The European Socio-economic Classification: A Prolegomenon

In 1999, as part of its Statistical Harmonization Programme, Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Com munities) commissioned an Expert Group to make recommendations for the development of a new statistical tool for understanding differences in social structures and socio-economic inequalities across the European Union (EU). In its subsequent report to Eurostat (Rose et al. 2001) the group recommended the development of a common socio-economic classification for all EU Member States based on the concept of employment relations (see below) and outlined a work programme to achieve this objective.