Venezuela

1.Title of the survey:

Household Sample Survey (Encuesta de Hogares).

2.Organization responsible for the survey:

Central Office of Statistics and Information Processing (Oficina Central de Estadística e Informática).

3.Coverage of the survey:

(a) Geographical:

The whole country.

(b) Persons covered:

"The whole population of the country, excluding the population living in collective households (i.e. hotels, hospitals, barracks, prisons, convents, etc.), the indigenous (forest) population in the south of the country, and the population of the Federal Dependencies.

However, families forming independent groups and living in the above-mentioned households, such as directors of centres, custodians and porters, are included in the survey, as are members of the armed forces."

The economically active population comprises persons aged 15 years and over.

4.Periodicity of the survey:

The survey is half yearly, and conducted on a continuous basis.

5.Reference period:

The week preceding the interview week.

6.Topics covered:

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

7.Concepts and definitions:

(a) Employment:

"Employed persons are all persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference period, are working or have employment, whether or not they receive a remuneration, and whether they work full time or part time.

Persons employed for payment are persons receiving a salary, wage, daily pay or other kind of income or compensation in cash or kind for their work as wage earner or salaried employee, self-employed worker, owner or employer. Employed persons who do not receive cash payment are generally styled "family workers" and are defined as persons who work without cash payment in an economic enterprise run by another member of the family with which they live, provided they have not looked for work during the reference period of the survey.

Included in the employed are all persons aged 15 years and over who:

  1. are working, that is, are doing any work for payment in cash or in kind during the reference period, even for only one hour; or
  2. have employment but are not working, that is, persons who are temporarily absent from work in the specified period because of illness or accident, labour-management dispute (without loss of job), holidays or other leave, or interruption of work because of specific reasons, such as bad weather or mechanical breakdown, whether or not they are paid during the period in which they did not work; or
  3. are owners or employers or self-employed workers, classified as 'working' or 'not working' in the same way as other employed persons; or
  4. are unpaid family workers, that is, persons who usually help to run a business and/or farm belonging to any member of the household or family, provided they worked for at least one-third of the normal working time during the specified period (15 hours a week), and did not take steps to find work in the reference period."

Also included are:

  1. full- and part-time workers seeking other work during the reference week;
  2. full- and part-time students working full- or part-time;
  3. participants in employment promotion schemes;
  4. paid and unpaid apprentices and trainees;
  5. private domestic servants;
  6. seasonal workers awaiting agricultural or other seasonal work;
  7. members of producers' co-operatives;
  8. volunteer and career members of the armed forces;
  9. persons doing civilian service equivalent to military service.

Excluded from the employed and considered as inactive are:

  1. persons who did any work for pay or profit during the reference period while being subject to compulsory schooling; or retired and receiving a pension;
  2. persons only engaged in their own housework;
  3. persons doing unpaid community or social work.
  4. conscripts.

(b) Underemployment:

"Underemployed persons are those persons who work less than is normal and are able and willing to work more. They include persons whose occupational or technical abilities would enable them to improve their economic condition and productivity if they worked in more productive employment or changed their occupation.

The survey shows two types of underemployment:

  1. Visible underemployment, shown by shorter than usual hours of work; this is characteristic of persons who, against their will, work only part time;
  2. Invisible underemployment, characteristic of persons who do not work abnormally short hours but whose activities do not enable them to make full use of their qualifications or abilities."

(c) Unemployment:

Unemployed persons are "all persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference period, were not working because they had lost their job and are looking for paid work, and persons who had never worked and are seeking their first job or paid work.

Included are persons in the following categories:

  1. workers available for work, whose labour contract has expired or is temporarily suspended, who are without work at the time of the survey and are looking for paid work and taking steps of any kind to find it;
  2. persons who had not previously worked, and persons whose most recent occupational category was not that of employee (owners or employers, self-employed workers, etc.), or persons who were inactive and who are at present available and are looking for paid work;
  3. persons without a job who at the time of the survey were available for work and had found a new job that was to start at a date after the specified period (within 30 days);
  4. persons penalized by being laid off temporarily or for an indefinite period without pay;
  5. unpaid family workers who were looking for work during the reference week;
  6. persons who were available for work and did not look for work because, for example, they believed there was no work available, they were awaiting a job, they were not prepared for work, they did not know where or how to look for work, or they were about to set up a business."

Also included among the unemployed are: persons who performed any work for pay or profit during the reference while being registered as jobseekers at an employment office, or receiving unemployment benefits; and full- or part-time students seeking full-time or part-time work.

To determine whether a person is "looking for work", the following criteria are used: registration with a public or private employment office; standing by in expectation of being called to a staff office, register of employees or other kind of register; waiting at a designated labour pickup point; making appointments with potential employers; inserting and replying to advertisements; writing letters of application for employment; making contact with a trade union or other labour organisation; investigating the possibility of setting up a professional practice or opening a business.

(d) Hours of work:

Actual hours worked during the reference week in the main and secondary occupation(s) are investigated, including hours worked without compensation on work connected with employment. Excluded are meal breaks or other free time granted from one day to another. Actual hours worked are counted in hours and minutes, 30 minutes or more being counted as a full hour, and the results are submitted as the number of hours worked weekly.

Also investigated are the hours normally worked in all jobs or businesses by persons with work who are temporarily absent from their work.

(e) Informal sector:

"This includes all persons who are employed as domestic servants and non-professional own-account workers, as well as employers, employees (wage earners and salaried employees) and family workers working in enterprises which occupy less than five persons."

(f) Usual activity:

It relates to the activity in which the person surveyed spends most of his/her time, or which provides the highest income.

