Levnadsnivåundersökningen (LNU) 1981

The first survey was based on a 0.0001 random sample of the Swedish population aged 15 to 75 years of age. The interviews were made face-to-face according to a structured questionnaire covering all areas listed above. A large number of questions were asked dealing with a variety of aspects within each area.

The 1968 survey was to be repeated in 1974, and the decision was made to stick to the original sample but also include new cohorts of young people and immigrants arriving to Sweden in between the survey periods. Dropped from the sample was those above 75 years of age and those who had either emigrated or died. In 1981 the third Level of Living Survey was conducted with the same sample design and by and large with the same questionnaire.

When Johansson left the project in 1982 Robert Erikson became the project leader. Erikson was project leader for the fourth level of living survey, conducted in 1991. During the project period Jan O. Jonsson and Johan Fritzell also were directors of the survey work.

The 1991 survey was conducted with basically the same design, except for the fact that the youngest age bracket now became 18 instead of 15. The 1991 survey was enlarged in several respects. An obvious drawback of the panel design in the Level of Living Surveys is the relatively large time-span between each survey.

Partly in order to fill in these missing years the 1991 questionnaire includes a work-life history section, and educational and family histories as well, thereby broadening the longitudinal aspects of the study. A second novelty was a specific survey to all individuals previously within the sample but excluded in the 1991 survey, due to the upper age limit. The sample included all persons older than 75 in 1991 who had previously been included in the Level of Living Survey sample and had been interviewed at least once.

The interviews included most of the welfare components, with the exception of work related questions and education. Instead, more detailed data on health status and functional abilities was collected, partly by means of simple test performed during the interview. The third major extension was a separate work-place study consisting of interviews with managers at the work-places of all individuals who were employed at a work-place with at least ten employees.