Transcript The Jamaican Experience Presented by Ms. Carol Coy, The

The Labour Force Survey ProcessThe 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
educational attainment
to
household
head,
Overview

Main labour related characteristics
◦ Employment,
unemployment,
employment, hours of work.

under-
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
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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 stage is a selection of areas called
enumeration districts (EDs).
Second stage is 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-toface 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 Subregional 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
