Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

F3: Labour market and lifelong learning (ESTAT-LFS-user-support@ec.europa.eu)

European Commission
Eurostat Directorate F
Labour Market Statistics (F3) methodology and analysis team
Bâtiment Joseph Bech D3/723
5, Rue Alphonse Weicker
L-2771 Luxembourg

The EU-LFS eight-yearly module 'Pensions and Labour market participation' conducted in 2023 provides information on:

• the types of pension and pension age 
• the labour market situation at beginning of old age pension receipt of persons receiving an old age pension
• the main reason to stop or continue working with the beginning of the old age pension receipt 
• the financial old age pension provisions of persons not receiving a statutory nor an occupational pension.

The module includes 11 variables.

1. PENSTYP1: Old age pension
2. AGEPENSO: Age at which the person started receiving an old age pension
3. STATRECE: First statutory old age pension receipt with reduction or bonus
4. PENSTYP2: Disability pension and other disability periodic cash benefit
5. AGEPENSD: Age at which the person started receiving the disability pension or other disability periodic cash benefits
6. PROVTYPE: Financial old age provisions
7. PENSSITU: Situation at beginning of old age pension receipt
8. WSTPREAS: Main reason to stop working with the beginning of the old age pension receipt
9. WCONREAS: Main reason to continue working with old age pension receipt
10. LMREENT: Re-enter the labour market after beginning of old age pension receipt
11. LMENTREAS: Main reason to re-enter the labour market

The EU-LFS results are produced in accordance with the relevant international classification systems. The main classifications used are NACE Rev. 2 for economic activity, ISCO 08 (from 2011) for occupation, ISCED 2011 for level of education (from 2014) and ISCED-F 2013 for field of education (from 2016). Actual coding in the EU-LFS may deviate to some extent from those general standards; for more details on classifications, levels of aggregation and transition rules, please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology.

As a general rule, the EU-LFS covers all economic sectors.

Target population

The 2023 LFS module includes persons aged 50-74. This group will be referred to as the target population of the survey. Most of the variables in the survey were limited further, thus dealing with sub-groups of the target population (e.g. persons receiving an old-age pension).

Definitions

Old age pension - old-age pension covers statutory pension, occupational pension and/or personal pension.

Disability pension - periodic payments intended to maintain or support the income of someone below the legal/standard retirement age as established in the reference scheme who suffers from a disability which impairs his or her ability to work or earn beyond a minimum level laid down by legislation.

Statutory pension - covers the provision of social protection against the risks linked to old age: loss of income, inadequate income, and lack of independence in carrying out daily tasks, reduced participation in social life.

Occupational pension - private supplementary plans linked to an employment relationship or professional activity. Contributions are made by employers or employees, or both, based on earnings. or by the self-employed. These plans may be mandated by national legislation but more commonly are established either in employment contracts or in sector- or profession-based collective agreements negotiated by social partners. Pension liabilities may be assumed directly by the sponsoring company (as book reserves), or contributions may be invested in private funds or insurance contracts. Funding may be based on defined benefit or defined contribution principles (the latter are increasingly common). Particularly in countries where public pensions only provide a minimal level of support, occupational pensions allow many employees to even out consumption over a lifetime and to enjoy in retirement a standard of living close to that which they had during working life.

Personal pension - private voluntary plans in which contributions are invested in an individual account managed by a pension fund or financial institution. They are usually defined contribution plans, where the level of assets determines the level of complementary pension benefits provided. To encourage this specific kind of savings, countries often provide tax incentives or additional contributions. A personal pension plan may have the following characteristics:

• is based on a contract between an individual saver and an entity on a voluntary basis;
• has an explicit retirement objective;
• provides for capital accumulation until retirement with only limited possibilities for early withdrawal before retirement;
• provides an income on retirement

Online tables and the coverage of data

Output variables

Table lfso_23pens01: Persons receiving an old-age or disability pension by type and labour status

• Old-age pension only - People who receive the statutory pension, occupational pension or personal pension and do not receive the disability pension or other periodic disability benefits (PENSTYP1 = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and PENSTYP2 = 2)
• Disability pension or other periodic disability benefits only - People who do not receive an old-age pension and receive the disability pension or other periodic disability benefits (PENSTYP1 = 8 and PENSTYP2 = 1)
• Old-age and disability pension or other periodic disability benefits - People who receive both old-age pension and the disability pension or other periodic disability benefits (PENSTYP1 = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and PENSTYP2 = 1)
• Any pension - People who receive at least one type of pension (old-age pension or/and disability pension or other periodic disability benefits) (PENSTYP1 = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 or PENSTYP2 = 1)
• None - People who do not receive any type of pension (PENSTYP1 = 8 and PENSTYP2 = 2)

Table lfso_23pens02: Persons receiving an old-age pension by type

• Statutory old-age pension only - People who receive only statutory pension without occupational or personal pension (PENSTYP1 = 1)
• Statutory old-age pension and occupational and/or personal pension - People who receive statutory pension with occupational and/or personal pension (PENSTYP1 = 2,3,4)
• Occupational and/or personal pension only - People who receive occupational and/or personal pension without statutory pension (PENSTYP1 = 5,6,7)

Persons aged 50-74, living in private households.

