Définition
The reference person for a household on the main processing is:
- the oldest working person (or unemployed and looking a job) with a spouse;
- failing that, the oldest person having a spouse;
- failing that, the oldest working (or unemployed and looking a job) person;
- failing that, the oldest person.
Based on the results of the 2016 population census, the concept of the household reference person has been modified. The variable designating the household reference person, according to the new definition, was recalculated on the basis of data from the five annual census surveys constituting the 2016 population census (cumulative annual surveys from 2014 to 2018) on the scope of the complementary processing. This backcasting could not be carried out on the main processing field because some variables necessary for the calculation were only coded for the complementary processing, before redesigning the survey.
The new definition can therefore be used on the main processing from the 2020 population census. By then, the reference person of the household determined for the main processing is calculated according to a closest algorithm possible from that of complementary processing.
Until the 2015 population census, the household reference person is automatically determined using a rule based on the number of persons in the household:If there is only one person in the household, the latter is the reference person;If there are two people in the household: if they are in a couple and of different sex, the man is the reference person; if not, the reference person is the oldest active person, or if neither of them is active, the oldest person;If the household has three or more persons, the three oldest persons in the household are considered: if a couple is identified among them, the oldest active man in that couple, failing that the oldest man in that couple, failing that the oldest active woman in that couple, failing that, the oldest woman in that couple is the reference person; otherwise the reference person is the oldest active person among them, or if none of the three oldest persons in the household is active, the oldest person among them.