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Educational level – the highest level of education completed by the time of the survey. People with higher education have graduated higher educational institution and their average study period is 15–16 years. According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011 vocational education based on general secondary education is considered equal to the first level of vocational higher education and is presented under higher education. People with secondary education have graduated high school, gymnasium or some other educational institution that provides secondary education and their average study period is 10–14 years. A group with basic education or with lower educational level is formed by those persons who have not acquired the secondary education (including persons without primary education).
Household – the term refers to all individuals who live in the same dwelling and share to some extent the joint budget which is usually the food budget. The household can also have only one member. Persons who are temporarily away (due to their work, studies or military service) are considered as the household members in case they have retained economic relations with their household. In case the household member is temporarily (less than 4 months) in the nursing home, he/she also belongs to the household.
Nationality – depends on a person’s self-definition and is not unambiguously related to the person's mother tongue, but should be in accordance with at least one of his/her parents' nationality.
Region of residence – the statistical classification of Estonian territorial units NUTS 3 is used to define the region, a level of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS; French: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques). NUTS is a standard for referencing subdivisions of the member countries of the European Union and it consists of a hierarchy of three levels: NUTS 1, 2 and 3, corresponding to the largest, medium and smallest subdivisions. In Estonia, NUTS 3 regions include the following counties:
Settlement type – divided by capital (Tallinn), other urban settlements and rural settlements. Other urban settlement is an administrative unit which population density is more than 100 people per square kilometer, excluding Tallinn. The administrative unit with a lower population density is considered to be a rural settlement.
Estonian family and fertility survey is an history panel study that collects data on family planning, family, work and everyday life of Estonians born in 1961–2002. The Estonian Demographic Center of Tallinn University and Kantar Emor are conducting the survey.
The survey will be conducted in three waves of data collection, with the main surveys taking place every third year (2021/2022, 2024/2025, 2027/2028). EPSU is part of the international infrastructure programme GGP2020 (Generations and Gender Programme 2020). The international project is led by the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Institute for Demography (NIDI). The GGP2020 programme has collected data on more than 200,000 people in more than 25 countries, with which Estonia can compare its data. The survey has been conducted in Estonia twice before: in 1994 and 2004 (collections of standard tables have been published for these - see publications).
EPSU aims to better understand, for example, what influences people's decisions to have children or how couples share domestic responsibilities. The results will be used to provide recommendations to policymakers, for example to support work-life balance or ensure gender equality.
The first wave of the survey was conducted from October 2021 to spring 2022. The autumn round of the second wave took place from October to December 2024 and the spring round took place from March to May 2025. The first wave of the survey collected information about the respondents' previous life path and life during the first survey wave. EPSU's second wave of the survey wanted to know how the respondents' lives have progressed. The second wave revealed how many respondents have experienced changes in their relationships, family composition, work and other areas of daily life since the first wave, but also, for example, in life satisfaction or attitudes. It also revealed how many people have found life stable in Estonia in recent years, despite the volatility of the wider world. The second wave also collected information on new topics, such as the experience of parenthood, lack of a partner, sexual orientation, and the impact of global uncertainty.
Survey questionnaires are published on the GGP2020 Estonia website: https://ggp2020eesti.ee/
Katus K, Puur A, Põldma A. Eesti Pere- ja Sündimusuuring. Teine ring, Standardtabelid: välispäritolu rahvastik. Estonian family and fertility survey. 2nd round. Standard tabulations: foreign-origin population. Tallinn: Eesti Kõrgkoolidevaheline Demouuringute Keskus; 2009.
Katus K, Puur A, Põldma A. Eesti pere- ja sündimusuuring. Teine ring. Standardtabelid. Estonian family and fertility survey. Second round, Standard tabulations. Tallinn: Eesti Kõrgkoolidevaheline Demouuringute Keskus; 2008.
Katus K, Puur A, Sakkeus L. Eesti pere- ja sündimusuuring: standardtabelid. Estonian family and fertility survey: standard tabulations. Tallinn: Eesti Kõrgkoolidevaheline Demouuringute Keskus; 1995.
additional info and questionnaires (in Estonian)
Estonian family and fertility survey
Tallinn University Estonian Demographic Center
Allan Puur puur[at]tlu.ee
Updated: 28.08.2026