Conferences

Different cultures and states use their national definition of ‘private household’. In the EU nearly each country has an own definition of household. These definitions correspond to the cultural and national structures of social life. The differences result in diverse household compositions and unequal sizes across European nations. Comparing household measures over countries survey analysts face several inconveniences.

The composition of the surveyed household has direct impact on the respondents answer about the household size. Therefore an effect on total net household income is visible. The composition of the private household plays a role with regard to household income since the latter can vary considerably depending on the number of persons who contribute to it and the composition of household income sources in question.

Different membership rules constitute also differences in the socio economic status of the individual household members when the person in the private household with the highest status determines the status of the group as a whole.
With regard to the sociological variables “total household income” and “SES”, the composition of the household and, therefore, the definition by means of which this composition is determined, is of central importance. In a first step we summarize definitions of household used in national surveys across Europe. Same dwelling, sharing economic resources, common housekeeping and family ties are the main and mostly used criteria. In a second step we discuss the possible combinations of these elements and the strategies of operationalization in social surveys. The third part illustrates the findings. We use ESS, ECHP and administrative micro data from official statistics. The country differences become obvious.

Our conclusion is a revised fieldwork instrument measuring household in social surveys that increases data comparability across cultures and countries. However, harmonization cannot mean that the respondents from all participant cultures must adopt the definition used by one selected culture. Because, even in a national context, it is likely that, in the case of a tacitly understood private household concept, researchers, interviewers and respondents nonetheless have different definitions and, accordingly, different perceptions of household composition. Indeed, even among respondents, there is probably no consensus as to what the term “private household” means.