0 Administrative Information about the Statistical Product


0.1 Name
Persons who are not in ordinary employment (under revision)

0.2 Subject Area
Labour market

0.3 Responsible Authority, Office, Person, etc.
Labour market
Mikkel Zimmermann, phone + 45 39 17 30 43, e-mail: mzi@dst.dk
Christian Holmbæk, phone + 45 39 17 34 44, e-mail: cho@dst.dk

0.4 Purpose and History
The purpose of the statistics is to show trends in average participation in labour market policy measures.

Based on a report prepared by the activation statistics committee (report no. 1259) the first statistics were compiled as from the first quarter of 1994. The reason for setting up the committee was that the Danish statistics were unable to provide reliable data on the wide variety of municipal activation schemes. The committee's work was performed over the period December 1992 to October 1993.

Since 1994 new measures have been introduced and others have ceased. As from the third quarter of 1999 the number of persons working in flex- and sheltered jobs are published concurrently with the labour market policy measures. Persons participating in activation according to the job integration act were included from the first quarter of 2000. As from the third quarter of 2003, and with effect in the publications as from the first quarter of 2004, a number of changes to the codes/names were undertaken due to a political reform that meant the introduction of new activation schemes, whereas other schemes ceased to exist.

0.5 Users and Application
Users: Municipalities, counties, ministries, organisations and the media.
Fields of application: Public labour market surveillance.

0.6 Sources
The AMFORA statistics are compiled on the basis of personal data from the municipalities, the State Education Grants and Loan Scheme, Register for Labour Market Statistics (RAM register) on recipients of early retirement pay and The labour market policy register (Bestandsstatistikken). Both registers are operated by the National Labour Market Authority.

0.7 Legal Authority to Collect Data
The Act on Statistics Denmark, section 6, as amended (by Act no 15 of January, 12, 1972, by Act no 386 of June, 13, 1990 and most recently by Act no 1025 of December 19, 2000). From the second quarter of 2004 the Danish Ministry of Employment has the legal responsibility for compiling data on labour market policy measures (Sections 48 and 50-53 of the Act on responsibility and management of active employment efforts).

0.8 Response burden
No response burden.

0.9 EU Regulation
No EU regulation.


1 Contents


1.1 Description of Contents
The statistics provide data on trends in the average number of participants analysed by labour market policy measure.

Activation under the act on active labour market policy (persons entitled to claim unemployment benefits), section 16 of the act on active social policy (recipients of cash benefits), sections 21-23 of the job integration act (recipients of introductory allowance), the act on leave (both persons entitled to claim unemployment benefits and recipients of cash benefits), the act on adult education subsidies and the act on labour market education, are regarded as labour market policy measures.

The activities take place within the following main groups: supported employment, leave, education/training, other activation, integration allowance, and retirement. The figure on average number of participants, which is extracted from the AMFORA statistics, is a volume measurement. The figure (except the figures concerning flex- and sheltered jobs) is comparable with the average number of unemployed in the unemployment statistics.

The number of persons, who hold a flex-job (including the 50/50 scheme) and a sheltered job (including the 1/3 scheme), see sections 71 and 75 of the act on active social policy, are compiled concurrently with the labour market policy measures.

1.2 Statistical Concepts
Units and population: Persons (aged 16-66) entitled to claim unemployment benefits, recipients of cash benefits and introductory allowance are covered by the statistics.

Variables: The different respondents give, e.g. information on type of measure, date of commencement and data of cessation for the measure, hours per week in the measure and type of subsidy/placement. Sex and age can be deducted from the CPR number, while information on insurance category, unemployment insurance fund status and nationality is obtained from other registers.

Statistical measurements: The estimated average number of participants analysed by labour market policy measure, sex and age. The total number of participants analysed by policy measure.

Groupings: Type of measure, sector, age, sex, municipality of residence, recipients of cash benefits and persons entitled to claim unemployment benefits. For information on the activities in which the recipients of cash benefits and unemployment benefits are enrolled, please contact the listed contact persons.


2 Time


2.1 Reference Period
The statistics are compiled quarterly and annually and the average number of participants are calculated from the participation degrees of each individual person. The degrees are calculated from the number of days in the period under survey, number of insured hours for part-time insured employees, the normal number of hours per week for non-part-time insured, number of days in which a person has participated in the measure and the number of hours per week in the measure.

