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Design and Implementation of Labour Force Surveys

Yandiswa MpetsheniSouth Africa

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Contents

• Background• LFS Processes• Informal sector surveys • The redesign of the LFS• Core objective of the new LFS• What re-engineering involves• Major implications of re-engineering• Progress to date• Important milestones• Challenges

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Background

Sources of household-based labour market information:

• The October Household Survey (OHS) annually 1995-1999

• The Labour Force Survey (LFS) – in Mar, Sep each year since 2000

• The General Household Survey (GHS) – in July each year since 2002

• The Community Survey – February 2007

• The Population Census, 1996, 2001

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The LFS is the principal vehicle for collecting current labour market information

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Supplements added in March & September each year

• Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWP) since Sep’05

• Agriculture since Mar’01

• Volunteer work since Sep’01

Supplements added in September each year

• Migrant workers since Sep’02 (except Sep’06)

Supplements added intermittently

• Survey of Employers and the Self-employed (SESE) - Mar’01, Sep’05

• Child Labour - some questions included in LFS Mar’05

• Deaths – once off in Mar’02 (subsequently moved to GHS).

Questionnaire developed in 1999

The LFS process: Questionnaire

Child Labour stand-alone survey in 1999

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SURVEY OF EMPLOYERS SURVEY OF EMPLOYERS AND SELF-EMPLOYEDAND SELF-EMPLOYED

(SESE)(SESE)

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Purpose

• To determine the contribution of the informal sector to the SA economy

• (through interviewing the owners of small businesses)

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• Not a stand alone household-based survey – March 2001, done in conjunction with LFS

– Sep 2005 – screening during LFS data collection SESE collection 4 weeks later

– Sub-set of LFS sample

– Only businesses that are not registered for VAT

SESE DESIGN

Preferred supplier of quality statistics

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Challenges SESE 2001

Run any business (Q2.1 (a) (LFS 2, 3 & 4)

500

1 000

1 500

2 000

2 500

3 000

1 000

Run Bus 1 818 2 536 1 750

Sep'00 Mar'01 Sep'01

•Extra money for SESE qn•“Fabrication / manufacturing” of businesses

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Challenges SESE 2005

• The screening process implement to reduce the incidence of fabrication

But

• Collection done 4 weeks after LFS reference period recall bias

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• A module will be attached to LFS in Sep 2009

• The informal sector module is work in progress. According to the latest LFS proportion of people engaged in the IS was 16%, formal sector – 66. 4%, domestic work 8% and Agriculture – 8.8%

Addressing challenges in the informal sector

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The LFS process: Sampling and fieldwork

• Sampling: Master sample introduced in 1999 and updated on an annual basis.

• Fieldwork: undertaken by contract staff in March and September

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The LFS process: Data Processing

• Questionnaires centrally processed after the end of data collection

• Questionnaires scanned since 2000

• Manual capture of listings

• No imputation

• Data sets ready for analysis six months after the end of data collection

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The LFS process: Analysis & Dissemination

Analysis

• Not all the information collected is analysed

• No in-depth analysis of results undertaken at this stage

• Two unemployment rates 1997- 2005

Dissemination

• Press Conference to release results

• Hard copy, web, datasets

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• Concerns raised about LFS:– Frequency– Timeliness – Coverage– analysis

• IMF evaluation and recommendations June 2005• Decision to re-engineer LFS Aug 2005

The re-design of the LFS

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Core objectives of new LFS

To make reliable core labour force indicators available quarterly, four weeks after reference period;

and

Supplementary data available annually, six months after the year end

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LFS Sep’05 New Core LFS

Household questionnaire

(128)

1.Demographics (28)

2.Work activities (8)

3.Unemployment & inactivity (17)

4.Employment (39)

5.EPWP (8)

6.Agriculture (5)

7.Migrants (17)

8.Hhold business (6)

Section 1: Household

questions (8)

Section 2-4: Individual

questions (53)

Supplements

Frequency ?

Non-core moved to annual collection in LFS or GHS

1.Demographics (4) 2. Work activities (8)

3. Unemployment & inactivity (18)

4. Employment (27)

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What re-engineering involves

• Redesigning the master sample

• Clarifying labour market concepts

• Improving questionnaire including translations

• Improving field operations

• Designing editing and imputation system

• Enhancing tabulation and analysis

• Improving dissemination

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Concepts that have been reviewed

• Employment: based only on market activities

• Availability: used to be based in the future now corresponds with reference week for employment (past week)

• Formal and informal sector: respondents

used to classify themselves now a more objective criteria is used

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Benefits of the quarterly LFS

1. Appointment of a permanent fieldwork force

2. Continuous data collection

3. Continuous update of the master sample

4. Better control of field work processes (Real time Management system)

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Progress to date

1. Development work started in October 2005 until December 2007

2. Consultants appointed

3. ILO consulted on concepts and definitions

4. QLFS launched in January 2008

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Important milestones

Consultation with other African countries: Dec 2006

Old and new LFS parallel run: 9 provinces Jan – Mar and Jul – Sep 2008

Establish link factors between old and new LFS (March series: June 2008

Publish results: 28 Aug 2008

Establish link factors between the old and new LFS (September series)

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Challenges

Gender mainstreaming not taken care of

More needs to be done in understanding and measuring the informal sector

Deciding on supplements to be attached to QLFS

Perceived break of series even with link factors

Management of full time permanent fieldworkers.

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EnkosiRealeboha

SiyathokozaNakhensa

NdolivhuwaDankie

Thank youZikomo

ObrigadaOndapandula

MerciAsante sana