Social statistics – changed perspectives

Abstract

The need for social statistics is huge and growing, but the different approaches in use today are not always consistent. In many cases the statistics are developed separately from each other, without common definitions or other efforts at coordination. This makes it difficult for users to understand and analyse the results. The paper attempts to outline an “integrated system” of social statistics. Its purpose is to show where there exist bridges between the different approaches and where links are missing.

The paper identifies the following five approaches; current sector statistics, social indicators, microsimulation, social accounts and studies of exposed groups. Current social statistics and social indicators are ordinary statistics based on primary data, while studies of exposed groups and microsimulations as well as social accounts represent adaptations and analyses of these regular statistics.

It is difficult to accord priorities to the different categories, as they answer different needs and complement one another. Nor do national and international priorities always coincide. However, it could be argued, in an international perspective, that top priority should be given to new indicator statistics and statistics about exposed groups. With increasing social differences appearing in many parts of the industrialised world, the demands from political decision-makers for such data seem to be the most pressing.