Government providing over €2 million for participation in Europe-wide surveys
The Austrian government has announced it is providing over €2 million to continue Austria’s participation in two large European data-based research initiatives.
The government said on 31 August that Austria will take part in the next data-collection rounds of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (Share), which will take place in 2024, and the European Social Survey (ESS), which will take place in 2023.
Share is a long-term data-collection project on ageing, quality of life, health and employment of the over-50 population. The survey has been described as a telescope through which baby boomers’ transition into retirement can be observed and scientifically researched.
ESS is a recurring data collection in more than 30 European countries on topics such as living conditions, attitudes, trust in institutions and media use.
Austria’s research minister Martin Polaschek said data projects such as Share and ESS are key for making comparisons between countries. He added that participating in Europe-wide data initiatives is an “important component in our efforts to expand the data basis for social and economic research in Austria”.