Promising Practice

Establishing official statistics on the living conditions of people with disabilities based on different registries and administrative data

Since 2017, Statistics Norway and the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs have been jointly working on improving the knowledge base of equality data on people with disabilities by combining administrative data from government services registers.
Country
Norway
Type
Institutional and structural guidelines
Operational guidelines
Ensure comprehensiveness
Ensure regular and timely data collection
Ensure representativeness
Category
Disability
Includes multiple / intersectional discrimination

 


In this page:


Why was the practice needed?

The aim of the joint project is to strengthen the knowledge base on people with disabilities by combining available data from different sources, rather than carrying out new surveys. Using register data also facilitates regular and timely data collection and strengthens the representativeness of equality data research.

This project responds to these needs to create a fuller picture of the living conditions of people with disabilities. There is currently a need for more information on specific sub-groups of people with disabilities, such as people with an intellectual disability. Areas of life for which further data regarding people with disabilities are needed include income, employment and housing.

Furthermore, this practice facilitates the effective use of data. There is a considerable amount of unused potential in administrative databases. By combining different data sources, the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs is able to use existing data more effectively.

How was it implemented?

The joint project started with a mapping of available sources that could be combined. The project consulted civil society organisations and interest groups in the process to ensure the relevance of the data gathered.

The implementing phase of the project will start in 2019. The project is expected to move into an operating phase from 2020 with the publication of new official statistics.

Statistics will be disaggregated by geography, gender and age, and to some extent country of birth. This allows for intersectional discrimination analysis.

Outputs

  • Official statistics due to be published in 2020. The new statistics will be primarily related to related to sub-groups of people with disabilities, e.g. people with intellectual disabilities or reduced mobillty, and variables including income, employment and education.
  • The new statistics will feed into the data hub on disability run by the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (see related practice in this compendium).

Key success factors

  • Close cooperation with organisations and relevant actors, especially as some of statistics concern sensitive data related to diagnoses.

Technical information

  • Data sources covered: Census; Administrative data; Diversity monitoring.
  • Areas of life covered: Employment; Education; Health; Social Protection; Housing and living conditions; Access to good and services.
  • Target audience: Public administrations, civil society organisations
  • Duration: 2017-2020
  • Geographical scope: National, but local data will also be made available
  • Leading institution: Statistics Norway / Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir)
  • Other organisations involved/consulted: Directorate of Labour (NAV), Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), civil society organisations in the field of disability – FFO (The Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People), SAFO (Norwegian Forum of Disabled Peoples’ Organisations), Unge Funksjonshemmede (The Norwegian Association of Youth with Disabilities)
  • Financial & human resources: Budget: €100,000; Source of the budget: State budget; Staff: approximately 1 Full Time Equivalent (FTE)

Contacts

Statistics Norway (SSB) / Statistisk sentralbyrå

Email: Postmottak (at) ssb (dot) no

Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, Norway (Bufir) / Barne-, ungdoms- og familiedirektoratet

Email: postmottak (at) bufdir (dot) no