CSO Frontier Series outputs may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release.
Learn more about CSO Frontier Series outputs.
The CSO has developed new methodologies for estimating family and household units in 2022 using administrative data.
Looking at family units, just above 1.3 million family units were estimated in 2022 using administrative data.
Under two different methodologies for estimating household units using administrative data, the CSO found that the number of household units in 2022 ranged from 1.7 million to 1.9 million.
This research paper is focused on the production of Family and Household estimates from administrative data. This research paper is intended to both illustrate the potential of administrative data to produce demographic statistics and highlight the challenges that arise. It is worth noting that different methodologies result in different estimates (See Introduction below and Methodology Chapter for more details). The estimates in this Research Paper are not the official Family and Household Statistics and should be used with caution. These estimates are also not directly comparable with Census of Population data.
Irish Family and Household Estimates using Administrative Data Sources is based on the demographic data produced by Irish Population Estimates from Administrative Data Sources 2022 (IPEADS 2022). Therefore, it features estimates that are based on administrative records. It is important to note that such administrative records are designed for the operational needs of Irish public bodies and not as statistical data sources. Relationship data can be gathered from these records and Irish Family and Household Estimates using Administrative Data Sources 2022 aims to estimate the number of family and household units in April of the reference year by applying CSO-developed methodologies for identifying families and households from administrative data.
The use of administrative data in demographic estimation is not unique to the CSO and has been driven by both the benefits of using administrative data in censuses and the greater difficulties encountered in traditional census. The benefits include reduced cost, reduced burden on respondents, improved timeliness, and greater frequency of results. The challenges which administrative data usage can address include difficulties in recruiting field staff as well as establishing contact with householders.
However, the administrative data landscape is constantly developing. This can bring opportunities and challenges. The methodology needs to be flexible to deal with changes in the data sources. It is important to note that when using administrative data to estimate numbers of families and households, different methodologies will result in different estimated counts.
Currently Family and Household statistics in Ireland are produced through the Census of Population. As a Frontier Release Irish Family and Household Estimates takes a different approach. All statistics are produced using data collected from administrative records. These records were not initially created for counting families and households, but rather for service delivery and day-to-day operations of public bodies. However, information in administrative data may be potentially used as sources of information on relationships and residence status. This experimental study attempts to estimate family and household counts in Ireland in April 2022 through administrative data using a new methodology devised by the CSO.
At an international level, an increasing number of countries are moving towards greater use of administrative data in censuses, a move supported by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) recommendations. UNECE reports note this move has been motivated by the benefits of using administrative data sources in census, including reduced cost, reduced burden on respondents, improved timeliness, and greater frequency of results. It is becoming increasingly difficult to conduct traditional censuses with challenges experienced in recruiting field staff as well as establishing contact with householders.
The Census of Ireland has been postponed twice in recent years due to unforeseen circumstances. In 2001, an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Ireland delayed the census by a year. The census originally scheduled for 2021 was delayed by a year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Robust administrative population data available on an annual basis would offset some of the risk of an information deficit in the event of delays to the census and insulate users from the delays and postponements which have occurred with the traditional census model.
The approach is still in development however and there are aspects of using administrative sources for counting families and households that will require further development. These include the relatively limited range of variables available (e.g. number of rooms in a house, year of build, tenancy information) from administrative sources compared with the Census of Population and the production of statistics at small geographic areas. The CSO's access to some outstanding public sector data flows will help with both issues, as will the increased level of Eircodes being collected in the public sector with the move to online public administration of services. The CSO is committed to addressing these issues in partnership with Public Sector Bodies and will work towards consistently improving these estimates based on data improvements over the coming years. The key metrics in assessing these data improvements for the population count are the percentage of records with Eircodes, (currently estimated above 90%) and the percentage of records coming from ‘real time’ sources (approximately 70%), where the activity recorded is from a recent time period. The CSO is committed to addressing these issues and working towards consistently improving these estimates over the coming years.
While Irish Family and Household Estimates using Administrative Data Sources attempts to measure household and family structure using similar classifications to those of the Census, the methodologies used are not directly comparable due to being based on administrative data based analysis. The family classification used, for example, can assign families into married couples, cohabiting couples or one parent families. Further disaggregations are not currently available. In the case of households, two different methods for identifying households based on administrative records are used. Future iterations of this release may feature different additional methods for identifying households.
For Irish Family and Household Estimates using Administrative Data Sources, the population was defined in IPEADS 2022. Once the usually resident population is established in IPEADS 2022, characteristics from the dataset are then used to generate family estimates. For household estimates, the population includes only those persons where an Eircode could be allocated, which was over 99% of the usually resident population.
Below is a chart displaying the estimated count of Family Units by type in 2022 from Irish Family and Household Estimates from Administrative Data Sources 2022. This data is a part of the Frontier Release and should be interpreted with caution.
Below is a chart displaying the estimated count of Household Units by size in 2022 using two methods from Irish Family and Household Estimates from Administrative Data Sources 2022. The total number of household units was estimated as 1.7 million units and 1.9 million units using Method 1 and Method 2 respectively. For more information on these new methodologies, see the detailed methodological note and note that this data is part of a Frontier Release and should be interpreted with caution.
This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release.
CSO Frontier Series outputs may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources. Publishing outputs under the Frontier Series allows the CSO to provide useful new information to users and get informed feedback on these new methods and outputs whilst at the same time making sure that that the limitations are well explained and understood.
This new Frontier Release produces estimates of Family and Household counts based on administrative data.
Official Family and Household counts are currently based on the Census of Population. This report focuses on activity in administrative data.
The underlying assumptions and methodologies are different in this release to the official published estimates of Family and Household statistics, and therefore disparities are to be expected and can be seen.
Many attributes available from census data are not available from administrative data, and some datasets lack geographical detail. While the methodology attempts to correct for some of these issues, we anticipate improvements in data holdings over time through the continued adoption and implementation of the National Data Infrastructure. The CSO will continue to develop the methodology to estimate Families and Households and will continue to report on future iterations of this project.
It should be noted that the CSO can only measure Families and Households in the available administrative sources. With the exception of children or current spouse/partners connected to active persons, persons who did not have any interaction with the state during the reference period applied by the ‘rules’ will not be included in the Families or Households Estimates.
As well as the strict legal protections set out in the Statistics Act, 1993, and other existing regulations, the CSO is committed to protecting individual privacy and all identifiable information from each of the data sources used in this analysis, such as name, date of birth and addresses, are removed before use and only anonymised statistical aggregates are produced. For further information on the data sources, linking procedures and limitations of this report, see the Background Notes. Further information on privacy can also be found in the Background Notes.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (17 December 2024) released Irish Family and Household Estimates using Administrative Data Sources 2022. Commenting on the release, Labhaoise Barrett, Statistician in the Life Events and Demography Section, said:
“This Frontier Release produces family and household estimates using administrative data. This work is under development and the CSO is exploring different approaches and methodologies to primarily demonstrate the potential of using administrative data to estimate family and household units.
In this release, a family unit is defined as a married couple (with or without children), cohabiting couple (with or without children), or a one parent family, whereas household units are defined primarily through geographical administrative data, using two new methodologies.
When looking at family units, the overall number of families was estimated at 1.3 million. This number is based on a method which combines pseudonymised Eircode and administrative data on family relationships. The breakdown includes more than 900,000 married couples (with or without children), approximately 175,000 cohabiting couples (with or without children), and just under 215,000 one parent families.
The CSO explored two different methodologies in this release for identifying households using administrative data:
These methodologies represent different potential approaches to defining households using administrative data. The CSO may also develop new methods in the future.”