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 module 'Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants' aimed at comparing the situation on the labour market for people born abroad, their descendants and people born in the reporting country, and further to analyse the factors affecting the integration in and adaptation to the labour market.

The EU-LFS module 2021 on ‘labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants’ includes 11 variables.

• HATCNT: Country where the highest level of education was successfully completed;
• ESTQUAL: Recognition of formal qualifications obtained abroad;
• HATPAR: Educational attainment level of the respondent’s parents;
• JOBSATISF: Job satisfaction;
• SKILLEQ: Skill equivalence new main and old main job;
• DISCRIMI: Feeling of being discriminated against at work in the current job;
• JOBOBSTA: Main obstacle to getting a suitable job;
• DURFIJOB: Time required to find the first paid job in the host country;
• PRKNLANG: Skills in the main host country language before migrating;
• LANGHOST: Current skills in the main host country language;
• LANGCOUR: Participation in course for the main host country language.

Although the module name refers to the migrants, the related dissemination products use the terminology 'people born abroad' and 'people born in the reporting country'. The rationale is that the target population is mostly filtered on the country of birth, the reference population corresponding therefore to the foreign-born/native-born concepts. 

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 of the 2021 module on the 'Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants'

The 2021 LFS module includes persons aged 15-74. This group will be referred to as the target population of the survey. Some of the variables in the survey were limited further, thus dealing with sub-groups of the target population (e.g. foreign country where the highest education level was completed, country of birth, etc.).

Online tables.

Education and skills (lfso_21educ):          

• Population by country where the highest level of education was successfully completed, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21educ01).
• Population with the highest level of education obtained abroad by application for formal recognition of the education in the host country, sex, age, country of educational attainment level and country of birth (lfso_21educ02).              
• Population with the highest level of education obtained abroad by outcome of applying for recognition of the education in the host country, sex, age, educational attainment level and country of educational attainment level (lfso_21educ03).   
• Population with the highest level of education obtained abroad by reason for not applying for recognition of the education in the host country, sex, age, educational attainment level and country of educational attainment level (lfso_21educ04).            
• Employed foreign-born by change in skill level from last job before migrating to current job, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21educ05).           
• Employed foreign-born by change in skill level from last job before migrating to current job, sex, age, country of birth and professional status (lfso_21educ06).              
• Employed foreign-born by change in skill level from last job before migrating to current job, sex, age and main reason for migrating (lfso_21educ07).    
• Population by educational attainment level of the parents, sex, age, migration status and educational attainment level (lfso_21educ08).          
• Population by educational attainment level of the parents, sex, age, country of birth and labour status (lfso_21educ09).              

Discrimination at work (lfso_21disc)        

• Employment by reason for discrimination in the current job, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21disc01).              
• Employment by reason for discrimination in the current job, sex, age, migration status and professional status (lfso_21disc02).
• Employment by reason for discrimination in the current job, sex, age, citizenship and occupation (lfso_21disc03).
• Employment by reason for discrimination in the current job, sex, age, size of the local unit and economic activity (lfso_21disc04).

Obstacles to getting a suitable job (lfso_21obst)

• Foreign-born population by main obstacle to get a suitable job, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21obst01).             
• Foreign-born population by main obstacle to get a suitable job, sex, age, citizenship and labour status (lfso_21obst02).               
• Foreign-born population by main obstacle to get a suitable job, sex, age, country of birth and main reason for migrating (lfso_21obst03).          
• Foreign-born population by time required to find the first paid job in the host country, sex, age and country of birth (lfso_21obst04).    
• Foreign-born population by time required to find the first paid job in the host country, sex, age and citizenship (lfso_21obst05).               

Language proficiency (lfso_21lang)          

• Foreign-born population by level of skills in the main host country language before migrating, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21lang01).            
• Foreign-born population by level of current skills in the main host country language, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21lang02).            
• Foreign-born population by level of current skills in the main host country language, sex, age, citizenship and labour status (lfso_21lang03).    
• Foreign-born population by participation in a course for the main host country language after migrating, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21lang04).  
• Foreign-born population by reason for not participating in a course for the main host country language after migrating, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21lang05).    

Job satisfaction (lfso_21jsat)      

• Employment by job satisfaction, sex, age, country of birth and educational attainment level (lfso_21jsat01).               
• Employment by job satisfaction, sex, age, size of the local unit and economic activity (lfso_21jsat02).        
• Employment by job satisfaction, sex, age, citizenship and occupation (lfso_21jsat03).       
• Employment by job satisfaction, sex, age, working from home and working time flexibility (lfso_21jsat04).               
• Employment by job satisfaction, sex, age, migration status and professional status (lfso_21jsat05).            
• Employees by job satisfaction, sex, age, supervisory responsibilities and type of employment contract (lfso_21jsat06).

The migration status distinguishes between

• People born in the reporting country, with both parents also born in the reporting country.
• People born in the reporting country, with only one parent born abroad.
• People born in the reporting country, but with both parents born abroad.
• People born abroad

Methodology notes:

The variable migration status is derived from the labour force survey variables country of birth, country of birth of father, and country of birth of mother, for all participating countries.
For more details on the definitions and concepts in the EU-LFS, please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology.

Detailed information on the relevant methodology for the module (including the Commission regulation and explanatory notes) as well as documentation from each participating country (national questionnaires and interviewers instructions) can be found on EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - modules under the section: ‘description of the modules’.

Persons aged 15-74, living in private households.

Persons aged 15 – 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.
• 2 EFTA countries: Norway and Switzerland.

The module coverage is from first to 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 revised Regulation (EU) 2019/1700, also called the Integrated European Social Statistics Framework Regulation (IESS FR) entered in 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) 2019/2240 such as the time coverage, the target population, the sample or 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').

LFS data for modules are released after the end of the reference period once data processing and validation is 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 by a news article, together with several Statistics Explained articles. Additionally, a series of tables is uploaded on Eurostat Database.

So far, 3 Statistics Explained articles have been released:

• Self-perceived discrimination at work - statistics
• Main obstacles for foreign-born people to enter the labour market
• Main characteristics of foreign-born people on the labour market

The evaluation report summarizes the main definitions and findings of the Labour Force Survey ad hoc modules. To access the reports, please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) – modules.

See Eurostat database.

Eurostat also produces tailor-made tables not available online at the request of users (please refer to Eurostat user support) 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 Eurostat 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 2021 Labour Force Survey ad hoc 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 (in the case of this module, mainly DG Home, DG JUST and DG EAC) for measurement and monitoring of policy agendas purposes. Key users include National Statistics Institutes (NSIs), international organisations, news agencies and researchers, which use of various aspects of EU-LFS data for international or intra EU comparisons. Finally, 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 evaluation report at EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - modules.

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

The deadline for data transmissions to Eurostat was 31 March 2022.

Three EU countries and two EFTA countries did not deliver data on time. One EFTA contry is still missing. Initial validation of the data sets was finished in Spring 2022, with the subsequent revision round finishing in September 2022.

For details on comparability see evaluation report at EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - modules.

Not applicable.

The 2014 LFS ad hoc module also covered this topic.

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

These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.

These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.

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 teh questionnaire).

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

Data collection is quarterly or annually.

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, 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.

No adjustments.