Presentation given by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis) at the Service Design and Delivery in a Digital Age - Academies for EaP countries organised by the SIGMA Programme and the GiZ Eastern Partnership Regional Fund. Topic 4: Gathering user insights and feedback.

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Life-events survey
Mainz, 27th of November 2023
© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)

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Life events as an addition to quantitative bureaucratic
burden measurements
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Quantitative
Compliance costs Qualitative
Life events survey

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Combining different civil services
into comprehensive packages
Life events: Looking at bureaucracy from the perspective of
the public
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Life event – moving house

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• Contact with civil services
• Procedure of civil services
• Satisfaction with civil services
• Sources of information
• Socio-demographic data
Subjects of the survey
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Chronology
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September 2013: Franco-German workshop on Better Regulation
June 2014: Mandate for the Federal Statistical Office by the Federal
Government
September 2013: Franco-German workshop on Better Regulation
June 2014: Mandate for the Federal Statistical Office by the Federal
Government
2015: 1st survey wave
2017: 2nd survey wave
2019: 3rd survey wave
2021: 4th survey wave
2023: 5th survey wave (in progress)

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The Survey
© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)

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22 life events of citizens
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)
Vocational training
Higher education
Driving licence/
Vehicle registration
Moving house
ID card/ passport
Marriage
Birth of a child
Childcare
Unemployment
Divorce
Starting second job
Buying a property
Tax declaration
Financial problems
Retirement
Poverty in old age
Patient decree
Voluntary work
Long-term sickness
Disability
Care dependency
Death
Corona

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11 life events of companies
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)
Business start-up
Taxes and finance
Appointment of employees
Vocational training
Health and safety at work
Construction of an establishment
Research & development, patent and trademark protection
Participation in tendering process
Importing / exporting
Discontinuation or transfer of business
Corona

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18 factors
Incorruptibility, Non-discrimination, Spatial accessibility, Trustworthiness of the authority,
Helpfulness od the staff, Expertise of the staff, Access to the right office, Access to necessary
forms, Information on the further course of action, Overall duration of process, Information
on the stage of the process, Comprehensibility of official documents, Waiting times,
Comprehensibility of the forms, Opening hours, Option of e-government, Online services,
Comprehensibility of the law
Services
164 published
Public agencies
39 published
22 life events
Results for citizens
Services
83 published
Public agencies
29 published
11 life events
Results for companies
Every service is measured on the basis of 18 factors of
satisfaction

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Birth of a child
Health insurance
Register Office
In case of minor parents:
Appointment of a
legal custodian
Youth
welfare
service
Life event Public agency Public service Factor
Reporting a pregnancy
Registration of a child
Issuing a birth certificate
In case of unmarried parents:
to father a child
Average satisfaction of every public agency
forms the satisfaction with the specific life
event
Average satisfaction of
related services forms the
satisfaction of the agency
(weighted)
Average satisfaction of every factor form the
satisfaction of the specific service
Rating of every factor on a scale from -2
(very unsatisfied) to +2 (very satisfied)
Incorruptibility
Non-discrimination
Spatial accessibility
Trustworthiness of the authority
Helpfulness od the staff
Expertise of the staff
Access to the right office
Access to necessary forms
Information on the further course of action
Overall duration of process
Information on the stage of the process
Comprehensibility of official documents
Waiting times
Comprehensibility of the forms
Opening hours
Option of e-government
Online services
Comprehensibility of the law

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The live events survey asks citizens and companies how satisfied they are with public services. They are asked how satisfied they are when dealing
with public services connected with 22 (11 in case of companies) live events. Participants are asked to measure their satisfaction on a five points
scale from -2 (extremely dissatisfied) to +2 (very satisfied).
6 081 persons and 2 591 companies participated in the last wave (2021) of the survey. They individually had the chance to voice their satisfaction
with public services connected with up to 3 live events. The result was 7 570 (3 285) data points in total regarding satisfaction with the public
sector.
2021: 4th survey wave
Live events:
Citizens (22)
Companies (11)
Public administrations:
Citizens (39)
Companies (33)
Services:
Citizens (136)
Companies (88)
Factors of satisfication:
Citizens (18)
Companies (18)

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Research design
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)
Stratified random sample
• 6081 citizens
• 2591 companies
Number of interviews 4th wave (2021)
Period: February 2019 to May 2021

