Statistical presentation

Data description

The register-based labour force statistic (RAS) is published annually with the main attachment to the labour market at the end of November for the people resident in Denmark at the time.

In RAS the population can be divided into three main groups:

• Employed persons
• Unemployed persons
• Persons outside the labour force

RAS is published with background information that are attached to either the person or the work place where the person is employed. Information about the person are:

• demographic information (gender, age, ancestry)
• educational information (status of education)

The information about the work place are among others:

• industry
• sector
• workplace address

Since RAS contains unique identification codes for both work place and the person additional information can be connected when needed.

In addition RAS is also used to compile commuting between home and workplace.

Classification system

RAS is compiled according to the international guidelines from ILO (International Labour Organization) for classification of the population’s affiliation to the labour market. The classification is called ICSE (International Classification of Status in Employment). The ILO guidelines is focuses on survey based statistics. The guidelines are therefore operationalized to use for RAS since it is a register-based statistics. The ILO guidelines consist of e.g. a set of rules for prioritizing the main connection to the labour market. The guidelines prescribes that employment has higher priority than unemployment, while unemployment has higher priority than activities outside of the labour force. On the basis of these guidelines the key variable in RAS socioeconomic status is thus formed.

Socioeconomic status

When dividing the population according to its attachment to the labour market a reference period of various length can be used. The reference period can be of longer duration like e.g. a year, where the persons primary activity regarding the labour market in the year determines whether or not the person will be classified as employed. When a longer reference period is used, the group of economically active is named the normally economically active population. Instead of a long period a shorter reference period on e.g. a day or a week can be used. De economically active are in this context named the currently economically active population or the labour force. In RAS a short reference period are used - the last week of November. This point of time is chosen partly because information about wage earner jobs historically has referred to the situation at the end of November, and partly because December is an atypical month from a employment related point of view. The following description is therefore limited to focus on a short period of reference.

Overall the population are divided into three groups:

• Employed persons
• Unemployed persons
• Persons outside the labour force

Employed persons are people who are working at least one hour in the week of reference. The employed are either employees, self-employed or assisting spouses.

Employees consists first of all of persons with a job. That means people who in the reference period are doing paid work for at least an hour. Second of all the group of employees includes persons who are temporarily absent from a job. That means persons who in the reference period are absent (temporarily absent less than 45 days or absent due to sickness, childcare or maternity leave), but have a permanent attachment to an employer.

The socioeconomic status for employees follows a level of ability that is based on the classification of occupation DISCO-08. Employees are thus divided into the groups:

• Employees - managers
• Employees - upper level
• Employees - medium level
• Employees - basic level
• Other employees
• Employees, not specified

The level of ability can be obtained by formal education as well as by training and practice. Information about level of ability for persons employed in central, regional or municipal government are gathered from the wage statistics for respectively the central and municipal sector. Information about private employees are either from the wage statistics for the private sector, or formed by imputation based on among others the highest completed education and the industry where the person is employed.

Self-employed and assisting spouses also consist of persons working at least one hour with pay in the reference period. Besides the group consists of self-employed and assisting spouses who are temporarily absent from the job. Self-employed are persons who owns a personally owned business, which is typically a one man-company or a partnership. Assisting spouses are persons who are getting surplus from the company transferred from the spouse. Assisting spouses with wage agreement are included as employees.

Activated persons who are in supported employment and receive payment (A-income) are also calculated as employed. That is e.g. persons in wage subsidies, flex jobs, sheltered jobs or rehabilitation. Persons, who are working as trainees, are not receiving wages and are therefore not calculated as employed.

The main attachment to the labour market is determined from the international guidelines from ILO (the International Labour Market Organization). The guidelines consist e.g. of a set of rules for prioritizing. These rules determines that employment are prioritized higher than unemployment and other states outside the labour market. Persons who have what is equivalent to one hour of paid work in the reference week, and at the same time have other activities not relating to work (like education or unemployment), are therefore classified as employed.

Employed persons represents together with unemployed persons the economically active population - the labour force.

Unemployed persons include persons who in the reference period are:

• without a job
• available to the labour market
• seeking employment.

