The sample size of the EU-SILC survey, around 17,000 respondent households in France, and the number of NUTS2 regions, 26 (22 regions in metropolitan France and 4 overseas departments), 11 of which have fewer than 500 respondents, make it impossible to calculate reliable poverty indicators keeping only observations for each region. This is why INSEE has developed a small area estimation method, which provide microdata (weights) for each region, allowing the calculation of poverty rates (and AROPE indicators) at a regional level. With this method, all the observations in the database are used for each region. So, to calculate the regional indicators,it is important not to filter only on the observations from one region.

From FR-SILC 2022 onwards, the variables RB051_XXXX (with XXXX the NUTS2 or NUTS1 region identifier) contain regional weights calculated using a small area estimation method. These variables are provided in European datasets.

A significant series break took place in 2020 following the redesign of the system the year before the implementation of the IESS Regulation.

In 2023, the material deprivation question HD080 (Replacing worn-out furniture) was changed to distinguish households with adeprivation for financial reasons from households with a deprivation for other reasons. In order to avoid a break in the material andsocial deprivation indicator (and the AROPE) in 2023, INSEE has provided the variable HD080 backcast from 2020 to 2022 (in July 2024).

The external data used to control the income components are diverse.

• Exhaustive administrative databases, which provide with target amounts of income from tax sources (declared amounts of wages, unemployment benefits, pensions, financial income, etc.) and from social security sources (housing benefits, family benefits, minimum social benefits)

• The results of the Tax and Social Incomes Survey (Enquête revenus fiscaux et sociaux – ERFS), which is the reference source, at national level, for the measurement of standards of living and monetary poverty. This source is constituted by matching the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (Enquête emploi en continu ) with administrative data. The LFS is based on a large sample size and provides detailed statistics according to the main socio-demographic criteria.

• The Filosofi system (Localised Social and Fiscal File), which is made up of a reconciliation of the exhaustive administrative tax and social bases.

Not applicable

Several differences in the definition of the aggregates between SILC and National Accounts explain the discrepancies. In particular, itcan be pointed out that:

In SILC, paid sick leave could not be distinguished from wages either, whereas they are in the national accounts and areincluded in the D62 aggregate.

The national accounts aggregate B3G includes fraud (i.e. underreporting of self-employed income to the tax authorities)while PY050G is calculated from income reported to the tax authorities.

In variable HY140G, the employee's social contributions are included, while the employer's social contributions areexcluded. In national accounts, on the other hand, employers' social contributions are included.

Each year, INSEE deals with administrative data on the distribution of social benefits and aids. This exhaustive information is used inorder to have consistent estimates when comparing amounts of the various benefits calculated from SILC and the amounts actually distributed according to administrative data.

The internal coherence of the data was checked: respect of the additivity of the variables, application of recognized methods for detecting atypical points, etc.