The Labour Force Survey Process- The Jamaican Experience

The Labour Force Survey Process- The Jamaican Experience CARICOM 2nd High Level Advocacy Forum on Statistics Presented by: Carol Coy The Statistical Institute of Jamaica

Overview • The Labour Force Survey is a household survey which has been consistently conducted in Jamaica since its inception in1968. • The Survey targets members of the civilian, non-institutional households who are 14 years old and over in all the parishes of Jamaica.

Overview • The survey is conducted on a quarterly basis and provides detailed information on a variety of issues related to the Jamaican labour market • Some of the topics covered include: • Demographics characteristics • Age, sex, relationship to household head, educational attainment

Overview • Main labour related characteristics • Employment, unemployment, under-employment, hours of work. • Other labour related characteristics • Industry, occupation, status in employment, participation rate, duration of employment, duration of unemployment, reason for not being in the labour force, employment in the informal sector etc.

Overview • Geographical Coverage: Entire country, that is, all parishes (urban and rural) • Population Coverage: Entire population excluding the following groups: • Armed forces living in barracks and foreigners. • Persons living in institutions such as prisons, place of safety and hospitals

The labour Force Survey Process • All surveys at STATIN follow the organization’s Statistical Core Process. • Involves an inter-divisional coordination process

The labour Force Survey Process • Design & planning • Data collection • Data processing • Analysis & report writing • Dissemination • Archiving • Evaluation

Design & Planning Phase • Stakeholder needs- STATIN is a member of the Labour Market Indicator Committee chaired by PIOJ and includes the Ministry of Labour • Concepts and definitions: The survey uses those developed by the ILO

Design & Planning Phase • Classification System: • Industry – Jamaica Industrial Classification JIC(2005) linked to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Rev.3 • Occupation – Jamaica Standard Occupational Classification (JSOC) 1991 • Status in Employment (Linked to international classifications: ICSE – 1993

Design & Planning Phase Sample Design • The Labour Force Survey design is a two stage stratified sample design: First stageis a selection of areas called enumeration districts (EDs). Second stageis a selection of dwellings within the selected EDs • A panel formation is used.

Design & Planning Phase Sample Design cont’d • Advantages of panel formation • Several rounds of data collection are needed to measure changes over time • Eliminates the necessity to follow movers from a dwelling since the upcoming household serves as a replacement • Minimizes respondent fatigue

Data Collection Sample Size • Over 8,000 dwellings in 508 Enumeration Districts (Eds) are visited during each labour force survey. • 8128 households visited each survey which represents approximately 1% of the number of households in Jamaica.

Data Collection • Periodicity of Survey: Four quarterly surveys are conducted each year in January, April, July and October • The reference period for the survey is usually the last working week preceding the start of the survey. • Main mode of data collection is face-to-face interview

Data Collection • Since 2013 an electronic data collection system (eDacs) has replaced paper questionnaire. Data now collected on tablet computers • 92 persons involved in the data collection process • Data collection takes on average 4 weeks

Data Processing • Data now uploaded to main office from Field offices via wireless • Followed by coding & editing Weights • The weights applied to the labour force survey data include a Non-response weight and a Post stratification weight

Data Processing • Non-Response Weight – applied at the ED level with adjustments being made for dwellings that did not respond • Post stratification weights are applied to raise the sample population to the “All Jamaica” 14 years and over population using the age/sex structure and census population totals or inter-censal estimates

Analyze & Report Reliability of the Estimates • The reliability and accuracy of estimates from a sample survey is dependent mainly on the sample design. However estimates from all surveys are subjected to errors. • Survey estimates are subjected to two types of errors: • Sampling errors • Non-sampling errors

Sampling Errors • Sampling errors occur because estimates from a survey are based on information collected from a sample rather than the population • The most common measure of the likely differences is the standard error. • The standard error indicates the extent to which a survey estimate is likely to deviate from the true population.

Non-sampling Errors • Non-sampling errors are difficult to measure and usually consist of the following: • Non-response error • Coverage error • Measurement error • Processing error

Non-sampling Errors • STATIN has implemented quality assurance procedures to reduce errors in the survey. These include: • Taking steps to prevent or minimise errors at the planning and design phases of the survey • Effective training programme for the data collection staff

Non-sampling Errors • Effective supervision of the survey • Continuous encouragement of the respondents to participate fully and answer accurately to all the questions

Expansion of the Survey • As part of its mandate STATIN at intervals reviews stakeholder needs in order to ensure that their data needs are being met. • STATIN has implemented • Estimates for underemployment since January 2010 • Estimates of informal sector employment Since 2011

Underemployment • Underemployment is time related and occurs when employed persons would like to work more hours, at the prevailing wage rates, than they actually work and are actively seeking and are available to work those additional hours

Underemployment • In order to be classified as underemployed, one must have worked less than 35 hours per week in the reference period, be available to work additional hours and is looking for additional hours of work.

Informal Sector Employment • Methodology closely follows the definition proposed by the 17th ICLS – informal sector defined according to the employment characteristics of the worker • Focused on the main job of the respondent

Informal Sector Employment • Specially developed instrument attached to the quarterly labour Force Survey • The data collection instrument was developed in collaboration with ILO Sub-regional Office in the Caribbean • Informal sector is defined only in respect of non-agricultural activities

Dissemination • Results of the survey are disseminated with a three month lag • Advance release calendar on STATIN’s web site provides stakeholders with release dates six months in advance • Data are released by press releases, posted on web site and via bulletins • Annual report provides more detailed information for the calendar year.

Dissemination • STATIN also provides anonymised micro data to clients at a cost • Labour Force data sets are provided to the UWI and UTECH for research

The Labour Force Survey Process- The Jamaican Experience