Latvia
Title of the survey:
Latvian Labour Force Survey
Organization responsible for the survey:
Planning and conduct of the survey:
Central Statistical Bureau.
Analysis and publication of the results:
Central Statistical Bureau.
Topics covered:
Employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work, wages, source of income, duration of unemployment, discouraged workers, occasional workers, industry, occupation, status in employment, educational level, usual activity, second jobs and previous working experience.
Coverage of the survey:
Geographical:
Whole country.
Population groups:
All persons aged 15 years old and above living in private households during the reference week. Excluded are household members absent from a household for more than 3 months (such as conscripts, students living in hostels, sailors, etc.), as well as institutional population (inmates of penal and mental institutions, hospitals, prisons, etc.).
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:
Bi-annually.
Publication of results:
Bi-annually.
Reference periods:
Employment:
One week (last seven days prior to the date of the interview).
Seeking work:
Four weeks prior to the date of the interview.
Availability for work:
Two weeks following the date of the interview.
Concepts and definitions:
Employment:
Employed are all persons aged 15 years and above who, during of reference period, (a) performed some work for at least one hour for pay or profit (in cash or in kind); (b) did not work but had jobs or an enterprise from which they were temporarily absent due to vacation/annual leave, illness, vocational training leave or other similar reason. In addition, considered as employed are persons who performed some paid or unpaid community and social work as well as women on child-care leave until the child’s age of three months.
Also included in the totals are:
- full- and part-time workers seeking other work during the reference period;
- full- and part-time students working full- or part-time;
- persons who performed some work during the reference week while being either retired and receiving a pension, or were registered as job seekers at an employment office or receiving unemployment benefits;
- paid and unpaid family workers (if they worked at least one hour);
- persons engaged in production of goods for own final use.
Unemployment:
Unemployed are all persons of 15 years and above, whether or not registered with the State Employment Board, who:
- did not work at all during the reference week nor were temporarily absent from work;
- were actively looking for work during the four weeks previous to the interview;
- were available to start work within the two weeks following the survey week.
Also included in the unemployed are persons who were not actively looking for work because they found a job and made arrangements to take up paid employment at a date subsequent to the reference period.
Underemployment:
Time-related underemployment:
Persons who, during the reference week, worked less than established regular hours due to economic reasons (against their will).
Inadequate employment situations:
Persons who were seeking another job with better working conditions (salary, location, professional background etc.).
Hours of work:
Usual and actual hours worked in the main job. Hours actually worked for in secondary job(s).
Employment-related income:
Income from paid employment:
Gross wages including taxes in the main job for the full calendar month.
Income from self-employment:
Not applicable.
Informal sector:
Not applicable.
Usual activity:
Yes.
Classifications:
Branch of economic activity (industry):
Title of the classification:
Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in European Community (NACE Rev. 1,).
Population groups classified by industry:
Employed persons and unemployed persons with previous job experience (if they had a job during the last three years).
Number of groups used for coding:
33.
Links to ISIC:
ISIC-Rev.3 (2 digit level).
Occupation:
Title of the classification:
Latvian Classification of Occupations.
Population groups classified by occupation:
Employed persons and unemployed persons with previous work experience (if they had a job during the last three years).
Number of groups used for coding:
Numerous.
Links to ISCO:
ISCO-88.
Status in employment:
Title of the classification:
ICSE (International Classification by Status in Employment).
Population groups classified by status in employment:
Employed persons and unemployed persons with previous work experience (if they had a job during the last three years).
Groups used for classification:
4 groups (employees, employers, own-account workers, unpaid family workers).
Links to ICSE:
ICSE-1993.
Education:
Title of the classification:
National classification is used.
Population groups classified by education:
Total population, employed, unemployed and inactive persons.
Groups used for classification:
8 groups (no formal education, incomplete primary, primary, vocational, general secondary, technical secondary, specialized secondary, higher).
Links to ISCED:
Not fully comparable with ISCED.
Sample size and design:
Ultimate sampling unit:
For rural areas – household; for urban areas – individuals.
Sample size (ultimate sampling units):
About 8,000 households.
Overall sampling fraction:
Approximately 0.75 %.
Sample frame:
The sample frame for urban areas is drawn from the Population Register. The sample frame for rural areas is built up on the complete list of households.
Updating of the sample:
The last updating was made in 1998.
Rotation:
Scheme:
Each household is retained in the survey for three consecutive rounds. This rotation scheme provides that one-third of households within each town selected for the sample are replaced in a new round. As for the rural areas, all households are replaced in one-third of primary sampling units ("pagasts").
Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:
66.7 per cent.
Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:
9.
Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:
18 months.
Field work:
Type of interview:
Paper and pencil (face to face interview).
Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:
Seven in rural primary sampling units (PSUs); from 15 to 459 in urban PSUs.
Duration of field work:
Total:
A calendar month.
Per sample area:
A calendar month.
Survey organization:
No information provided.
Number of field staff:
Approximately 631 persons and 31 supervisors.
Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:
No.
Estimation and adjustments:
Total non-response rate:
In May 1999: 9.46%; in May 2000: 10.12%.
Adjustment for total non-response:
Yes.
Imputation for item non-response:
No.
Adjustment for areas/population not covered:
Yes.
Adjustment for undercoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for overcoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for seasonal variations:
No.
History of the survey:
Title and date of the first survey:
Latvian Labour Force Survey, November 1995.
Significant changes or revisions:
Starting with May 1997, indicators such as activity rate, employment participation rate and unemployment rate are also calculated at regional level.
Documentation and dissemination:
Documentation:
Survey results:
"Labour Force in Latvia" (bi-annually), "Monthly Bulletin of Latvian Statistics" (bi-annually).
Survey methodology:
"Labour Force in Latvia" (bi-annually).
Dissemination:
Time needed for initial release of survey results:
Four months.
Advance information of public about date of initial release:
Yes.
Availability of unpublished data upon request:
Yes.
Availability of data in machine-readable form:
Diskettes.
Website:
http://www.csb.lv/ (selected information).