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Journey mapping
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- Taking the viewpoint of an average citizen
- Examine every step of a life event
- factors of satisfaction form satisfaction with a
public service form satisfaction with a public
agency form satisfaction with the life event.
© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)

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Results
© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)

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Satisfaction by life event – Citizens
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)
• Application for government ID
• Patient decree
• Moving house
• Marriage
• Long-term sickness
• Driving licence/vehicle registration
• Death of a family member/close friend
• Birth of a child
• Voluntary work for a club or society
• Vocational training
• Childcare
• Tax declaration
• Higher education
• Care dependency
• Buying a property
• Retirement
• Disability
• Poverty in old age
• Unemployment
• Corona
• Divorce
• Financial Problems
• Average
1,5
1,5
1,3
1,3
1,3
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,1
1,1
1,0
1,0
1,0
0,9
0,9
0,9
0,8
0,8
0,7
1,1

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Satisfaction by factor – citizens
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)
• Incorruptibility
• Non-discrimination
• Spatial accessibility
• Trustworthiness of the authority
• Helpfulness od the staff
• Expertise of the staff
• Access to the right office
• Access to necessary forms
• Information on the further course of act
• Overall duration of process
• Information on the stage of the process
• Comprehensibility of official documents
• Waiting times
• Comprehensibility of the forms
• Opening hours
• Option of e-government
• Online services
• Comprehensibility of the law
• Average
1,8
1,7
1,4
1,4
1,3
1,2
1,1
1,0
1,0
1,0
1,0
0,9
0,8
0,8
0,8
0,6
0,5
0,4
1,1

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Satisfaction by life event – Companies
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)
• Vocational training
• Importing/ exporting
• Research & Development, patent and trademark prote
• Business start-up
• Discontinuation or transfer of business
• Appointment of employees
• Health and safety at work
• Corona (covid 19)
• Participation in tendering process
• Taxes and finances
• Construction of an establishment
• Average

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Satisfaction by factor – Companies
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)
• Non-discrimination
• Incorruptibility
• Trustworthiness of the authority
• Accessibility of government offices
• Helpfulness of staff
• Expertise of staff
• Access to the right office
• Access of necessary forms
• Information on the stage of the process
• Comprehensibility of official documents
• Information on the further course of action
• Overall duration of process
• Option of e-government
• Comprehensibility of the forms
• Opening hours
• Waiting times
• Online-services
• Comprehensibility of the law
• Average
1,9
1,8
1,3
1,2
1,2
1,1
1,0
0,9
0,8
0,8
0,8
0,8
0,7
0,7
0,6
0,6
0,2
1,0

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Option of e-government
Non-discrimination
Expertise of the staff
Overall duration of process
Helpfulness od the staff
Information on the stage of the process
Information on the further course of act
Online services
Spatial accessibility
Incorruptibility
Comprehensibility of the forms
Comprehensibility of the law
Comprehensibility of official documents
Trustworthiness of the authority
Waiting times
Access of necessary forms
Access to the right office
Opening hours
Average
Application
for
government
ID
Patient
decree
Moving
house
Marriage
Long-term
sickness
Driving
licence
Death
of
a
family
member
Birth
of
a
child
Voluntary
work
for
a
club
Vocational
training
Childcare
Tax
declaration
Higher
education
Care
dependency
Buying
a
property
Retirement
Disability
Poverty
in
old
age
Unemployment
Corona
Divorce
Financial
Problems
Average

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Non-discrimination
Incorruptibility
Trustworthiness of the authority
Spatial accessibility
Helpfulness od the staff
Expertise of staff
Access to the right office
Access of necessary forms
Information on the stage of the process
Comprehensibility of official documents
Information on the further course of action
Overall duration of process
Option of e-government
Comprehensibility of the forms
Opening hours
Waiting times
Online-services
Comprehensibility of the law
Average Vocational
training
Importing/
exporting
Research
&
Development,
patent
and
trademark
protection
Business
start-up
Discontinuation
or
transfer
of
business
Appointment
of
employees
Health
and
safety
at
work
Corona
(covid
19)
Participation
in
tendering
process
Taxes
and
finances
Construction
of
an
establishment
Average

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Most important reasons for dissatisfaction with larger
terms indicating a higher frequency.
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)

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Usage of media for ordinary private activities (left side) and for
communicating with public authorities (right side)
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Data Usage
© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)

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Projects related to improving civil services
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© Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis)