Material deprivation (EU-SILC survey)

Material deprivation is defined as circumstances denying households’ access to certain material goods. These circumstances are lack of money, unsatisfactory housing conditions and enforced refusal from use of durables. Data are collected additionally to monetary poverty and income inequality indicators, with an aim to estimate poverty and social exclusion more comprehensively.

Material deprivation indicators are available at household level and individual level. To improve comparability of the data with other European Union (EU) Member States and information published by the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat), indicators are published also at individual level in compliance with the Eurostat methodology.

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The basic unit of EU-SILC survey is persons living in private households. Survey does not include collective households (old peoples’ homes, boarding schools for disabled children, student hostels, hotels, barracks, hospitals, sanatoriums, prisons, etc.).

During the survey information was obtained on whole household as well as on each household member aged 16 and over. Households belonging to longitudinal section are surveyed for several years (maximum 4 years). In Latvia four-year rotation panel is used and all household members, who in the first survey year were at age of at least 14, are sample respondents.

EU data on Eurostat website Section: Income and living conditions / Income distribution and monetary poverty

Important to know

CSB publishes monetary poverty and income inequality indicators with a reference to the year when the income was actually received, while Eurostat uses a reference to the year when the survey was conducted. For example, monetary poverty and income inequality data of 2016 in the Eurostat database are published with the reference to 2017.

Material deprivation data are acquired with the help of Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). One of the main study objects of the EU-SILC is annual income of a household – their composition and level.

In order to acquire information four questionnaires were developed: Household Register, Household Questionnaire Form and Individual Questionnaire Form. Each questionnaire has its own aim and information in each questionnaire does not overlap with information in other forms. Fourth form is a module questionnaire that each year aims at researching different theme.

Household Register is questionnaire, which includes general information on each household member. It is mainly demographic information on persons living in the household, as well as on those persons, who have left the household.

Household Questionnaire Form includes questions concerning the household generally. It includes following questions: housing and housing conditions, housing costs, economic situation of the household, total household income, inter-household transfers and agricultural production in household.

Individual Questionnaire Form is filled in on each household member aged 16 and over. It includes questions on employment, income, education and health.

Survey is based also on data of the State Revenue Service on natural persons/taxpayers and State Social Insurance Agency data on state pensions and benefits.

Material deprivation indicators can be viewed both at the level of a household, as well as of persons living in a household. The CSB has previously published these indicators at the household level, but Eurostat – at the personal level. In order to improve data comparability with other EU Member States and data published by Eurostat, hereinafter in this publication data on material deprivation will be published at the personal level, in line with Eurostat methodology. However, to maintain the time series, data on material deprivation will be available on the CSB homepage both at the household level (like before), as well as at the personal level.

EU-SILC data are extrapolated on all private household and household members living in these households. Weighting process includes application of design weights, which are corrected by actual response rate. Additional data are calibrated by population sex and age.