Data

There are currently eight data modules in SPIN that cover different aspects of social policy available, and two data modules in progress. You can explore and download these below.

Photo: Ingmari Andersson

General information

The datasets published on this website are public domain. If you publish any work based on the datasets, we appreciate if you cite them accordingly and let us know the publication details, which can be done with the ready made form below. Also consider subscribing to our newsletter to not miss out on any updates of datasets.

How to cite

Please acknowledge the SPIN research infrastructure and the specific data module.

In-text example using SIED:
Our empirical analyses are based on data from the Social Insurance Entitlements dataset, provided as part of the Social Policy Indicator (SPIN) database (Nelson et al. 2020).

Reference:
Nelson, K., Fredriksson, D., Korpi, T., Korpi, W., Palme, J. and O. Sjöberg. 2020. The Social Policy Indicators (SPIN) database. International Journal of Social Welfare. 29 (3). 285-289. doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12418

Report data use

If you publish work based on any of the datasets in SPIN, please fill out the form below with publication details. That way you greatly support this research, and ensure its continuation.

Form for reporting publication details

Report Data Use

Data updates

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The Child Benefit dataset (CBD) covers various forms of child benefit programs, including universal and employment related child benefits, income-related child allowances, child tax rebates on social security contributions, child tax allowances and child tax credits for 36 countries 1960-2020. Focus is on the level of benefits, expressed in absolute amounts and as percentages of average wages.

CBD 1960-2020 (2023-06) (59 Kb)

CBD Documentation (2023-06) (294 Kb)

Updated: 2023-06-21

 

The Child Care dataset (CCD) is a new SPIN module based on questionnaires sent to government agencies in EU Member states and Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United States. It covers three core dimensions of child care: coverage, financing and levels of provision.

This dataset is still under construction and will be available for download once it is completed. For further information, please contact spin@sofi.su.se

 

The Housing Benefits dataset (HBEN) is part of the SPIN database at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (Stockholm University). It is an ongoing research project with the aim to improve the possibilities to conduct large-scale institutionally informed comparative and longitudinal analyses of social policy in general and of housing benefits in particular. The current version of HBEN includes detailed information about the generosity of means-tested benefits in 39 countries on an annual basis from 2001 to 2020.

HBEN 230419 (440 Kb)

HBEN Documentation 230419 (259 Kb)

Updated: 2023-04-19

 

The Out-of-Work Benefits dataset (OUTWB) covers various types of out-of-work benefits in a large number of countries. Variables in the dataset are calculated based on information provided by the OECD (Benefit and Wages project), http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/benefits-and-wages.htm.The dataset does not only include net replacement rates across a great number of earnings-levels, but includes also various measures capturing the progressivity of income replacement. Besides unemployment insurance, the various benefits packages in the dataset include information on unemployment assistance, social assistance, child benefits, fiscal benefits and housing allowances. In the current version, the dataset includes 39 countries covering the years 2001-2021.

OUTWB 230420 (349 Kb)

OUTWB Documentation 230420 (284 Kb)

Updated: 2023-04-20

 

The Parental Leave Benefit dataset (PLB) is a data module of SPIN that establishes indicators on parental leave benefits and related family policy programs. The purpose of PLB is to improve possibilities for systematic, comparative and longitudinal institutional analyses of the causes and consequences of family policy development.

The first version of the PLB dataset contained information about earnings-related parental leave insurance benefits in 18 countries 1950 to 2010. This update of PLB expands the previous version. It contains information on different types of parental leave benefits in 36 countries up to 2020, collected within five-year intervals. For previous versions of the PLB dataset, please contact the SPIN-team.

PLB 1950–2020 (2023-06) (101 Kb)

PLB documentation (2023-06) (355 Kb)

Updated: 2023-06-21

 

The Social Assistance and Minimum Income Protection Interim dataset (SAMIP) includes detailed information on the benefit position of low-income households in industrialized welfare democracies. In the current version SaMip includes 34 countries and observations are for every year 1990-2019. The variables in the dataset are based on a type-case approach, where benefit levels have been calculated for three typical households; a single person, a lone parent, and a two parent family.

SAMIP 210219 (541 Kb)

SAMIP Documentation 210219 (392 Kb)

Updated: 2021-02-19

 

The Social Citizenship Indicator Program (SCIP) covers institutional structures of core social insurance programs. Detailed information are provided on citizens’ rights and duties based on legislation related to five major programs, including old age pensions and benefits in cases of sickness, unemployment and work accidents. SCIP includes 18 affluent countries with uninterrupted political democracy during the postwar period. Information refers to fourteen time points: 1930, 1933, 1939, 1947, 1950, and thereafter every fifth year up to 2005.

Read this: The SCIP dataset is discontinued and the last update was in October 2013. Updates to core SCIP variables are published in the Social Insurance Entitlements Dataset (SIED).

SCIP 131017 (399 Kb)

SCIP Codebook (141 Kb)

Final update: 2013-10-17

 

The Social Insurance Entitlements dataset (SIED) is a continuation of the SCIP project, but carries on data collection beyond 2005 for a larger number of countries. The SIE dataset closely follows the structure of SCIP, thus covering the same social insurance programs and sharing the same variable names. The SIE dataset includes the original 18 SCIP countries, but also stores data for all EU Member States as of 2010. The current version of SIED stores four waves of data for all EU countries, 2005 to 2020. Data for Greece, Portugal and Spain goes back to 1980.

 

The Social Policy in East Asia dataset (SPEAD) is a new SPIN module that is developed at SOFI, initially covering social insurance programs in e.g. Indonesia, Korea (republic), Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The dataset will eventually be extended in scope and include also social assistance and family benefits, plus additional low- and mid-income countries across the globe.

This dataset is under construction and will be available for download once it is completed. For further information, please contact spin@sofi.su.se

 

The Student Support and Fees dataset (SSFD) aims to improve the possibilities to conduct large-scale, institutionally informed comparative and longitudinal analyses of student finance systems in general, and of student rights to financial aid and their obligations to pay tuition fees in particular. The dataset is based on calculations of support and fees for three model families. Focus is on social rights and obligations of full-time undergraduate students. The current version of SSFD includes 32 countries for the years 2005, 2010, and 2015.

The SSFD is the result of an ongoing research project aimed at understanding the causes and consequences of student finance systems in affluent countries. The project is a collaborative endeavor of the SPIN research infrastructure at the Swedish Institute for Social Research and Krzysztof Czarnecki at the Poznań University of Economics and Business.

Citation in publications using the SSFD dataset:
Czarnecki, K., Korpi, T., Nelson, K., 2021. Student support and tuition fee systems in comparative perspective. Studies in Higher Education 46, 2152–2166. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1716316

SSFD 201012 (33 Kb)

SSFD Documentation 201012 (303 Kb)

Updated: 2020-06-24 (minor updates 2020-10-12)

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