Data

European Social Survey (ESS)

The ESS is an academically driven cross-national survey that has been conducted across Europe since its establishment in 2001. Every two years, interviews are conducted with newly selected, cross-sectional samples. The survey measures the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns in more than thirty nations. In 2018/19, the ESS collected survey data on justice and fairness with the aim of investigating how people feel that they are coping with increasing economic and educational inequalities. The ESS data is available free of charge for non-commercial use and can be downloaded from the ESS Data Portal.

International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)

The ISSP is a cross-national collaboration programme conducting annual surveys on diverse topics relevant to social sciences. Every year, interviews are conducted with newly selected, cross-sectional samples. ISSP modules specialising in social inequality were conducted in 1987, 1992, 1999, 2009, and 2019. The ISSP data is available free of charge for non-commercial use and can be downloaded from the ISSP Data Portal of GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences.

Coming soon

Comparative Welfare Entitlements Project (CWEP)

The CWEP is an academically led, cross-national dataset that systematically documents the structure and generosity of social insurance benefits. The project is directed by Lyle A. Scruggs (University of Connecticut) and coordinated by Gabriela Ramalho Tafoya (Manchester University). CWEP is designed to complement program spending data by offering quantitative indicators on income replacement rates of cash benefits, eligibility criteria, and program coverage for unemployment and sickness insurance benefits, as well as for standard and minimum pensions. Replacement rates are available for ten household types. The dataset includes 33 countries and spans the period from the early 1970s onwards. CWEP represents a substantial update and extension of two Comparative Welfare Entitlements Datasets (CWED and CWED2). CWED data is available free of charge for non-commercial use and can be downloaded after registration from the CWEP Data Portal.

Comparative Welfare States Data Set (CWS)

The CWS dataset is an academically-led, cross-national dataset compiled by David Brady (University of Southern California), Evelyne Huber, and John D. Stephens (both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). The dataset provides a broad set of quantitative indicators drawn from academic and non-academic sources on earnings and income distributions and welfare state institutions, including measures of expenditure, coverage, and generosity across policy areas such as old-age benefits, incapacity and survivor benefits, healthcare, and unemployment protection. These indicators are complemented by information on education, labour force characteristics and labour market institutions, as well as demographic, macroeconomic, and political variables. The data covers 22 OECD countries over the period 1960 to 2018. The CWS 2020 dataset represents a substantial update and extension of the earlier CWS 2004 dataset. The CWS data is available free of charge and can be downloaded from the author’s joint Data Portal.

Pension Maps: Visualising the Institutional Structure of Old Age Security

Pension Maps is an academically led research project that provides a systematic, cross-national overview of the institutional structure of national old age security systems in Europe and beyond. The project is directed by Simone Schneider and Ulrich Becker at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy. Pension Maps complements quantitative social policy datasets by offering standardized visualisations of old age security systems, classifying schemes according to their legal form and function, rights of access and legal form of affiliation, modes and sources of financing, and the use of means testing. Visual representations are complemented by detailed legal documentation on each pension scheme, including information on coverage, financing arrangements, administrative responsibility, qualifying conditions, and benefit calculation rules. Pension Maps covers 29 countries and reflects the status quo as of January 2020. All visualisations and accompanying legal information are available free of charge via the Pension Maps Data Portal and as downloadable report from the Institute’s website.

The Mutual Information System on Social Protection (MISSOC)

MISSOC is an EU-coordinated information system that provides systematically organised and regularly updated information on national social protection systems in Europe. The system is coordinated by the European Commission in close cooperation with national correspondents. Through harmonised comparative tables, MISSOC offers detailed and comparable legal information on social protection across 12 policy areas, including financing, sickness, maternity and paternity, invalidity, old-age, survivors, employment injuries and occupational diseases, family benefits, unemployment, guaranteed minimum resources, and long-term care. In addition, MISSOC provides organisational charts and concise descriptions of the overall social protection structure in each country, and includes dedicated modules documenting the main social protection arrangements for the self-employed. The database covers 31 countries – the 27 EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland – and is updated twice yearly (January and July). Historical information is available for many countries dating back to 1998 accessible via an online archive. Comparative tables and related documentation are available free of charge and can be downloaded from the MISSOC’s Data Portal.