Welfare benefits – labour and reception of benefits, 2009-2013

Calculated number of hours of work in year n: The calculation of hours of work is based on the revision of the EE register used in FD-trygd. The revised output only includes persons who have been paid a salary. Persons who have been paid a salary but are not registered in the EE register are not, however, included. This means that only wage earners are included. The FD-trygd version of the EE register contains periods of employment for which employers have registered employees with a start and end date for that period. The number of days in the relevant period of employment is calculated as the number of days from the start to end date. The number of days in employment will thus include weekends, holidays and sick days. This is a measure of the number of days that the person has been employed.

The register also contains information about average hours of work per week in each period of employment. ‘Average’ is defined here as follows: when a person’s hours of work have changed during the period of employment, a weighted average of the hours of work during that period is calculated. The hours of work are defined as the agreed hours of work, which means that overtime etc. is not included in the calculation.

The calculated number of hours of work in the year for the period of employment is calculated as a product of the number of weeks in work in the year of this period of employment and the average number of hours of work for the period of employment in the week.

The calculated number of hours of work in the year for all periods of employment is calculated as a sum of the calculated number of hours of work in the year for all periods of employment the person has had during this year.

In work (in year n): In work in year n means that the calculated number of hours of work in this year is greater than zero, i.e. the person has been employed during the year. Note that ‘in work’ is derived from the calculated number of hours of work as described above, and therefore has the same weaknesses as described there.

Number of years in work: This measures how many of the calendar years in a given period that the person is registered as in work. It is not, therefore, a measure of how many months a person has worked. For example, a person who has been in work for two years in principle may only have worked in December one year and in January the next year, or in March in year n and August in year n+2.

Note: The following limitations apply to variables that use hours of work/in work/number of years in work:

• FD-Trygd employment data does not include self-employed persons, non-employed workers etc., e.g. persons who are only self-employed are not considered to be ‘in work’ in these statistics. For persons who are both wage earners and self-employed, only the wage earning aspect is calculated.  
• Persons on sick leave are considered to be ‘in work’ if they are reported sick from work that is included in FD-Trygd.

100% unemployed jobseekers: This covers all persons who are seeking paid work from NAV, and who have been without such work for the last two weeks and are available to take up work. In addition to 100% unemployed jobseekers, NAV’s statistics on jobseekers also include the following groups: partly unemployed jobseekers, laid off jobseekers, jobseekers on employment measures, as well as other jobseekers.

The tables include 100% unemployed jobseekers (in a given year or a period covering several years), persons registered as 100% unemployed one or several times a year/in the period, even if they are also registered in one of the other jobseeker categories or have been working or received other benefits at other times during the year. 100% unemployed jobseekers include persons who have received unemployment benefit and those who have not received unemployment benefit in the period as a 100% unemployed jobseeker.

Disability benefit (in year n): Includes persons who received disability benefit in year n. The temporary disability benefit that was introduced in 2004 and phased out in March 2010 is not regarded as disability benefit.

Long-term recipients of sickness benefits: Long-term sickness absence/long-term recipients of sickness benefits is defined here as continuous sickness absence of 180 days or more from the start to end date during the period of sickness absence, where the start and end are defined from a continuous period in FD-trygd. Long-term sickness absence is calculated for two separate periods; from year t-5 to year t-1 (the period of sickness absence) and from year t until year t+4 (outcome period). For the period from year t-5 until year t-1 the duration of the sickness absence that started before the start of the period or after the end of the period is also included in the calculation, provided that the start or end date fall within the period and the duration is 180 days or more. For the period from year t until year t+4 the duration before the start of the period is included in the calculation, but not the duration after the end of the period. As a consequence, some long-term sickness absences will count both in the period from year t-5 until year t-1 and in the period from year t until year t+4.

This means, for example, that for the first publishing period, 2006-2010, all cases of sickness absence that start before 31 December 2005 or end after 1 January 2001 with a duration of 180 days or more are counted as long-term sickness absence in the period 2001-2005, and all cases of sickness absence starting before 31 December 2010 or ending after 1 January 2006, or which by 31 December 2010 have lasted 180 days or more, are counted as long-term sickness absence in the period 2006-2010. Cases of sickness absence of 180 days or more that occur over the new year 2005/2006 will be counted both in the sickness absence period and in the outcome period (see population for the sub-area long-term sickness absence above).

