European Working Conditions Survey 2024: Sampling report

Sampling plays a central role in the EWCS by ensuring that the people interviewed accurately represent the employed and self‑employed population. Probability‑based sampling frames, drawn from population registers, address lists, or multi‑stage area samples ensure every eligible worker has a known chance of selection. Sampling controls country‑level sample sizes, supports stratification by region or urbanisation, and reduces coverage bias. It also structures fieldwork workloads and interviewer assignments. A well‑designed sample enables reliable weighting, cross‑country comparability and valid labour market estimates, ensuring findings reflect true working conditions rather than the characteristics of those easiest to reach.  

The EWCS targeted individuals aged 16–74 in employment and living in private households and resident in the country, applying the EU Labour Force Survey definition(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab to ensure comparability. In every country, a multi-stage, stratified clustered sampling design was used. To reduce clustering effects, a minimum of 100 Primary Sampling Units (PSU) per country were sampled, stratified according to geographic regions (NUTS 2 level or below) and three levels of urbanisation (DEGURBA). Subsequently, in each PSU, households were sampled. 

In countries where an up-to-date, high-quality address or population register was available, this was used as the sampling frame. If not, enumeration was used to generate addresses using the random-walk method. Enumeration was separated from the interviewing stage. Finally, within the sampled households, one eligible respondent was selected at random, with no substitution permitted.