 2007-2012FYROM 2007-2012

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More of EQLS

• Eurofound Survey web pages

http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/index.htm

• Technical reports http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/eqls/2011/documents/technic

alreport.pdf

• External Quality Assessment reports http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/ewcs/2010/documents/quality

assessment.pdf

• Survey mapping tool on Eurofound website http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/smt/eqls/results.htm

• Data sets freely available on the UK Data archive http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/availability/index.htm

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Data and background information

Thank you

Contact:

rma@eurofound.europa.eu

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