Community statistics: income and living conditions in the Union EU-SILC

The committee adopted the report by Theo BOUWMAN (Greens/EFA, NL) broadly approving the proposal subject to a number of amendments (codecision procedure, 1st reading), which were mainly designed to clarify the kind of information to be collected and calculated under the "primary areas" of the survey as set out in Annex I. For example, it wanted the information under the heading "Physical and social environment" to include such factors as crime, pollution and noise. It also wanted to ensure that the categories of education used were comparable (ISCED classification) and proposed creating a new "primary area" entitled "Parental education" with a view to assessing the intergenerational impact of individuals' educational attainment. Lastly, the committee said that calculations of gross income should take account of circumstances of indirect financial value, such as owning a home rather than paying rent or employment-related income in kind rather than in cash. It therefore amended the definition of "gross income" in the proposal accordingly. �