Qualification benefit: The recipients of qualification benefit are participants of a full-time qualification programme. The recipients are usually persons who have been dependent on social assistance for a longer time period and have had their capacity for work evaluated. The benefit is given for one year, with the possibility for a 1-year extension.

Number of years on social assistance: The number of calendar years in the period a person received social assistance, regardless of the amount received.

Graded disability benefit: Persons who are not considered to have a 100% disability may be entitled to a graded disability benefit if they have a disability of at least 20 per cent.

Work assessment allowance (WAA): A relatively new temporary benefit introduced on 1 March 2010, which replaces the old benefits: temporary disability benefit, vocational rehabilitation allowance and rehabilitation grant. WAA can in principle be paid to a recipient for up to 4 years, with a possible extension in certain cases.

Rehabilitation benefits: Used in these statistics as a collective term for the three previous benefits: temporary disability benefit, vocational rehabilitation allowance and rehabilitation grant (as per 1 March 2010). The term is most often used in conjunction with WAA, e.g. as WAA (and/or rehabilitation benefits) when the statistics cover the period both before and after 1 March 2010. 

Social assistance:

Long-term receipt (long period, long-term recipient): 6 months or more of continuous receipt of social assistance regardless of the calendar year.

Short-term receipt: less than 6 months of continuous receipt of social assistance regardless of the calendar year.

Attachment to the labour market (disability benefit):Attachment to the labour market is defined here as a combination of different statuses, such as ‘100% unemployed jobseekers’ and ‘in work’ (see above for a definition of both) in year n before admission to disability benefit, where n is t-5, t-4, t-3, t-2 and t-1. For the first publishing period, this means combinations in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 for admissions in 2010. The attachment to the labour market is measured using four categories to describe the different positions on the labour market:

Labour and social security receipt (social assistance): The purpose of this variable is to show the attachment to the labour market. The variable has the following categories in order of priority:

1. Disability benefit in year t+4 (i.e.: last year in the publishing period; 2010 for the publishing period 2006-2010 and 2013 for the publishing period 2009-2013). Persons receiving disability benefit in year t+4 regardless of whether they were in work or receiving other benefits. 
2. Long-term recipients of social assistance in year t+4. Persons who in year t+4 did not receive disability benefits, but had a long period (6 months or more) of receiving social assistance.
3. In work in year t+4. Persons who in year t+4 did not receive disability benefits and were not long-term recipients of social assistance, but had work (as per the definition of ‘in work’ above). This is divided into three prioritised sub-categories:

• Persons who did not receive WAA (and/or rehabilitation benefits) and had calculated hours of work of at least 950 hours
• Persons who did not receive WAA (and/or rehabilitation benefits) and had calculated hours of work of less than 950 hours
• Persons who received WAA (and/or rehabilitation benefits) and were in work in year t+4
• Persons who did not receive disability benefit, were not long-term recipients of social assistance and were not in labour in year t+4 are grouped in the following categories:

1. In education. This is persons who according to the education register were in education in the last year of the period, i.e. in October of year t+4.
2. 100% unemployed jobseekers. Applies to persons who were not in education.
3. Recipients of WAA in t+4 and not in education and not 100% unemployed jobseekers in t+4.
4. The remainder consists of persons who do not fall into any of the categories above.

Long-term recipients of sickness benefit in the period with sick pay after attachment to the labour market in the outcome period (year t until year t+4): Based on definitions of hours of work/in work/number of years (see above)

