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Inquiries by freephone +371 80008811 on weekdays from 10:00 to 18:00 o’clock and by e-mail at silc@csp.gov.l
Published: 28.01.2022.
European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), based on common and verified methodology, has been collected in all EU countries for more than 18 years. It allows to reflect EU-level and national trends and make comparisons between various social and economic aspects affecting well-being of households and individuals.
Every year, Latvian EU-SILC survey covers about eight thousand households, i.e., just one in a hundred. It gives respondents an opportunity to share opinions about general and financial well-being as well as living conditions thereof, which contributes to the production of objective survey results and depiction of the actual situation.
The information collected and compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSB) will be extensively used by state and local authorities when making decisions that affect everyday life of the inhabitants, e.g., in respect to income, benefits, pensions, health care services, etc. Therefore, responsiveness and cooperation of the respondents are significant to get accurate and fair insight into the life of the population.
More information about EU-SILC is available on the Eurostat website.
If you have received invitational letter, your address was selected with a random sampling method. All members of the surveyed households will be asked to answer general questions characterising population of Latvia, while people aged 16 and over additionally will be asked about education, health status and availability of medical services, intergenerational transmission of advantages and disadvantages, employment, income and sufficiency thereof, benefits, etc. The questions included in the survey also cover the overall situation in and housing conditions of the household.
In line with regulatory enactments of the European Union and the Republic of Latvia, the CSB has the right to collect and process personal data and is obliged to ensure protection and confidentiality of the data respondents provide. The information acquired will only be published in a summarised form to facilitate analysis of economic and social phenomena and processes in the country.
Web interviews
The e-survey will be available from 31 January to 20 February 2023 on the CSB website e.csp.gov.lv. It shall be filled in by the addressee of the invitational letter.
The respondents (addressees of the invitational letter) may authorise with their Internet bank, e-identification card or e-signature. If questionnaire is filled in by another person, he/she shall take all the responsibility for the veracity of the information provided.
Guidelines for respondents on how to fill in the e-survey (available in Latvian only).
If due to any reason you are not able to complete electronic questionnaire over the period indicated, a CSB interviewer will contact you.
Personal and telephone interviewing
Personal and telephone interviewing will take place from 16 March to 30 June. In 2023 face-to-face interviews will be conducted only in the case the epidemiological situation allows. All details of the face-to-face interview will be communicated to you by the CSB interviewer. Upon arrival, interviewer will present a CSB employee identification card with a photo.
If you want to verify identity of your interviewer or find out any other information about the survey:
- call the toll-free assistance number +371 80008811 on weekdays from 10:00 to 18:00 o’clock; or
- contact the CSB by writing to the e-mail address silc@csp.gov.lv.
To give stronger support for elderly
Results of several EU-SILC surveys in a row show that almost half of all elderly population and 70 % of the seniors living alone are at risk of poverty.
Outcomes of the decisions made regarding income of the elderly population
- Higher old-age pension: EUR 64.03 in 2019, EUR 80 in 2020, and EUR 136 in 2021.
- Higher national social security allowance to elderly: increase from EUR 64 in 2020 to EUR 109 in 2021.
- Higher untaxed minimum: upturn from EUR 250 in 2018 to EUR 500 in 2022.
- In the case a spouse of an elderly inhabitant has passed away, a benefit amounting to 50 % of the pension granted is paid to the surviving spouse for one year.
- In August 2022, pensions (old-age, disability, service, and survivors' pensions and benefits) and remuneration or part thereof not exceeding EUR 534 per month were indexed. E.g., depending on the length of service (insurance period), an index 1.2287–1.2369 is applied to an old-age pension.
To support the poorest population
EU-SILC indicates to a great income inequality in Latvia. E.g., 23.3 % of the population were at risk of poverty in 2017. Moreover, income of the poorest inhabitants was 6.8 times smaller than that of the richest.
To achieve sharper increase in the guaranteed minimum income level, the Ombudsman's Office, referring to the EU-SILC, applied to the Constitutional Court with a request for the Government to improve living conditions of the population at risk of poverty more significantly. The decision made increased the guaranteed minimum income level substantially already in 2021 – to EUR 109 for the first person in household (before those were EUR 64) and EUR 76 for the other persons.
In addition, a decision has been made to increase minimum wage from EUR 500 to 620 as of the 1 January 2023.
To support large families
Results acquired in a number of EU-SILC surveys show that risk of poverty in large families is notably higher than in other households. E.g., 34.5 % of large families were at risk of poverty in 2014.
Contribution of the decisions made to the income of large families
- Higher state family allowance for each child aged 20 or under if he/she is acquiring general or vocational education.
- Higher supplement to the state family allowance depending on the number of children in family (e.g., EUR 10 supplement for two children and EUR 166 for five, meaning that the monthly state family allowance equals to EUR 44.14 in families with two and EUR 334.42 in families with five children).