Calculations are based on microdata from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), coordinated by Eurofound. The survey aims to represent the population of all residents in a survey country aged 18 or older.
The question considered is question Q38 from the 2016 EQLS survey in the EQLS Integrated Data File, 2003-2016: On average, how often do you have direct face-to-face contact with the following persons living outside your household? 1 Every day or almost every day; 2 At least once a week; 3 Once or twice a month; 4 Several times a year; 5 Less often; 6 (Don't have such relatives).
This question was modified in 2016. In 2016, it asks respondents about contact with a) Any family members or relatives and b) Any of your friends or neighbours. Prior to 2016, option (a) Any family members or relatives), was disaggregated into three separate options: a) Any of your children; b) Your mother or father and c) Any brother, sister or other relative. As a result of this change, data on the aggregate category "Any family members or relatives" are available only for 2016, and data for the categories "Any of your children; "Your mother or father" and "Any brother, sister or other relative" are only available prior to 2016.
For each response category, the indicator is calculated as the percentage of persons who answered the question using this response category out of all respondents who were asked to respond to this question.
The selection of relevant questions from the EQLS surveys to be included in the database was based on the following criteria:
Available flags:
b | break in time series | c | confidential |
d | definition differs, see metadata | e | estimated |
f | forecast | i | see metadata |
m | imputed | n | not significant |
p | provisional | r | revised |
s | Eurostat estimate | u | low reliability |
x | dropped due to insufficient sample size | y | unreliable due to small sample size |
z | not applicable |