1. Not in work in any of the years: the person is not registered as in work for any of the years in the outcome period (year t until year t+4).
2. Work in 1 year: the person is registered as in work in one of the years in the outcome period (year t until year t+4), regardless of calculated hours of work. The person was not in work in the four other years.  
3. Work in 2-4 years: the person is registered as in work in two, three or four of the years in the outcome period (year t until year t+4), regardless of calculated hours of work, and during the same period has registered one year without work.
4. Work in all the years, less than 950 hours in at least 1 year: the person is registered as in work in all the years in the outcome period (year t until year t+4). In at least one of the years the person had calculated hours of work of less than 950 hours, regardless of calculated hours of work the four other years provided that it is more than 0 hours.
5. Work in all the years, at least 950 hours in 5 years: the person is registered as in work in all years in the outcome period (year t until year t+4), with calculated hours of work of 950 hours or more in all years. The person must not have calculated hours of work of 1 950 hours in more than four of the years (i.e. not all the years in the outcome period), see next category.
6. Work in all the years, at least 1 950 hours in 5 years: the person is registered as in work in all the years of the outcome period (year t until year t+4), with calculated hours of work of 1 950 hours or more in all the years. Corresponds to what is called ‘permanent full-time job’ which presents the statistics.

Long-term recipients of sickness benefit during the sickness benefit period, after receipt of benefits/in work after the sickness benefit period:

1. In work in year t+4: See definition of in work. The person is registered as in work in the last year of the outcome period.   
2. WAA and/or rehabilitation benefits in year t+4: the person received WAA or rehabilitation benefits during the last year of the outcome period.
3. Disability benefit in year t+4: the person received disability benefit during the last year of the outcome period.  
4. Long-term recipients of sickness benefit year t until year t+4: the person has had at least one long-term sickness absence, defined as continuous sickness absence of 180 days or more from the start to end date during the outcome period from year t until year t+4. Note that the duration before the start of the period is included here, but not the duration after the end of the period.                                                                             

Exit from WAA: The variable has the following categories:

• Stopped after year t    - did not receive WAA in any of the years from t+1 to t+4
• Stopped after year t+1            - did not receive WAA in any of the years from t+2 to t+4
• Stopped after year t+2            - did not receive WAA in any of the years from t+3 to t+4
• Stopped after year t+3            - did not receive WAA in year t+4
• Stopped in year t+4 - received WAA in year t+4, but not as per December in year t+4
• Received WAA in December in year t+4 – still receiving WAA as per December in year t+4
• Stopped and started WAA – received WAA in two non-successive years, with a break in between of at least one calendar year.

Note that for the categories ‘stopped after year n’ the person can also have had a break in the receipt of WAA, but in this case the break must not have lasted over a whole calendar year (but it can have lasted 12 successive months distributed over a new year).

For example, for the period 2010-2014, persons who ‘stopped WAA after 2012’ can have had a break lasting some months in 2010, 2011 or 2012, but the break must not cover a whole calendar year, and the person must not have received WAA in 2013 or 2014.

New admissions and transfers from rehabilitation benefit (WAA): Those who are transferred from old schemes are persons who before 1 March 2010 received a rehabilitation grant, the old temporary disability benefit or a vocational rehabilitation allowance, and who were transferred directly to the new WAA scheme from 1 March 2010. New admissions are persons who received WAA after 1 March 2010, but who did not come directly from one of the discontinued schemes. The difference between direct transfers from old schemes and new recipients is explained in NAV’s definition of persons who were transferred from old schemes to WAA.

Duration of receipt (WAA): The number of months of receipt of WAA in a given period. Receipt of the previous rehabilitation benefits (see definition above) is not included. For those who stopped receiving the benefit in 2010, the most months with WAA is 10.

Activity in year n (WAA): This variable gives the percentages that in a given calendar year have been in work for 950 hours or more, in work for less than 950 hours, are 100% unemployed jobseekers, recipients of disability benefit, recipients of social assistance or are long-term recipients of sickness benefit in a specific year. Each status is independent of the other, so a person can be counted as having more than one status at a time (e.g. in a calendar year a person can have been in work for less than 950 hours and been in receipt of disability benefit).

Labour participation/activity priority in year n (WAA): A prioritised combination of work and benefit/benefits. The activities are set up according to the following prioritising for persons’ activity during a given calendar year (e.g. the person is counted in the first activity that applies to them).  

1. Persons who had 950 hours of work or more.
2. Persons who had less than 950 hours of work.
3. Persons who were 100% unemployed jobseekers.
4. Persons who received disability benefit.
5. Persons who received old-age benefit or AFP (early retirement benefit).
6. Persons who received social assistance (independent of duration and amount).
7. Remainder; persons who do not fall under any of the groups above.

Not relevant