The Dutch Census IPUMS files of 1960, 1971, 2001 and 2011 Eric Schulte Nordholt
Outline Censuses in the UNECE region Characteristics of the Dutch census Conditions facilitating use of administrative sources History of the Dutch census Future census work Current situation Microdata availability Future options: remote access international or perturbed data 2
Censuses in the UNECE region 3
Characteristics of the Dutch census Register-based census is relatively cheap Short production time More socially acceptable than a traditional census All tables are numerically consistent Some missing information in the survey part Dependent on registers (availablility, timeliness) Comparisons over time possible International comparisons possible Census data continuously available 4
Conditions facilitating use of administrative sources Legal base (Statistics Act) Public approval ( Big Brother is watching you ) Cooperation among authorities (mainly government organisations) Comprehensive and reliable register system (administrative versus statistical quality) Unified identification system (preferably unique IDnumbers) 5
History of the Dutch census (1) Traditional censuses till 1971: Ministry of Home Affairs Statistics Netherlands 1829 1849 1869 1889 1909 1930 1960 1839 1859 1879 1899 1920 1947 1971 Unwillingness (non-response), privacy concerns, reduction expenses No more traditional censuses 6
History of the Dutch census (2) Virtual censuses from 1981 onwards: Register-based, survey information added, no census questionnaires 1981 1991 2001 2011 Population Register and surveys No national publication, no internal consistency, hardly any regional results System of Social Statistical Datasets (SSD) European Census Act of 2008 2011 Census published in European Census Hub 7
Future census work Preparing the Census 2021 based on: UNECE recommendations New European implementing regulations Preparatory projects at Statistics Netherlands: Level of education attained (imputing the Educational Attainment File) Methodology (estimating occupation tables) Software Housing variables Population grid squares (legal base, protection of census data) 8
Current situation (1) More information about the Dutch traditional Censuses (including those of 1960 and 1971): http://www.volkstellingen.nl/en/index.html For 1960, 1971 and 2011 the same variables as for 2001 if not available: constructed based on existing variables in census data Variables not internationally harmonised (e.g. sex, age, country of citizenship, marital status, household position, country of birth, household size and economic status) same classification and priority rules as for 2001 9
Current situation (2) Country of citizenship and household size : missing for 1960 Religious denomination (philosophy of life): only for 1960 and 1971 Place of residence one year prior to the census: only for 2001 and 2011 International classifications Level of educational attainment: ISCED Occupation: ISCO Branch of current economic activity: ISIC / NACE 10
Current situation (3) 1960 1971 2001 and 2011 Sex X X X Age X X X Country of citizenship X X Marital status X X X Household position X X X Religious denomination X X Country of birth X X X Household size X X Place of residence one year prior to the census Economic status X X X Level of educational attainment X X X Occupation X X X Branch of current economic activity X X X X 11
Microdata availability One per cent samples for three years (1960, 1971 and 2001) and a 2.5 per cent sample for 2011 IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series): https://international.ipums.org/international/ Weighted to population totals Protected according to Dutch rules for public use files Microdata sets also available via DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services): http://www.dans.knaw.nl/en/ More detailed data for researchers are available via the on-site and remote access facilities (with output checking): https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/our-services/customised-servicesmicrodata/microdata-conducting-your-own-research 12
Future options: remote access international or perturbed data (1) Protected microdata become less popular because of strict rules (limited set of variables and categories, no household information) and small sample sizes (restrictions caused by survey variables) On-site international is too costly for researchers Remote access international: linking national research data centres (with output checking) as described in international projects and in ESTP course on output checking (every autumn in Luxembourg) 13
Future options: remote access international or perturbed data (2) Perturbed data: acceptable risk and still interesting for users? based on EU project on EU-LFS and EU-SILC synthetic microdata? protection by NSIs (to be implemented in m- ARGUS?) more (detailed) microdata available for bonafide users via IPUMS 14