Sri Lanka
Title of the survey:
Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey.
Organization responsible for the survey:
Planning and conduct of the survey:
Department of Census and Statistics
Analysis and publication of the results:
Department of Census and Statistics
Topics covered:
Employment, unemployment, time-related underemployment, hours of work, income, duration of employment and unemployment, reasons for not seeking work, type of work sought, industry, occupation, status in employment, shift work, educational level, vocational training, usual activity and secondary jobs.
Coverage of the survey:
Geographical:
Whole country except Northern and Eastern provinces.
Population groups:
Persons 10 years and above, except the institutional population, the armed forces and family members who live away from their home.
Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:
No.
Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:
None.
Periodicity:
Conduct of the survey:
Quarterly.
Publication of results:
Quarterly.
Reference periods:
Employment:
Past week (fixed).
Seeking work:
Past week (fixed).
Availability for work:
Past week (fixed).
Concepts and definitions:
Employment:
Household members who during the reference period worked for at least one hour as paid employees, employers, own account workers (self-employed) or unpaid family workers, in family enterprises. Also included are persons who had a job but were temporarily absent from work because of such reasons as vacation, illness, bad weather, and labour management disputes, etc. It includes paid apprentices and trainees.
Unemployment:
Persons who during the reference period were available and/or looking for paid or self-employment work, and had no employment.
Underemployment:
Time-related underemployment:
Employed persons who during the reference period did not have a secondary job and were available for additional work. Those who looked for such work can be identified separately.
Inadequate employment situations:
No information provided.
Hours of work:
Hours actually worked during the week.
Employment-related income:
Income from paid employment:
Cash earnings only.
Income from self-employment:
No information provided.
Informal sector:
No information provided.
Usual activity:
Persons who during the past 12 months were employed and/or unemployed for 26 weeks or more.
Classifications:
Branch of economic activity (industry):
Title of the classification:
National classification.
Population groups classified by industry:
Employed persons.
Number of groups used for coding:
10.
Links to ISIC:
ISIC-Rev.2.
Occupation:
Title of the classification:
National classification.
Population groups classified by occupation:
Employed persons.
Number of groups used for coding:
10.
Links to ISCO:
ISCO-88.
Status in employment:
Title of the classification:
National classification.
Population groups classified by status in employment:
Employed persons.
Groups used for classification:
employee, employer, own account worker, unpaid family worker.
Links to ICSE:
ICSE-1993.
Education:
Title of the classification:
National classification.
Population groups classified by education:
Employed and unemployed persons.
Groups used for classification:
no schooling, grade 1-5, 6-10, GCE (O/L), GCE (A/L) and above.
Links to ISCED:
No.
Sample size and design:
Ultimate sampling unit:
Housing unit.
Sample size (ultimate sampling units):
Annual sample size of 16,000 housing units.
Overall sampling fraction:
Not available.
Sample frame:
The master sampling frame (list of housing units) was created for the Demographic Survey of 1994. From 2002 onwards, the 2001 Census of Population and Housing is used as the sample frame.
Updating of the sample:
Up to 2001, the list of housing units in the selected PSUs are updated prior to the survey enumeration; from 2002 onwards, the list of the Census blocks is updated prior to the survey enumeration.
Rotation:
Scheme:
Not applicable.
Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:
Not applicable.
Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:
No information provided.
Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:
No information provided.
Field work:
Type of interview:
Personal interview.
Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:
Not available.
Duration of field work:
Total:
Two weeks.
Per sample area:
One week.
Survey organization:
Permanent survey staff.
Number of field staff:
About 300 enumerators and supervisors.
Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:
No.
Estimation and adjustments:
Total non-response rate:
5%.
Adjustment for total non-response:
Yes.
Imputation for item non-response:
No.
Adjustment for areas/population not covered:
No.
Adjustment for undercoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for overcoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for seasonal variations:
No.
History of the survey:
Title and date of the first survey:
Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey - 1990.
Significant changes or revisions:
New questions were added from the first quarter of 1996.
Documentation and dissemination:
Documentation:
Survey results:
Quarterly Report of the Sri Lanka Labour force Survey; Bulletin of Labour Force (quarterly); Annual Bulletin of Labour Force-Provincial Profile.
Survey methodology:
Idem.
Dissemination:
Time needed for initial release of survey results:
About three months.
Advance information of public about date of initial release:
No.
Availability of unpublished data upon request:
Yes.
Availability of data in machine-readable form:
Diskettes and magnetic tapes.
Website:
http://www.statistics.gov.lk/.