The data available at the end of the period under survey is used in allocating unemployment insurance fund, insurance category, number of insured hours, municipality of residence and citizenship. If data is not available at that time, any available data from the beginning of the subsequent period will then be used.

2.2 Date of Publication
The statistics are published quarterly and annually. The quarterly statistics are published 80-90 days after the end of the reference quarter. The annual statistics are published 120-150 days after the end of the reference year.

2.3 Punctuality
The scheduled publication times are generally observed. However, the introduction of a new reporting system and new measures may result in delays.

2.4 Frequency
The statistics are published quarterly and annually.


3 Accuracy


3.1 Overall accuracy
There are no sampling errors as the statistics are compiled from a full-scale census. However, the statistics are based on several data sources, which may provide conflicting information about each individual person. Against this background, it is impossible to avoid statistical errors. Consequently, it is difficult to indicate exactly the scope of statistical errors.

3.2 Sources of inaccuracy
The statistics provide data on participation in a labour market policy measure by recipients of cash benefits and persons entitled to claim unemployment benefits. The statistics cover the population aged 16-66.

Conflicting and erroneous information about each individual person may frequently occur as the statistics are compiled from a variety of data sources (different municipalities etc.)

Examples are a person who is regarded as both a recipient of cash benefits and as a person entitled to claim unemployment benefits, or a person participating in several activation schemes at the same time, which exceed 37 hours per week, or a person participating in the same activation over an unrealistic long period of time. The main reason for these errors is that the respondents fail to update the existing data as soon as new data is available.

Error correction is undertaken by Statistics Denmark on the basis of logical requirements. However, the best possible solution is for error correction to be undertaken by the respondents themselves.

The municipalities report data on persons entitled to claim cash benefits and introductory allowance in various ways, e.g. via KOMMA, BLAISE (which is Statistics Denmark's reporting system), via own systems or on paper. In transmitting data the municipalities have frequently used old versions of Statistics Denmark's reporting system, which has thus resulted in erroneous information. The number of municipalities which report all their data on paper are reduced to close to zero.

In some cases, the transmission of data had by far exceeded the deadline for inclusion in the latest compiled statistics for the reference period in question.

3.3 Measures on accuracy
Figures on statistical errors are not available.


4 Comparability


4.1 Comparability over Time
From the first quarter of 1994 figures on each labour market measure are comparable, while figures on flex- and sheltered jobs are comparable from the third quarter of 1999, and figures of Integration allowance are comparable from the first quarter of 2000. The general comparability is reduced by the many changes in the measures over time.

4.2 Comparability with other Statistics
Strictly comparable statistics are not available, but in the statistics on cash benefits it should be possible to retrieve the changes in the number of persons entitled to claim cash benefits participating in activation.

The quarterly statistics on cash benefits differ from the AMFORA statistics in that they are based on data on expenditures (instead of participants). Furthermore, the statistics on cash benefits contain data on persons who are waiting for an offer of activation.

A measurement of the number of full-time persons, who are out of ordinary work over a given period, is obtained by adding up the number of full-time unemployed in the statistics on unemployment with the number of full-time participants in the labour market policy measures.

4.3 Coherence between provisional and final statistics
Only final figures ar published.


5 Accessibility


5.1 Forms of dissemination
The statistics are published quarterly and yearly in Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik (News from Statistics Denmark) and in Arbejdsmarked (Labour market) appearing in the series 'Statistiske Efterretninger'. This information is also available from Statbank Denmark on the website 'www.statistikbanken.dk'.

Yearly main indicators is available in 'Statistical Yearbook' and 'Statistical ten-year review'.

5.2 Basic material: Storage and usability
For each person participating in activation the primary data provides information on type of measure, date of commencement, date of cessation, hours per week in the measure, type of benefit/placement, etc. Information about unemployment insurance fund, insurance category and number of insured hours is obtained from Statistics Denmark's register of unemployment statistics.

5.3 Documentation
An in-depth description of the labour market policy measures is given in Arbejdsmarked (Labour market) appearing in the series 'Statistiske Efterretninger'.

5.4 Other Information
Other information is not avaible


Supplementary documentation
No supplementary documentation is available