[FR] European Community Household Panel (ECHP)

Full name of the series in original language

Panel européen des ménages

Abstract

At the end of 1993, Eurostat decided to launch a European panel survey. The first wave was conducted in 1994 in the twelve member nations of the Union. First planned for a three years period, the European panel was later extended until 2001, with a total duration of 8 years. Insee is in charge of data collection for France.

The panel was designed in order to provide a single and coherent data collection in the domain of individual and household income, before and after the implementation of the European union market. Income data from the centerpiece of this survey, however the scope is much larger and it is possible to explore possible links between income and other topics such as labor force, education, housing, health and social relations issues. The panel methodology makes it possible to explore the dynamic dimension of these issues (individual changes, exploration of labor-market transitions : from school to work, from employment into retirement, from unemployment into retirement, poverty dynamics, impact of different public policies, impact on income and occupational position of changes in household composition, marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, children's decohabitation, etc.). The first sample for France included 11 000 households. Out of these, 7 344 accepted to be interviewed. We end up with a total of 18 915 respondents, including 14 524 adults aged 17 or over. 14 330 adults accepted to be interviewed. This number was down to 9218 for the 8th wave in 2001.

The French version of the panel includes a number of specific features: the EU questionnaire has been modified and some interviews by phone were conducted between each wave. The French investigation is adjusted to the French legislation concerning social protection. The survey materials content was adapted to the usual mode of questioning, in order to improve the convergence between the panel and other household surveys, by phrasing questions similar to other surveys targeted on specific topics (employment, housing, living conditions...). Moreover, certain parts of the individual questionnaire have been expanded in order to make up for information blanks in existing surveys (household event history analysis, monthly activity grid, unemployment). The investigations between two waves were designed to improve the respondent's capacity to recall particular events easy to erase over a one year period (short unemployment spell, training sessions, partial unemployment, characteristics of job offers received by the unemployed), identify geographical mobility, and reduce panel attrition. These investigations between two waves were difficult to manage. This lead to replace them by a mail contact inviting respondent households to report any change related to household composition or moving out.

Geographic coverage

France

Time method

Longitudinal: Panel

Time period

1994 => 2001

Types of available microdata

Consistency type

Access mode

Update date

15/09/2021