National Statistical Institute

Labour Force Statistics Department

Tsveta Kostova-Sevastiyanova

Head of department

2, P. Volov Str.; 1038 Sofia, Bulgaria
 

[email protected]

+359 2 9857 619

The Labor force survey is a sample statistical survey carried out through households. The main purpose of the survey is to provide data on labour status of population aged 15 years and over and for the main characteristics of employed, unemployed and persons out of labour force in the Republic of Bulgaria.

In 2018 an ad-hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life was incorporated in the regular Labour force survey. The 2018 ad-hoc module provides comparable data that allow:

- to establish to what extent the availability of suitable care services for children and other dependent persons influences people’s participation in the labour market;

- to analyse the degree of flexibility offered at work, from the point of view of reconciling work and family life;

- to identify career breaks linked to caring of children or other dependent persons, and analyse their duration.

The classifications applied in the Labour force survey are harmonised with the international classifications in terms of economic activities, occupations, educational attainment. The main classification used are the following:               

• Classification of Economic Activities - 2008, which is a Bulgarian version of NACE, Rev. 2 -  since 2008;
• National Classification of Occupations - 2011, comparable to the International Standard Classification of Occupations – ISCO ’08 -  since 1 January 2011;
• International Classification of Status in Employment - ICSE-93;
• Classification of Territorial Units for Statistical Purposes in Bulgaria, harmonized with the European Classification of Territorial Units for Statistics - NUTS.

All persons aged 15 years and over living in the selected non-institutional households are covered by the Labour force survey. The target population for the ad-hoc module "Reconciliation between work and family life" consists of persons aged 18 to 64.

The Labour force survey provides estimates of the main characteristics of labour market as employment, unemployment, inactivity, occupations, economic activities, working time and other, as well as social-demographic characteristics as sex, age, place of residence (urban/rural), education etc.

The main definitions applied in the survey are in accordance with the recommendation of International Labour Organization (ILO) and EU legislation.

Employed are persons aged 15 and over who during the reference period:

- performed some work for at least one hour for pay in cash or in kind or other income;

- did not work but had a job or an enterprise, a business from which they were temporarily absent due to illness, annual leave, full-paid maternity leave, parental leave, strike or another labour dispute, etc.

Professional status. According to professional status the employed persons are classified in the following categories:

• employers - persons who work in their own enterprise, business, farm, professional practice and  employ at least one other person;
• self-employed  - persons who work in their own enterprise, business, farm, professional practice and do not employ any other person;
• employees - persons who work for a public or private employer and who receive wages (salaries), fees, remuneration by civil contract etc.;
• unpaid family workers - persons who work without pay in an enterprise, farm, owned and operated by a relative of the same households.

Unemployed are persons aged 15 to 74 who:

• did not work at all during the reference period;
• were actively seeking work within the preceding four weeks, including the reference one or have found a new job or business that is expected to start within 3 months following the reference period;
• were available to start working within two weeks following the reference period.

Persons not in the labour force (inactive population) are persons aged 15 and over who were neither employed, nor unemployed during the reference period. All persons on leave for taking care of children until 2 years of age are also included.

Professional childcare services comprise all forms of care organised by private or public structures like the pre-schools, nursery schools, day care centres, crèches or after school centres. Also included is organised family care or care by professional childminders arranged with an intermediate service or directly employed by the family. Relatives, other household members, friends or neighbours who look after children without the professional aspect are not counted as care services, here.

Caring tasks for own children comprise personal care, homework, playing games, reading, taking out, giving a ride, and supervision, among others. If care consists only in financial support, is not to be included.

"Own children" always include the ones of the spouse or cohabiting partner

The care for children living outside the household or incapacitated relatives should only be considered if it is regular, meaning at least some hours per week

Care for incapacitated relatives (from the age of 15) refer to looking after or provide help to relatives or the partner in need of care because they are sick, elderly or disabled

Examples of caring tasks are personal care (e.g. dressing, washing, feeding), physical help (e.g. walking), support in health care, giving a ride, helping with paperwork or financial matters, domestic help (e.g. housework, laundry, groceries).

Persons living in private households.

Total population usually residing in Bulgaria, except persons living in collective households.

The ad-hoc module "Reconciliation between work and family life" refers to persons aged 18 to 64.

