Study title

Labour Force Survey 3rd quarter 2017, additional survey on flexitime As of the 1st quarter of 1972, SSB has conducted official quarterly labour force surveys (AKU). These surveys aim to give the labour force authorities (and other people interested) knowledge of the occupational structure of the population and how it develops over time. The surveys are meant to give a foundation and statistical material for occupational prognoses and labour research. The samples in AKU are from 1992 representative at county level. In the period 1972-1991 they were representative on county pair level. As from January 2006 some major changes were introduced to AKU in order to enhance its comparability to similar surveys in other countries. The changes consist of minor definitional adjustments of unemployment, some adjustments and enlargement of the questionnaire and a change in age definition (age at reference point instead of at the end of the year). Simultaneously the lower age limit to be included in AKU was lowered from 16 to 15 years. This led to some breaks in the time series in the aforementioned areas. -------------------------------------------- Originally, AKU respondents were interviewed in two consecutive quarters of a year, followed by a pause of two quarters, and then another two quarters of interviews. The sample was approximately 10-11.000 respondents in each quarter up until 1988. Originally, AKU was intended to be an analytical supplement to the monthly occupational statistics that was based on the social security membership index file. However, the social security-based statistics disappeared when the sickness benefit was included in the National Insurance as of 1st of January 1971, and AKU has after gradually developed into the most significant source of knowledge of the state of the labour market and its development. In 1975, Statistics Norway changed the sampling frame of survey research, see article 37: “Om bruk av stikkprøver ved kontoret for...