Malawi

1.Title of the survey:

Labour Force Survey, 1983.

2.Organization responsible for the survey:

National Statistical Office.

3.Coverage of the survey:

(a) Geographical:

The whole country.

(b) Persons covered:

The civilian de facto population living in private households.

Excluded are non-resident citizens, persons living in institutions, and members of the armed forces.

The economically active population comprises persons aged 10 years and over.

4.Periodicity of the survey:

The 1983 survey was a one-time survey.

5.Reference period:

The week prior to the enumeration date.

6.Topics covered:

The survey provides information on employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work, wages and income, duration of unemployment, discouraged workers, occasional workers, industry, occupation, status in employment, level of education and usual activity.

7.Concepts and definitions:

(a) Employment:

The employed are "all persons aged 10 years and over who worked for at least one hour in the past seven days before the enumeration, for wage or salary in cash or in kind, including unpaid family workers, and those who had a job or enterprise but were not working during the reference week."

Included in the definition are:

full- and part-time workers seeking other work during the reference week;
full- and part-time students working full- or part-time;
persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week while being subject to compulsory schooling;
paid apprentices and trainees;
paid participants in employment promotion schemes;
paid and unpaid family workers, including those unpaid family workers who were temporarily absent from work;
private domestic servants;
seasonal workers awaiting agricultural or other seasonal work;
members of producers' co-operatives;
persons on temporary or indefinite lay-off without pay;
persons with a job but temporary absent due to illness or injury; vacation or leave; maternity or parental leave; educational leave; absence without leave; bad weather, labour-management dispute or mechanical breakdown; other reduction in economic activity;

Excluded from the employed and considered as inactive are:

persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week, while being retired and receiving a pension;
unpaid apprentices and trainees, and unpaid participants in employment promotion schemes;
persons engaged in own housework;
persons doing unpaid community or social work.

Members of the armed forces are not covered by the survey.

(b) Underemployment:

The underemployed are those "employed persons who worked less than 30 hours during the reference week, were available for work and willing to take up additional work."

(c) Unemployment:

The unemployed are "all persons aged 10 years and over who, during the past seven days prior to enumeration, were without work, available for work, and actually seeking work."

Included are:

persons without a job and currently available for work who have made arrangements to start a new job on a date subsequent to the reference week (within four weeks);
persons who were awaiting the results of previous efforts to obtain work;
persons who were registered jobseekers at an employment office or receiving unemployment benefits (even if they did any work for pay or profit during the reference week);
full- and part-time students seeking full- or part-time work.

"Seeking work" is interpreted as having taken one or more of the following actions during the four weeks preceding the interview: visited farms, estates, work-sites, factories, labour offices, etc. in search of work; asked friends or relatives; inserted or answered advertisements; applied to firm or attended interview; made arrangements or went in search of possibilities for starting own enterprise.

(d) Hours of work:

They refer to actual hours worked during the reference week at all jobs and/or own enterprises, including overtime and waiting time on the job(s), and excluding time lost for such reasons as illness, holidays or meals. Data are collected in number of hours per day for each of the seven days prior to enumeration.

(e) Informal sector:

Questions asked on work done during the reference week include informal sector activities. However, data are not tabulated separately on this topic.

(f) Usual activity:

It refers to main and secondary occupations and industries in the 12 months prior to enumeration, during the wet and dry seasons separately.

8.Classifications used:

Both employed and unemployed persons with previous work experience are classified by industry and occupation; only employed persons are classified by status in employment. All persons aged 5 years and over and covered by the survey are classified according to their level of education.

(a) Industry:

The classification used is the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC-1968) at the 2-digit level.

(b) Occupation:

The classification used is the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-1968) at the 2-digit level.

(c) Status in employment:

The employed are classified according to the following status groups:

Mlimi (subsistance farmers),
Employee,
Family business worker (unpaid family worker),
Self-employed,
Employer.

(d) Level of education/qualifications:

All household members aged 5 years and over are classified by the highest level of education attended. Coding is done to 23 groups, as follows:

No education - one group,
Primary - groups 1 to 8,
Secondary - groups 1 to 6,
University - groups 41 to 46,
Diplomate - one group
Graduate - one group.

The classification is compatible with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-1976).

In addition, persons aged 10 years and over are classified according to the training received, if any (formal, informal/private, or on-the-job training in craft, trade, etc.).

9.Sample size and design:

(a) The sample frame:

It was based on the 1977 Population Census enumeration areas (EAs). EAs are updated through mapping exercises before a census is undertaken.

(b) The sample:

The survey uses a stratified random sampling design. The entire country was divided into two strata: rural and urban. Out of a total of 6,000 EAs for Malawi as a whole, 216 EAs were selected by systematic sampling in rural areas, and 86 EAs in urban areas. The estimated population ranged from 500 to 1,500 persons per EA. In the second stage, about 9,000 households were selected by systematic sampling, out of a total of approximately 87,000 households in the selected EAs.

(c) Rotation:

Not applicable.

10.Field work:

(a) Data collection:

Data were collected by personal interviews carried out by permanent and additional temporary staff members recruited by the National Statistical Office. Data collection started on 15th October and was finalised by 30th November 1983.

(b) Substitution of ultimate sampling units:

The sampling design did not allow for replacement or substitution.

11.Quality controls:

During field work, close supervision was exercised over enumerators, including observation of interviews, control of questions and responses to and from respondents, and retraining of field staff on the spot, wherever mistakes were being made.

12.Weighting the sample:

The survey results are expanded to the level of the total population by using the ratio estimation method.

13.Sampling errors:

Standard error of estimates (1983 Labour Force Survey)
	Total	Males	Females
Employment (size of est.)	3,120,935	1,520,780	1,600,155
Standard error	7,769	n.a.	n.a.
Unemployment (size of est.)	179,263	78,630	100,633
Standard error	798	n.a.	n.a.

14.Adjustments:

(a) Population not covered:

No adjustments were made.

(b) Under/overcoverage:

No adjustments were made.

(c) Non-response:

No adjustments were made. The non-response rate is not available.

15.Seasonal adjustment:

Since the 1983 survey was a one-time survey, no adjustment was made for seasonal variations.

16.Non-sampling errors:

Not available.

17.History of the survey:

Not relevant.

18.Documentation:

National Statistical Office: "Malawi Labour Force Survey, 1983 (Draft Report)" (Lilongwee).

In addition, non-published results can be made available upon request.