Whole territory of Republic of Bulgaria

2018

Not applicable

Households, persons

Once for each sampling unit. The sampling units are evenly spread between all calendar weeks of 2018.

Data are collected through paper questionnaire and personal interview with persons from the selected households.

The filled in questionnaires are coded (for economic activity, occupation, place of work, field of education etc.) and entered into computer in NSI regional offices. Data files are sent to NSI, where additional control and weighting is done. Data are aggregated by different variables (characteristics), tabulated and disseminated.

Plausibility checks are performed during the data entry. Additional consistency checks are carried out before publishing of data.

The filled in questionnaires are coded and entered into computer in NSI regional units. Data files are sent to NSI, where additional control and weighting was done. Data are aggregated by different variables (characteristics), tabulated and disseminated.

Npt applied

The main users of LFS statistical data are:

· International organisations:

- European Commission - DG Employment and other Directorates;

- Eurostat - Labour Market unit and other units;

- European Central Bank;

- OECD;

- International Labour Organization;

- UNESCO;

- UNICEF.

· National users:

- Ministries and State agencies;

- Bulgarian National Bank;

- Trade Unions;

- Employers' organisations;

- Non-governmental organisations;

- Research institutions;

- Companies, agencies - for own marketing researches and consultancy activities.

All variables of the ad-hoc module “Reconciliation between work and family life”, specified in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2236 of 12 December 2016 specifying the technical characteristics of the 2018 ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life were covered.

The sample used for the Labour force survey is a two-stage stratified cluster sample which includes quarterly about 19.6 thousand households (representing about 0.65% sampling rate).
The ad-hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life was carried out over a part (25%) of LFS sample in each quarter and consisted of the households from the third wave.

Due to the sampling approach used in the Labour force survey, the estimation of the parameters obtained from the survey could vary from those in the population due to sampling errors, errors due to non-response, errors in registration or processing etc.

The sample used for the Labour force survey is a two-stage stratified cluster sample which includes quarterly about 19.6 thousand households (representing about 0.65% sampling rate).
The ad-hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life was carried out over a part (25%) of LFS sample in each quarter and consisted of the households from the third wave.

Due to the sampling approach used in the Labour force survey, the estimation of the parameters obtained from the survey could vary from those in the population due to sampling errors, errors due to non-response, errors in registration or processing etc.

Coefficients of variation (relative standard errors), and confidence intervals (i.e. the range of values that 95% of times would capture the true value in the population) are calculated for assessment of stochastic reliability of the estimates for main indicators.

The share of respondents participated in the core Labour force survey, but not answered to the ad-hoc module is 1%.

Not applied

Not applied

Comparability across EU Member States is considered high due to use of harmonised concepts, variables, definitions and classifications.

Labour force survey ad hoc modules on reconciliaton between work and family life were carried out also in 2005 and 2010. Due to differences in the methodology, data from these modules are not directly comparable with 2018 ad hoc module.

Data from the 2018 ad hoc module on reconciliation between and family life could slightly differ from the similar yearly data from the Labour force survey for 2018 due to use of subsample for data collection for the module.

Not available

Not available

The main results from the ad-hoc module “Reconciliation between work and family life" are available for all users at the NSI website www.nsi.bg, section "Labour Market", Labour Force Survey

https://www.nsi.bg/en/node/17511

Individual anonymous micro-data could be provided for scientific research purposes by individual request according to the Regulation of submission of anonymous individual data for scientific and research purposes.

An information service could be provided by request, according to the Rules for Dissemination of Statistical Information Products and Services

Labour force survey methodology: http://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/metadata/LFS_Methodology_EN.pdf

Interviewer's instructions for ad-hoc module "Reconciliation between work and family life"

Eurostat's Explanatory notes for ad-hoc module "Reconciliation between work and family life" variables

Not published

The average duration of the interview on the ad-hoc module "Reconciliation between work and family life" was about 9 minutes per person.

• Law on Statistics;
• Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics (provision 24 and Article 20 (4)) (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the necessity 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.

Individual anonymised data provided for the purposes of scientific research do not consist any administrative data as personal information and address and do not allow direct identification. Additional aggregation of data is performed for some of the variables.

In accordance with Article 25 of the Law on Statistics individual data are not published. Dissemination of individual data is possible only in accordance with Article 26 of the Law on Statistics.