34 Differences in Income Stratification Estimates Based on Administrative and Survey Data: Evidence from Slovakia

The aim of paper is to compare income stratification estimations in Slovakia based on administrative microdata (covering the whole Slovak population) and survey microdata. According to findings differences between these two approaches are substantial. According to the survey data 42 percent of people are included in income middle class and 50 percent of Slovak economically active people earn less than 500 EUR monthly. Such a conclusion is in contradiction with reality. There are only 29 percent of Slovaks in income middle class and almost 62 percent can be considered poor. Results of comparison indicate that effective spending of public financial resources and targeted social policy require using administrative time series data from social security agency.