5. Definitions:

5c. The overcrowding rate is defined as the percentage of the population living in an overcrowded household.

A person is considered as living in an overcrowded household if the household does not have at its disposal a minimum number of rooms equal to:

– one room for the household;
– one room per couple in the household;
– one room for each single person aged 18 or more;
– one room per pair of single people of the same gender between 12 and 17 years of age;
– one room for each single person between 12 and 17 years of age and not included in the previous category;
– one room per pair of children under 12 years of age.

5d. The total disposable income of a household is calculated by adding:

– Gross employee cash or near cash income;
– Gross non-cash employee income (only company car and associated costs included);
– Gross cash benefits or losses from self-employment (including royalties);
– Unemployment benefits;
– Old-age benefits;
– Survivors’ benefits;
– Sickness benefits;
– Disability benefits;
– Education-related allowances;
– Income from rental of property or land;
– Family/Children related allowances;
– Social exclusion not elsewhere classified;
– Housing allowances;
– Regular inter-household cash transfers received;
– Interests, dividends, profits from capital investments in unincorporated business;
– Income received by people aged under 16;
– Income received from individual private pension plans.

and deducting:                           
– regular inter-household cash transfers paid;
– tax on income;
– social insurance contributions.

5e.  Equivalent household size is calculated according to the “modified OECD” equivalence scale which gives:

– a weight of 1.0 to the first adult;
– a weight of 0.5 to any other household member aged 14+;
– a weight of 0.3 to each child aged under 14.

The resulting figure, which is the sum of these weights, is attributed to each member of the household.

5f.  Equivalised disposable income (referred to also as national equivalised income) is defined as the household’s total disposable income divided by its “equivalent household size” as defined in Methodological Note 5e) thus taking into account the size and composition of the household, and is attributed to each household member. For example, a household with two adults and two children aged less than 14 would have an equivalised household size of 2.1, which is calculated as follows:

5i.      The Work Intensity (WI) of a household is the ratio of the total number of months that all household members have worked during the income reference year and the total number of months the same household members theoretically could have worked in the same period. In line with EU Regulation No. 2019/1700 on person and household surveys, the WI indicator was modified to cover persons aged between 18 and 64 instead of persons aged between 18 and 59. Students aged between 18 and 24 are excluded from the calculation of this indicator. Moreover, households composed only of children aged less than 18, students aged less than 25 and/or people aged 65 or more are completely excluded from the computation of this indicator.

5j.      The at-risk-of-poverty rate refers to the share of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold as defined in Methodological Note 5g).                 

5k.    The term housing costs refers to the monthly costs connected with the household’s right to live in the accommodation, and includes: interest paid on mortgages, rent payments, structural insurances, cost of utilities and regular maintenance and repairs.

5l.    The household cost burden is defined as the ratio of annual total housing costs (net of housing allowances) to the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances). The median of the housing cost burden distribution refers to the value which divides the total frequency for this distribution at individual level into two halves i.e. it is the value that falls exactly in the middle so that 50% of persons have a household cost burden ratio above this value and 50% are below.

6. Following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing, EU-SILC was benchmarked with updated demographic estimates derived from this census. With the availability of the census, it became possible to apply separate calibration weights for Maltese and foreigners within the EU-SILC, starting from reference year 2023. This updated methodology ensured that the distribution by broad citizenship category in the survey population aligned with the census.

EU-SILC uses regular updates on population and household estimates for the calculation of the cross-sectional weights and the calibration of survey data with population and household estimates. For EU-SILC 2024, a refined version of the population and household estimates based on administrative data sources was used. In view of these updates, further refinements were also made to the weighting methodology, including adjustments to the household size classification structure as well as a more detailed breakdown of the foreign population into EU and Non-EU foreigners. These refinements led to a revision of the survey weights, and consequently, the figures published in this news release contain revised data for EU-SILC 2024.

An analysis was conducted, through several simulations, to re-estimate the headline indicators to assess the impact this change in methodology had on the estimates prior to 2023. The headline indicators are the core indicators produced as part of the EU-SILC and include the at-risk-of-poverty and social exclusion rate (AROPE), the at-risk-of-poverty rate (ARP), measures of material and social deprivation (MSD), and low work intensity (LWI). The analysis showed that, while the update adjusted the weighted counts, it did not significantly impact the estimate of the headline indicators, which remained consistent with those produced prior to the change and within the margin of error. Consequently, following consultation with Eurostat, an imminent revision of the time-series was not deemed necessary to ensure full adherence with EU Regulation 2019/1700. Revisions, as already discussed, took place only for 2024. Estimates of the headline indicators produced from 2023 onwards are therefore considered comparable with the previous time-series.

Due to the impact the change had on the weighted counts individually for foreign and Maltese nationals, caution must be taken when making comparisons between household and individual counts estimated from 2023 onwards, with counts estimated in previous years.

We encourage all users to consult with the NSO when using time-series data from the EU-SILC survey to ensure accurate interpretation of the results.

7. Following the 2021 Census of Population and Housing, EU-SILC was benchmarked with updated demographic estimates derived from this census. With the availability of the census, it became possible to apply separate calibration weights for Maltese and foreigners within the EU-SILC, starting from reference year 2023. While this updated methodology ensured that the distribution by broad citizenship category in the survey population aligned with the census, estimates of some secondary indicators were significantly impacted by the change in methodology. Secondary indicators are those indicators that are not part of the core set of headline indicators produced from the EU-SILC. Since a revision of the time-series prior to the update in 2023 has not been conducted, these indicators are not considered fully comparable to estimates produced prior to 2023, and therefore a break-in-time-series has occurred.

We encourage all users to consult with the NSO when using time-series data from the EU-SILC survey to ensure accurate interpretation of the results.

8.  Estimates of variance for main EU-SILC 2025 indicators related to Main Dwellings