Similar to the official unemployment statistics unemployed persons in RAS are calculated as gross unemployed. Gross unemployed consists of activated recipients of unemployment benefits or social assistance, who are considered available for work, and net employed, who are unemployed recipients of unemployment benefits or social assistance considered available for work.

Gross unemployed who are activated in a paid job are calculated as employed in RAS.

Persons outside the labour force consists of various sub groups. A great share of this category is people support supported by social benefits. The larges sub groups are:

• persons receiving disability pension
• persons receiving passive cash benefit - passive meaning not available to the labour market
• persons receiving early retirement pay

If a person is receiving various types of social benefits the type with the most weekly hours are chosen as the primary attachment to the labour market. Besides from these groups persons outside the labour force also includes old-age pensioners; persons enrolled in education; children and youth; and the group "others outside the labour force". This is a residual group of people that can not be places in a socioeconomic category based on the information available in the registers in Statistics Denmark. Others outside the labour force can e.g. be: stay-at-home woman and men; young people financially supported by their parents; persons who at the time of reference are living of undeclared work; dishearten unemployed who have given up on seeking employment and are not registered as unemployed.

Conditions outside the labour force are prioritized based on the certainty about the underlying information, and on the degree of potential attachment to the labour market. The prioritized order is thus:

1. Persons receiving social benefits (persons in subsidized employment without salary; guidance and activities upgrading skills; rehabilitation; unemployment benefits; maternity or sickness absence from unemployment; parental leave; cash benefit; cash benefit for foreigners; partly unemployment; early retirement pay and flex benefit)
2. Persons enrolled in education
3. Children and youth
4. Persons receiving old-age pensions or other pensions
5. Others outside the labour force.

Industrial Classification DB07

The statistic follows the [Danish Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities 2007 DB07 (NACE rev. 2/ISIC rev. 4)]((https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/dokumentation/nomenklaturer/db07).

A conversion into DB07 codes has been made back to 2000.

• In the period Nov. 2003-Nov. 2007 the statistic follows the Danish Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities 2003 (NACE rev. 1.1./ISIC rev. 3.1.)
• In the period Nov. 1992-Nov. 2002 the statistic follows the Danish Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities 1993 (NACE rev. 1/ISIC rev. 3).
• In the period Nov. 1980-Nov. 1992 the statistic follows the Danish Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities DSE77 (ISIC rev. 3).

Sector

The sector information from 2008 onward is based on ESA 2010. In the period from 1995 (Nov. 1994) to 2012, the sector information is based on ESA. Thus, it is possible to create dual reporting for the period 2008–2012.

Municipalities

RAS is published at municipality level in StatBank Danmark. From November 2006 the statistic is published on municipalities as they are after the structural reform which was implemented January 2007. In the period November 1980-November 2006 RAS is published on municipalities as they were before the structural reform. In November 2006 the statistic can both be distributed on municipalities as they were before the structural reform or municipalities as they are after the structural reform. More information on the classification is available at the [home page of Statistics Denmark[(https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/dokumentation/nomenklaturer/nuts).

Sector coverage

The statistic covers all sectors.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Commuting: RAS contains information about residential address and workplace address, and therefore provides the background for calculating commuting between residence and workplace. A commuter is defined by a person who has paid work on an address that differs from the residential address. Thus only persons with differing addresses are included in the calculation of average commuting distance. The commuting distance is calculated as the shortest road distance between the employed persons residential address and workplace address, and the way home is not included. The calculations does not contain information about the frequency of commuting or the means of transport.

Statistical unit

The statistical unit is persons.

Statistical population

The population is the people resident in Denmark at the end of November with information about the primary connection to the labour market.

Reference area

Denmark.

Time coverage

The end of November 1980-

Base period

Not relevant for these statistics.

Unit of measure

Persons.

Reference period

RAS is calculated at the last working day in November - that means November 30 2022 for the last published figures.

Frequency of dissemination

RAS is an annual statistic.

Legal acts and other agreements

§6 in Law about Statistics Denmark.

Cost and burden

RAS is exclusively compiled on the basis of administrative and statistical registers. Therefore there is no response burden.

Comment

More information about RAS can be located on the sites Labour market status (RAS) and Employed persons (RAS).

See description of the main variables related to labor market participation (in Danish only): Befolkningens tilknytning til arbejdsmarkedet (RAS) og Beskæftigede personer (RAS).