The LFS questionnaire is structured around the following themes:

• the description of the household and its members;

• the status of an activity according to the ILO definition;

• the detailed description of the current main job (occupation, working time, kind of contract, income from work, etc.);

• the description of previous professional activiy;

• the level of education and participation in training;

• the receipt of benefits, including unemployment benefits and old-age pensions;

• health status;

• social and geographical origin;

• labour market trajectory over the past 12 months.

In 2023, the complementary module focuses on pension and labour market participation.

The data disseminated uses :

• the French classification of activities: NAF revision 2 adopted in 2008

• the nomenclature of occupations and socio-professional categories (PCS) revised in 2020

• the International Classification of Occupations and Socioprofessional Categories (ICSO)

• the European nomenclature of socio-professional categories (ESEG)

• the French nomenclature of diplomas and training specialities

• the International Classification of Educational Qualifications and Specialities (ICES)

• the official geographical code (COG).

LFS covers all sectors of the economy.

The LFS measures the concepts of labour force (employed and unemployed) according to the criteria established by the ILO.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is an organization of the United Nations responsible for global labour issues. It is based in Geneva. It harmonises concepts and definitions relating to work, employment and unemployment, etc.

Labour force (ILO) includes employed and unemployed persons as defined by the ILO.

Employment (ILO) includes persons aged 15 years or more who have done at least one hour's paid work during a given week (known as the "reference week") or who are absent from work for certain reasons (annual leave, sickness, maternity, etc.) and for a certain period of time.

All forms of employment are covered (employees, self-employed, helpers in the company or on the family farm), whether declared or undeclared.

An unemployed person in the ILO sense is a person aged 15 years or more who simultaneously meets three conditions: being unemployed during a given week; being available for work within two weeks; and having actively looked for a job in the last four weeks or having found one starting in less than three months. The active steps considered are varied: studying job advertisements, going to a trade fair, mobilising one's social network or taking advice from the Pôle emploi, etc.

A formal education or training activity is an education or training activity which simultaneously:

• has a hierarchy level-grade structure;

• is subject to admission requirements;

• lasts at least one semester (minimum of 30 European Credits Transfer Scale);

• has a programme recognised by the relevant national education authority (or equivalent authority).

An education or training is said to be non-formal if one of the following conditions is not met:

• has a hierarchy level-grade structure;
• is subject to admission requirements;
• lasts at least one semester (minimum of 30 European Credits Transfer Scale);
• has a programme recognised by the relevant national education authority (or equivalent authority).

Housing, household, individual.

Persons aged 15 to 89, living in ordinary housing.

All weeks of the year

Not applicable

Not applicable