Interviewer instructions
5.6 Economic activity: for persons 12 years and older
In this section, we want to find out whether a person is working or not and, if working, then what type of work he or she is doing. For those who are not working, we would like to know whether or not a person is seeking work or interested in getting work or whether a person is engaged or-involved in some other activity such that he or she is not available or interested in doing work
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of any economic kind. These questions are to be asked only of persons who are at least 12 years old on the day of enumeration. The persons who are 12 years and older can be divided into two categories:
a. Those working, or not working but interested in work (Labour Force); and
b. Those neither interested nor available for work (not in Labour Force).
Those who are in the labour force can be further classified as below:
a. Working or work assured but not yet started work.
b. Not working:
i. Able to work and actively seeking work; and
ii. Able to and interested in work though not actively seeking work.
Those who are not in labour force will include the following categories of persons:
a. Mainly looking after own household duties (housewives/homemakers), not persons who
help with household chores or looking after children;
b. Full-time students;
c. Not able to work (disabled, too old, invalids);
d. Pensioners (only those solely living on pensions);
e. Persons living only on rental incomes, past savings, interest, inheritance gambling income, etc.; and
f. Others, who are neither interested nor available for work, such as beggars, vagrants, prisoners, etc.
5.6.1 Working For Pay or Profit
We define a person as working if he or she performed some work for pay or profit. Payment may be either in cash, in the form of goods or services or in any combination of these.
Examples:
a. A person employed by someone on fixed monthly income or weekly or daily wages.
b. A person who is paid by an employer on the basis of piece work.
c. A person running his/her own business such as a marketeer, a hawker, a cobbler, a tinsmith, a bottle-store operator, a grocery/store owner, etc.
d. Two (or more) partners running a business.
e. A farmer who tills his/her own farm, with or without the help of other persons.
f. A farm labourer who is paid partly in cash and partly in terms of farm produce.
g. A person who works in a hotel and gets his wages partly in cash and partly in terms of board and lodging.
h. Some students manage to find a job during school holidays and might be working during the reference period. These should be classified as working.
Persons who had a job and would normally have worked for pay or profit or return in kind but were:
i. Prevented from working by temporary illness, bad weather, industrial dispute such as a strike or a lock-out, on suspension and;
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j. All persons who had got a new job but had not yet reported for work, are to be classified as working.
A person will be classified as working if he/she did any work for pay, profit, or family gain any time during the preceding week for a period equal to at least one working day. By 'preceding week' we mean seven days immediately before the day of enumeration.
For people in agricultural and allied operations the following activities will constitute work during the preceding week for a period equal to at least one working day:
a. Agriculture: Growing of crops, fruits and vegetables, and raising of poultry and livestock.
b. Fishing and hunting.
c. Forestry: Collecting or cutting wood, charcoal burning, gathering of honey and beeswax
from trees, gathering of mushrooms, caterpillars, etc. and collecting wild fruits, etc for sale.
Persons (housewives/homemakers) doing only household duties of looking after their own families are not to be regarded as working. Therefore, do not include housewives/homemakets who do not have paid employment or who do not work regularly in a family business or on a family farm as working. However, if a housewife/homemaker is having paid employment or works on a family farm or a family business, he/she is then to be regarded as working. Similarly, a housewife/homemaker who looks after another family and is paid for his, her work in cash or kind is to be regarded as working.
5.6.2 Seasonality
There are instances when we find people engaged in seasonal work. Seasonal work refers to a seasonal activity such as tilling the land.
5.6.3 Worked - paid non seasonal
This refers to persons who, during the reference period, performed some work for a wage or salary, in cash or in kind. The work referred to in this category is not seasonal but done throughout the year.
5.6.4 Worked - unpaid non-seasonal
This refers to persons who, during the reference period, performed non seasonal work, without a wage or salary.
5.6.5 Worked - paid seasonal
This refers to persons who performed seasonal work for a wage or salary during the reference period.
5.6.6 Worked - unpaid seasonal
This refers to persons who performed seasonal work without a wage or salary.
5.6.7 On Leave
This refers to persons who had a job and would normally have worked for pay or profit or return in kind but were on paid or unpaid vacation or study leave.
5.6.8 Unpaid Work On Household Holding Or Business.
This refers to persons who worked without pay during the reference period on a household holding or business.
5.6.9 Unemployed and Seeking Work
This refers to persons who took steps to seek paid employment or self-employment during the reference period. This will include people who:
a. Registered at an employment exchange;
b. Went to possible employers to ask for a job;
c. Wrote a letter or applied for a job;
d. Asked friends, relatives, neighbours, etc. to help them find a job; and
e. Made any effort to start business e.g. opening a market stall or clearing a piece of land say for an agricultural activity.
5.6.10 Not Seeking Work But Available For Work
This refers to persons who were not working but would like to have a job. These persons are not sure that there is any job available, or who imagine that they are over qualified, or who just say "Where can I get employment?"
5.6.11 Full Time Housewife/Homemaker
This refers to persons who are engaged in household duties in their own home; and not persons who help with household chores or looking after children.
5.6.12 Full-Time Students
This refers to persons of either sex not classified as usually economically active who attended any regular educational institution, public or private. for systematic instruction at any level of education during the reference period. Also note that those who are on holiday at enumeration time but attend an educational institution regularly are to be recorded as full time students.
5.6.13 Not Available For Work For Other Reasons
This refers to people who were not seeking work and were not housewives or homemakers during the reference period. This includes those who are sick, disabled, retired and also those who may not want to work, beggars, prisoners, vagrants, gamblers, etc.
P24: What Has Mainly Been Doing in the last 12 months?
Under this question the reference period is the last 12 months, thus, persons who will fall under these categories (i.e. worked paid non seasonal, worked unpaid non seasonal, worked paid seasonal, worked unpaid seasonal, on leave, unpaid work on a household holding or business and unemployed and seeking work) will be regarded as the "Usually Economically Active Population". The difference between P-23 and P-24 is the reference period.
Since this reference period of 12 months will be vital in capturing persons in agricultural and allied operations, the following examples are important in pinpointing such persons:-
a. Did you undertake any regular agricultural work on your own or your family's farm during this agricultural season?
b. Did you work as a farm-hand during this agricultural season?
c. Were you engaged for pay, profit or family gain mainly in fishing, hunting, charcoal burning, wood cutting, gathering mushroom or caterpillars, collecting wild fruits, etc. since 1999?
All those who answer 'Yes' to any of these questions will be considered as working and therefore, you should shade appropriately in the questionnaire.
All respondents who answer 'No" to any of these questions, that is, those who were not working. are not supposed to have any Employment Status, Occupation or Industry. Therefore, you are supposed to skip to P - 28 (Marital Status).