Tanzania, United Rep. of

Title of the survey:

Labour Force Survey.

Organization responsible for the survey:

Planning and conduct of the survey:

National Bureau of Statistics in cooperation with the Labour Department.

Analysis and publication of the results:

National Bureau of Statistics in cooperation with the Labour Department.

Topics covered:

Employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work (usual hours of work, hours actually worked), income from employment, informal sector employment, type of work place, duration of employment, duration of unemployment, discouraged workers, industry, occupation, status in employment, education and qualification levels, usual activity, second jobs.

Coverage of the survey:

Geographical:

Tanzania Mainland. The islands of Zanzibar are not covered.

Population groups:

The survey covers the usual residents of private dwellings in Tanzania Mainland, irrespective of their citizenship. Persons living in institutions are not covered. Excluded are foreign diplomats resident in Tanzania.

Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:

Yes, from similar surveys conducted in Zanzibar and from population censuses.

Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:

None.

Periodicity:

Conduct of the survey:

Every ten years. Data are collected during a period of 12 months divided into four quarters. The last survey was undertaken during the period April 2000-March 2001. The present description refers to the Labour Force Survey 1990/1991 which was conducted during the period October 1990-September 1991.

Publication of results:

Every ten years.

Reference periods:

Employment:

Moving reference period of one week, i.e. the last full calendar week (Monday to Sunday) prior to the interview date.

Seeking work:

Moving reference period of four weeks prior to the interview date.

Availability for work:

Moving reference period of one week, i.e. the last full calendar week (Monday to Sunday) prior to the interview date.

Concepts and definitions:

Employment:

Persons aged 10 years or over who did some work (i.e. for at least one hour) during the reference week, either as employees for payment in cash or in kind, or as self-employed persons (including farmers) for profit or family gain.

Included are: (a) contributing family workers at work during the reference week; (b) full- or part-time workers seeking other work; (c) persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week but who were subject to compulsory schooling, or retired and receiving a pension; (d) fulltime students working part-time; (e) part-time students working full- or part-time; (f) paid or unpaid apprentices and trainees; and (g) persons engaged in the production of goods for own final use. Also included are persons with a job or enterprise who were temporarily absent from work during the reference week, but definitely going to return to it, because of: (a) illness or injury, (b) vacation or annual leave, (c) maternity or paternity leave, (d) educational or training leave, (e) labour management dispute, (f) bad weather, mechanical breakdown, etc, or (g) temporary lay-off without pay. The duration of absence is limited to four months for employees and to one month for self-employed persons.

Excluded are: (a) contributing family workers not at work during the reference week; (b) casual workers not at work during the reference week; (c) employees absent from work for more than four months; (d) self-employed persons absent from work for more than one month; (e) persons on indefinite lay-off without pay; and (f) persons rendering unpaid or personal services to members of their own household.

Unemployment:

Two definitions are used: (1) persons aged 10 years or over who were not employed during the reference week, were available for work during the reference week, and had taken active steps to find work during the last four weeks; and (2) persons aged 10 years or over who were not employed during the reference week, and who were available for work during the reference week. The following are considered as active steps to find work: applied to prospective employers; checked at farms, factories or work sites; asked friends and relatives; took action to start business; took action to start agriculture; other.

Included are: (a) persons without work and available for work, who had made arrangements to start a new job on a date subsequent to the reference week (definitions 1 and 2); (b) persons without work and available for work, who were trying to establish their own enterprise (definitions 1 and 2); (c) persons without work and available for work, but not seeking work for reasons other than (a) or (b) above (definition 2); (d) persons seeking work and/or available for work who were subject to compulsory schooling, or retired and receiving a pension (definitions 1 and 2); (e) full-time students seeking and/or available for full- or part-time work (definitions 1 and 2); and (f) part-time students seeking and/or available for full- or part-time work (definitions 1 and 2). Excluded are persons without work and available for work, who were not seeking work for reasons other than (a) and (b) above (definition 1), or persons without work who were not available for work (definitions 1 and 2).

Underemployment:

Time-related underemployment:

Employed persons who worked less than 40 hours during the reference week for an economic reason, and who were available to work more hours.

Inadequate employment situations:

This topic is not covered by the survey.

Hours of work:

Usual hours of work per week and hours actually worked during the reference week. For both usual hours of work and hours actually worked, information is collected separately for the main economic activity and any other economic activity.

Employment-related income:

Income from paid employment:

Gross wages or salaries received in cash during the last month for the total of all paid employment jobs. Wages or salaries in kind are excluded.

Income from self-employment:

Net profit obtained from the business or businesses during the last week or month. For self-employed persons engaged in non-agricultural activities, the net profit is derived from questions on gross income and operating expenses; for self-employed persons engaged in agriculture, the information on net profit is obtained directly.

Informal sector:

Persons working in enterprises that (i) are not government units, parastatals, CCM party organizations or formally established co-operatives, (ii) employ less than six paid employees, and (iii) are located in a temporary structure, on a footpath or street, or have no fixed location. Traditional agriculture, livestock and fishing, as well as professional or business services and other enterprises with distinct formal characteristics, are excluded. Households employing paid domestic workers are included.

Usual activity:

Usual economic activity refers to the main activity status during a reference period of one year, i.e. the 12 full calendar months preceding the interview date. Persons aged 10 years or over are considered usually active if they worked or were available for work during six or more of the 12 reference months. Usually active persons are sub-divided into usually employed persons and usually unemployed persons. Usually employed persons are those who worked during half or more of the economically active months. Usually unemployed persons are those who spent more than half of the economically active months not working and available for work.

Classifications:

Branch of economic activity (industry):

Title of the classification:

Tanzanian adaptation of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC-Rev.2); additional codes are created to describe informal sector activities.

Population groups classified by industry:

Employed persons.

Number of groups used for coding:

Groups at the 4-digit level.

Links to ISIC:

ISIC-Rev.2.

Occupation:

Title of the classification:

Tanzania Standard Classification of Occupations (TASCO).

Population groups classified by occupation:

Employed persons and unemployed persons.

Number of groups used for coding:

Groups at the 4-digit level.

Links to ISCO:

ISCO-88.

Status in employment:

Title of the classification:

National classification of status in employment.

Population groups classified by status in employment:

Employed persons.

Groups used for classification:

(a) Paid employees; (b) self-employed persons (non-agricultural activities) with employees; (c) self-employed persons (non-agricultural activities) without employees; (d) unpaid family helpers (non-agricultural activities); (e) persons working on their own or family farm or shamba.

Links to ICSE:

Partially.

Education:

Title of the classification:

National classification of levels of educational attainment.

Population groups classified by education:

All persons aged 10 years or over.

Groups used for classification:

(a) None; (b) primary not completed; (c) primary completed; (d) secondary up to Form 2; (e) secondary up to Form 4; (f) secondary up to Form 6; (g) university.

Links to ISCED:

No information provided.

Sample size and design:

Ultimate sampling unit:

Household.

Sample size (ultimate sampling units):

7,762 households.

Overall sampling fraction:

About 0.2 percent of households.

Sample frame:

A National Master Sample (NMS) comprising 122 urban enumeration areas and 50 rural villages was used as area sample frame for the survey. Prior to the survey, households were listed in all the enumeration areas and villages included in the NMS.

Updating of the sample:

The sample will be updated after the cartographic work for the Population Census 2002 has been completed.

Rotation:

Scheme:

No sample rotation. The survey sample is divided into four independent quarterly sub-samples.

Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:

Not applicable.

Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:

Not applicable.

Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:

Not applicable.

Field work:

Type of interview:

Information is obtained through personal interviews.

Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:

30-35 households per urban enumeration area; 80 households per rural village.

Duration of field work:

Total:

One year.

Per sample area:

14 days for urban enumeration areas and 27 days for rural villages.

Survey organization:

Field staff is recruited for every survey round.

Number of field staff:

No information provided.

Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:

No replacement is made for non-responding households.

Estimation and adjustments:

Total non-response rate:

2.4 percent of sample households.

Adjustment for total non-response:

Yes.

Imputation for item non-response:

No.

Adjustment for areas/population not covered:

Not applicable.

Adjustment for undercoverage:

Yes.

Adjustment for overcoverage:

Not applicable.

Adjustment for seasonal variations:

Not applicable.

History of the survey:

Title and date of the first survey:

The first Labour Force Survey of Tanzania was conducted in 1965.

Significant changes or revisions:

No labour force survey was undertaken during the period 1966-1989. The Labour Force Surveys 1990/91 and 2000/01 were based on the recommendations adopted by the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians. Modules on child labour and on the informal sector were added to the Labour Force Survey 2000/01.

Documentation and dissemination:

Documentation:

Survey results:

Bureau of Statistics and Labour Department, Tanzania (Mainland), The Labour Force Survey 1990/91, June 1993.

Survey methodology:

Bureau of Statistics and Labour Department, Tanzania (Mainland), The Labour Force Survey 1990/91, Technical Report, June 1993.