Persons aged 50–74, living in private households.

• 27 EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden
• 3 EFTA countries: Iceland, Norway and Switzerland

The module coverage is from the first to the fourth quarter as required in the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2240 (article 5): ‘The eight-yearly variables shall be transmitted for one sub-sample of independent observations that refer to all weeks of the reference year’.   

Not applicable.

In 2021, the new Regulation (EU) 2019/1700, also called the Integrated European Social Statistics Framework Regulation (IESS FR), entered into force. It defines the regular data sets and the ad hoc subjects. This Regulation set out provisions for the design, characteristics and decision-making process of the survey. Technical aspects related to the module can also be found in the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1642, such as the time coverage, the target population, and other data transmission specifications. Moreover, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/256 establishes a multiannual rolling planning and lists the topics to be collected from 2021 to 2028 for the eight-yearly variables and ad hoc subjects.

No mandate for international data sharing.

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

EU-LFS data for modules are released after the end of the reference period once data processing and validation are completed.

Not applicable.

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

Module results are presented in a news article.

2 Statistics Explained articles:

• Pensions and labour market participation - main characteristics
• Working life characteristics and the transition to retirement

Please consult free data online or contact ESTAT-LFS-USER-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu

Eurostat also produces tailor-made tables not available online at the request of users (please refer to User support) or send an email to ESTAT-LFS-user-support@ec.europa.eu.

EU-LFS anonymized microdata are available for research purposes. Please consult access to microdata.

Not applicable.

For information on the EU-LFS modules, please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) – modules.

The EU-LFS also disseminates publications on the methodology of the survey. For more information, please consult: Quality reports and methodological publications

Please consult the evaluation report at EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - modules.

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

The Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/256 establishes a multiannual rolling planning and lists the topics to be collected from 2021 to 2028 for the eight-yearly variables and ad hoc subjects.

EU-LFS results are used mainly by the DG Employment and a number of other Directorates of the Commission for measurement and monitoring of policy agendas purposes. Key users include National Statistics Institutes (NSIs), international organisations, news agencies and researchers, which use various aspects of EU-LFS data for international or intra-EU comparisons. Finally, EU-LFS data are used by Eurostat for compiling detailed regional indicators, for estimates on current education and education levels, higher education and research, and for accurate estimates of labour input of national accounts.

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

Please refer to the ESMS page on 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)' (see link below in section 'Related metadata').

For the sample size per country see the evaluation report at EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - modules.

For non-sampling indicators per country, see the evaluation report at EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) – modules.

The deadline for data transmissions to Eurostat was 31 March 2024.

All countries deliver data on time. Initial validation of the data sets was finished in Spring 2024, with the subsequent revision round finishing in Summer 2024.

Ireland, the Netherland, Sweden and Norway do not have system of bonus or reduction of statutory pension, consequently the variable STATRECE was not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Published estimates stemming from the EU-LFS are considered fully internally coherent since arithmetic and accounting identities in the production of EU-LFS datasets are observed.

To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy, the following revision policy has been established for EU-LFS revision policy.

The policy is presented in “EU-LFS data submission and validation manual”, a document providing rules for data transmission to the data providers (the NSIs).

EU-LFS data for modules, once released, are not usually revised unless major errors are identified in the data delivered or in their processing. Exceptional revisions may happen.

The source of the data is the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). The EU-LFS is a rotating random sample survey of persons in private households. The Regulation (EU) 2019/1700, also called the Integrated European Social Statistics Framework Regulation (IESS FR), and its Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2240 for the labour force domain provide a precise description of the survey content (module and submodules of the questionnaire).

The main characteristics of the new EU-LFS methodology based on the revised Regulation are available in the article: EU labour force survey - methodology

Data collection is quarterly.

The data is acquired by interviewing the sampled individuals directly. For the sample design and rotation patterns applied in each country, please consult the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.

Prior to the dissemination of national data, EU-LFS results are validated by the Member States and checked for plausibility by Eurostat.

Aggregate figures are calculated by adding up all the national data series. 

All of the Eurobase tables present percentages of the reference population total. The calculation of percentages is based on a total excluding the number of people classified in the non-response category. As such, all exhaustive breakdowns presented in the tables should amount to 100 % (allowing for rounding errors).

No adjustments.