Comparability of EU-SILC survey and register data: The relationship among employment, earnings and poverty

The Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) provide an up-to-date data source for the comparative analysis of income, material deprivation and poverty. At the European Union (EU) level, these data have become a standard source for social reporting. Yet the specific approaches to data collection in EU-SILC vary widely from one country to the next. One of the major differences is that some countries rely entirely on household surveys, while others also use administrative or ‘register’ data for a wide range of variables. This article addresses the question of how the relationship among employment, earnings and poverty changes when different approaches to data collection are used. The article shows the impact on substantial results: here, on the percentages of working and non-working poor. Since crucial questions of EU social policy rest on these data, it is an important finding that some results are most likely driven by different approaches to data collection.