Living conditions
Statistical activity code: 40205
Number of households by structure, county, socio-economic situation of the household, size of the household, kind of dwelling, time of completion of the dwelling, number of rooms per household member, condition of the dwelling, heating facility, useful floor area per household member, availability of running water, sewerage, lavatory, hot running water, washing facilities, distance to the nearest centers, possession of durable goods, possession of savings | |
Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK) Estonian Classification of Economic Activities (EMTAK 2008) based on NACE Rev. 2 International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 08) International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011) Classification of Ethnicities International Standard Codes for the Representation of the Names of Countries (ISO 3166) Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages (ISO 639-2) | |
Households | |
Adult – a household member aged 18 or more (as of the day of the interview) or a household member who has a partner or children in the household. Adult and child(ren) – a household consisting of one adult and at least one child aged 0–17. Child – a household member aged 0–17 (as of the day of the interview), who does not have a partner or children in the household. Consumption expenditure – monetary and non-monetary expenditure per household member that is connected with consumption. Consumption expenditures are divided by purpose according to the classification of consumption (COICOP-HBS) developed by Eurostat. Couple aged 65 and over without children – a household consisting of two members – two adults, who are legally married or cohabiting, both aged 65 or more. Couple with minor and adult children – a household consisting of two adults, who are legally married or cohabiting, at least one child aged 0–17 and at least one child aged 18 or over. Couple with one child – a household consisting of two adults and one child aged 0–17. Couple without children, at least one partner is aged under 65 – a household consisting of two members – two adults, who are legally married or cohabiting, at least one of them aged 64 or less. Couple with three or more children – a household consisting of two adults, who are legally married or cohabiting, and at least three children aged 0–17. Couple with two children – a household consisting of two adults, who are legally married or cohabiting, and two children aged 0–17. Expenditure decile – the variation line of households divided into ten equal parts. Division points are called decile points and the parts of variation line between them are called decile intervals or deciles. Households whose expenditure is smaller than the first expenditure decile point belong to the first expenditure decile interval, and those whose expenditure exceeds the ninth expenditure decile point belong to the tenth expenditure decile interval, i.e. the extreme expenditure decile intervals are practically open (with one final point). Expenditures (outgoing) – main indicators of the Household Budget Survey. These expenditures are divided into two: consumption expenditure and other expenditure. Mortgage payments, real estate purchases, financial investments, expenses on major repairs or construction and other investments are not taken into account here. Expenditure quintile – the variation line of households divided into five equal parts. Division points are called quintile points and the parts of variation line between them are called quintile intervals or quintiles. Households whose expenditure is smaller than the first expenditure quintile point belong to the first expenditure quintile interval and, those whose expenditure exceeds the fourth expenditure quintile point belong to the fifth expenditure quintile interval, i.e. the extreme expenditure quintile intervals are practically open (with one final point). Head of the household – the household member with the largest long-term contribution to the household’s income. Household – a group of people who live in a common main dwelling (at the same address) and share joint financial and/or food resources and whose members consider themselves to be one household. Household can also consist of one member only. Income quintile – the variation line of households (or members of households) divided into five equal parts. Division points are called quintile points and the parts of variation line between them are called quintile intervals or quintiles. Households whose income is smaller than the first income quintile point belong into the first income quintile interval, and those whose income exceeds the fourth income quintile point belong to the fifth income quintile interval, i.e. the extreme income quintile intervals are practically open (with one final point). Household with children – a household where there is at least one child aged 0–17. Household without children – a household where there are no children aged 0–17. Main dwelling – the dwelling where a person spends/has spent, during a longer period, - most of the year, - most of the time free from work/studies. Main dwelling of a legally married or cohabiting person is the dwelling where he/she spends most of the time spent with his/her partner or/and children. Non-monetary consumption – consumption of non-monetary income and other expenditure converted into monetary value. Other expenditure – expenditure on donations, monetary gifts, alimonies paid out of household, fines, etc. Other household with children – a household, where there is at least one child aged 0–17, which does not fall under any of the above-mentioned groups. Other household without children – a household, where there are no children aged 0–17, which does not fall under any of the above-mentioned groups. Other inactive household – a household, where there are no working members aged 15 or more and which does not fall under unemployed household or retired household. Retired household – a non-working and non-unemployed household with at least one non-working old-age pensioner. Rural settlement – a small town or a village. Savings – deposits, endowment insurances, stocks and other savings. Single person aged under 65 – a household consisting of one person aged 64 or less. Single person aged 65 or more – a household consisting of one person aged 65 or more. Social-economic status – a usual or current main status of a person according to the person’s own opinion (employed, unemployed, retired, student, etc.). Unemployed household – a non-working household with at least one unemployed member aged 15 or more (i.e. who is not working, is looking for a job and is prepared to start working within two weeks). Urban settlement – a city, a city without municipal status and town. Working household – a household with at least one working member aged 15 or more. | |
Person Household | |
Households whose usual place of residence is in Estonia, and the members of these households, excluding persons living in institutions (children’s homes, care homes, monasteries, convents, etc.) FRAME The list of permanent residents of Estonia based on the 2011 Population and Housing Census and the population register | |
Estonia as a whole Regional units (Northern Estonia, Central Estonia, North-Eastern Estonia, Western Estonia, Southern Estonia) Urban and rural settlements | |
2004–… | |
Not applicable |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 32, § 34, § 35, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. | |
The dissemination of data collected for the production of official statistics is based on the requirements laid down in §§ 34 and 35 of the Official Statistics Act. The principles for treatment of confidential data can be found here. |
Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month). | |
All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8:00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar. |
Not published | |
Not published | |
Data are published in the statistical database at https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat in the tables of the subject area „Social life / Households / Household living conditions / Dwellings“, in the tables of the subject area „Social life / Households / Household living conditions / Households by place of residence“, in the tables of the subject area „Social life / Households / Household living conditions / Households by structure“ and under the subject area „Social life / Households / Household budget / Annual expenditure“ in the following table: LE27: Estimated subsistence minimum, minimum estimated food basket and non-food expenditures per 30 days for one person household. The source for tables LER31, LER32 and LER33 is the Estonian Social Survey. The source for other tables is the Household Budget Survey. After 2007, data in tables LER22, LER23 and LER25 are not updated. Table LE25 on the estimated subsistence minimum includes data for years 1998–2004 and table LE24 for years 2004–2009. | |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes. | |
Data serve as input for statistical activity 50101 “Regional development”. | |
Estimated subsistence minimum. Methodology | |
Data on the quality of the population, sample and respondents are published in the Statistical Database. |
To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the EFQM Excellence Model, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF). Statistics Estonia is also guided by the requirements in § 7. “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics” of the Official Statistics Act. | |
Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions. |
Ministry of Social Affairs | |
Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted reputation and user satisfaction surveys. All results are available on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section User surveys. | |
The living conditions for households are published only for private households. There is no statistics on institutional households based on social surveys. |
The accuracy of source data is monitored by assessing the methodological soundness of data sources and the adherence to the methodological recommendations. The type of survey and the data collection methods ensure sufficient coverage and timeliness. | |
Not applicable | |
There is under-coverage of persons (and households) in the population register. Measurement errors may be caused by the questionnaire (the wording of the questions; questionnaire structure), the respondents, the interviewers and the data collection method. Although it is not possible to avoid all such measurement errors in social surveys, Statistics Estonia has tried to limit the amount of these errors as much as possible. |
The Household Budget Survey collects data according to the classification COICOP-HBS developed by Eurostat. The data for Estonia are comparable with the data for countries that use the same classification. | |
The Household Budget Survey was started in 1995 as a household income and expenditure survey (LSKU). Interview and diary methods were used. First, a questionnaire was filled about the participating households. The income, taxes and expenditure diary and the food expenditure diary were kept by the households for a period of one month. All participating households were interviewed several times; the household was included in the sample every three months. In 2000, the survey was updated – the sampling design changed, new questions were added to the questionnaire, a follow-up interview was added. In 2008 and 2009, the survey did not take place. In 2010, the survey was updated – the sampling design changed, the number of questionnaires and diaries was reduced (only one household questionnaire and one diary, to be kept by the household for two weeks, remained). Retrospective questions regarding major purchases during the preceding 12 months as well as questions about housing costs in the previous month were added to the questionnaire. In 2004, Statistics Estonia launched the Estonian social survey general survey, which was preceded by pilot surveys in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The first longitudinal data were compiled in 2008 when the first panel of households exited the survey after having participated for four years. | |
The consumption expenditure and living conditions of households are closely related to other statistics in this field. Coherence problems should be taken into account when comparing data relating to similar variables from other sources - Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, the Estonian Social Survey (ESS) and national accounts. | |
The internal consistency of the data is ensured by the use of a common methodology for data collection and data aggregation. |
The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described in the section Principles of dissemination of official statistics of the website of Statistics Estonia. | |
The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available. |
SURVEY DATA Not used ADMINISTRATIVE DATA Data on percentage of loss of capacity for work (20, 30, etc. up to 100) and on degree of disability (moderate, severe, profound) are received from the Social Insurance Board. DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES Data from statistical activity 40003 “Estonian Social Survey” and 40203 “Household Budget Survey” are used. | |
Annual Quarterly | |
All households living permanently in Estonia are considered as the survey population. Persons living in institutional households (children’s homes, care homes, convents) are excluded. All published estimates have been calculated for the total population of a respective region. The size of respective populations has been determined on the basis of the estimated total population provided by Statistics Estonia. The sample is taken from all permanent residents of Estonia at least 15 years of age, except those who have been in institutions for a long time (at least one year). A permanent resident is a person who has stayed in Estonia or intends to stay here for at least one year. The sample is taken by systematic selection from the population register. The sample includes more than 7,000 households per year. The data are collected with statistical activities 40003 “Estonian Social Survey” and 40203 “Household Budget Survey”. Data from Social Insurance Board are received via an FTP-server. | |
Before data dissemination, the internal coherence of the data is checked. | |
In the case of missing or unreliable data, estimate imputation based on established regulations is used. Variables and statistical units which were not collected but which are necessary for producing the output are calculated. New variables are calculated by applying arithmetic conversion to already existing variables. This may be done repeatedly, the derived variable may, in turn, be based on previously derived new variables. Microdata are aggregated to the level necessary for analysis. This includes aggregating the data according to the classification, and calculating various statistical measures, e.g. average, median, dispersion, etc. The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional indicators. The estimated subsistence minimum is adjusted annually with the consumer price index. Read more about the subsistence minimum: Estimated subsistence minimum. Methodology. | |
Not applied |