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The Utilization of Health Services, Cultural Establishments, and Vacation Time in Blue- and White-Collar Households in the GDR in 1988 

1988 Survey of the Utilization of Health Services, Cultural Establishments, and Vacation Time in Blue- and White-Collar Households in the GDR.

In 1987/88, the GDR State Statistics Administration conducted a representative survey of the cultural and social living conditions in private blue- and white-collar households. Demographic data on the persons and households surveyed was also collected. The goal of the survey was to gather information on how frequently selected aspects and institutions of cultural and social life were utilized in the course of a year. Data about the following categories were gathered:

1. Household information (e.g., district in which respondents lived, population group, number of persons in the household, household net income category, size of community)
2. Information about individuals (e.g., year of birth, gender, social position, education and training, years of schooling, childcare)
3. Health care information (six different types of health care provision, doctor and dentist visits, diagnostic examinations, prescriptions, in-patient treatment, treatments at a health resort)
4. Visits to cultural and sports events (number of times respondents went to movie theatres, theatres, concerts, museums, club houses, zoos, circuses, or other cultural events; respondents' own sports activity; number of books borrowed from libraries)
5. Holiday and leisure time, excursions or short trips, trips taken abroad as well as domestically (type and frequency of the trips)
6. Communal food provision (for example, employer provided cafeterias, school meals, governmental supplemental nutrition programmes, etc.)

A detailed list of the characteristics that were surveyed may be found in the appendix; the most important survey features are indicated in Overview 1 (below).

This special survey was undertaken in conjunction with the statistics gathered by the 1987-88 Household Budget Survey (see Schimpl-Neimanns/Wirth 1994, 9ff). It is worth noting, however, that since only blue- and white-collar households were included in this survey, the data obtained only permit conclusions to be drawn for these particular segments of the population. As was true in the household budget survey, those who belonged to the so-called X-domain were excluded from the survey, as were members of their households. The X-domain included the National People's Army and the National Guard, police and firemen, as well as those who worked in the prison system, the customs service, and in the state security apparatus. It also included the political parties, state-controlled interest groups (with their associated presses and publishing operations), and those employed by Wismut AG, the only uranium mining enterprise in the GDR. The X-domain was not deemed part of the planned economy and was therefore not counted as part of the official statistics. That is, businesses in the X-domain and those who worked in the X-domain (as well as the members of their households) were not allowed to be included in surveys of the population other than in the national census.

As can be seen in Overview 1, which was also true for the household budget survey, the period surveyed lasted one year, from 1 November 1987 until 31 October 1988. All persons living in a household were asked on a monthly basis about their utilization of the respective services and establishments. The collected data therefore allow not only for an individual but also for a household-level analysis. On average, 2,574 households with 7,385 persons participated each month in the survey. The raw data file was acquired by former ZUMA in 1995 and was prepared as an SPSS system file (based on individuals).

Overview 1: A comprehensive depiction of the most important characteristics in the survey of the utilization of health services, cultural establishments, and vacation time in blue-and white-collar households

Comparison of the GESIS-ZUMA datafile with the published results

The GDR Statistical Bureau published select results of this special survey in 1990 in the volume "Cultural and Social Living Conditions of the Population" (Kulturelle und soziale Lebensbedingungen der Bevölkerung). However, according to the Statistical Bureau itself, the published data were based on extrapolated figures while the data GESIS-ZUMA acquired were unweighted. The difference between the weighted and unweighted data is mirrored, for example, in the number of persons surveyed. Thus, while the GESIS-ZUMA datafile contains on average 7,391 persons per month, the published data (weighted) is based on approximately 9,100 persons per month. The weighting factors also influence, albeit only to a minor extent, the distribution of other demographic characteristics such as gender, age group, and social position. For example, in the GESIS-ZUMA datafile 53.2 percent of those interviewed were female and 46.8 percent were male, while in the published source, these figures were 51.5 and 48.4 percent, respectively. The basis for the weighting (doubling procedure) was the age and gender structure, and was based on the income sample in blue- and white-collar households (see Koenig 1993, p. 9).

There are also minor differences between the published data and the GESIS-ZUMA datafile that are mirrored in the utilization figures for the various services and establishments, as one can see in the following table:

* Source: Kulturelle und soziale Lebensbedingungen der Bevölkerung. Statistisches Amt der DDR (Juli 1990)

** own calculation

The values published by the GDR Statistical Office are based on the average utilization of services or establishments per person in a household per year. The extrapolation of monthly averages to create yearly values is problematic, however, since not all households participated continuously throughout the entire year, as has been noted elsewhere. Instead, households with similar structures replaced those that dropped out of the survey. In light of this practice, it seems more appropriate in conducting analysis to use the monthly rather than the yearly averages.

References:

• Koenig, Erhard (1993): Erhebung zur Inanspruchnahme kultureller und sozialer Leistungen in Arbeiter- und Angestelltenhaushalten 1988. Berlin: Statistisches Bundesamt (unveröffentlichtes Manuskript/KSPW-Projektdokumentation Kapitel V.4)

• Schimpl-Neimanns, B. / Wirth, H. (1994): ZUMA-Arbeitsbericht 94/06, Bestandsaufnahme und Nutzungsmöglichkeiten amtlicher Mikrodaten der DDR für Sekundäranalysen zur Bildungs- und Einkommensungleichheit, Mannheim

• Statistisches Amt der DDR (1990): Kulturelle und soziale Lebensbedingungen der Bevölkerung. Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der Personen in Arbeiter- und Angestelltenhaushalten 1988. Berlin.