8.Classifications used:

Employed persons and unemployed persons with previous work experience are classified by industry, occupation and status in employment. All persons covered by the survey are classified according to their level of education.

(a) Industry:

The International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC-1968) is used and coding is done to the 3-digit level.

(b) Occupation:

The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-1968) is used and coding is done to the 2-digit level.

(c) Status in employment:

It is coded to one digit only, according to the following groups:
  1. Public sector salaried employee,
  2. Public sector wage earner,
  3. Private sector salaried employee,
  4. Private sector wage earner,
  5. Own-account worker,
  6. Employer,
  7. Unpaid family worker

(d) Level of education/qualifications:

Level of education is coded to three digits, and includes the year or level (first digit) and the educational field (two digits).

The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) is not used.

9.Sample size and design:

(a) The sample frame:

This consists of all the segments and sectors into which the national territory was divided for the purposes of the 1981 General Population and Housing Census. In the urban area, sectors consist of approximately 1,000 dwellings and are subdivided into segments which comprise about 200 dwellings each. In the rural area, sectors are not subdivided and consist of approximately 200 dwellings each. These divisions are mutually exclusive and their limits are clearly described and identified, as part of the cartographical material of the census. Processing the census material for the segments and sectors gives the definitive number of dwellings, and this number will serve as a measure of size for selection of the sample.

In principle, the sample frame is formed by the list of segments and/or sectors with the number of dwellings and the cumulated total for each region. Each sector and segment is given a code by which the Entity, District, Municipality, Locality, Sector and Segment can be identified. To ensure that the sample contains segments of thickly and thinly populated centres, segments are classified according to whether they belong to large and small population centres and are then systematically selected. Each segment (sector) in the frame is divided into areas of approximately 50 dwellings, and a list of households was made in each area selected.

The frame is updated in two ways, one for the areas already included in the sample, by including new dwelling units in those areas, and the other by including sectors of new buildings.

The Southern Region does not form part of the sample frame, for reasons of cost and inaccessibility. This region represents 1.67 per cent of the total population of the country, and 30 per cent of the national territory, with a population density of 0.58.

(b) The sample:

The sample is based on a three-stage probability design where each household is selected with equal probability. First, census segments and sectors are selected with probability proportional to the number of dwellings at the time of the census; the secondary sampling units are the areas, which comprise approximately 50 dwellings each, also selected with probability proportional to the number of dwellings at the time of the census. The ultimate sampling units are households, selected with equal probability within each selected area (systematic sampling). About five households are selected from each area, thus providing a total of 10 households per segment. In rural sectors, the 10 households are selected within the single area which forms part of the sample.

The sample of households is updated by including in the lists newly constructed or previously omitted buildings, and a sample of such households is selected with the same sampling interval. Housing units which have been demolished or converted to non-residential use are simply eliminated, and even if they were selected for the sample are not replaced.

Once the segments are selected in each region they are distributed at random in 22 weeks of the half-year, each being allotted a 4-digit number for identification purposes.

The sample size at national level is approximately 38,041 households.

(c) Rotation:

The rotation plan is based on a cycle of six samples, In each half-year period, 1/6 of the sample is rotated by replacing the groups of dwellings (sets of housing units selected in an area) and introducing new ones. Replacement of the groups takes place in different rotation semesters. This rotation plan allows 5/6 of the sample to be superimposed between one half-year period and the next.

Each sampling unit is interviewed a maximum of six times and the sample is completely renewed after six half-year periods.

10.Field work:

(a) Data collection:

The Directorate of Operations at the Central Office of Statistics and Information Processing is responsible for planning, co-ordinating, carrying out and supervising field operations, and has a permanent staff engaged solely on the Household Sample Survey.

Data collection is by personal interview, at which the interviewer obtains all information from a member of the household who is aged over 15 years.

The survey is made from January to June for the first half-year and from July to December for the second half-year.

(b) Substitution of ultimate sampling units:

Households which have not been interviewed for reason of absence or refusal are replaced by the next household on the list.

11.Quality controls:

During the data collection period, the re-interview process is carried out. This consists in collecting for the second time, independently and by other interviewers, the information needed for a subsample of the original sample. Later on this information is collated in order to investigate inconsistencies and quantify errors by applying quality indicators.

Once the data reaches the office a coder examines and codes it. A quality control plan detects errors in each lot of forms and coding and rejects any lot that is not up to standard, and at the same time checks each coder's work. When each week and region have been coded the data are transcribed. A preliminary check is then made and all the data transcribed are checked for each week and region. Thereafter, the information transcribed is checked, and inconsistencies are detected and corrected, by means of a computer programme.

12.Weighting the sample:

The method used for the expansion of all the variables measured is the indirect ratio estimation method. The variable used is the total population at the date of reference of the survey for each region or federal entity, whichever is appropriate. The population projections used are based on the last General Population and Housing Census, by age groups, sex and urban or rural area.

13.Sampling errors:

The random group method is used. This consists in dividing the sample at random into groups, each of which reflects the various steps of selection of the sample.

The size of errors is not available.

14.Adjustments:

(a) Population not covered:

There are estimates of the numbers of members of the armed forces living permanently in barracks, garrisons, military posts or other military collective establishments, and for persons who are patients in, or inmates of, institutional collective households. These groups are covered by the survey by means of other procedures, but by enumeration.

(b) Under/overcoverage:

Not available.

(c) Non-response:

Non-response varies from region to region but nowhere exceeds 6 per cent of households. The average number of persons in each non-interviewed household varies between 3.1 and 3.6 per cent.

15.Seasonal adjustment:

No adjustment is made for seasonal variations.

16.Non-sampling errors:

Not available.

17.History of the survey:

The first Household Sample Survey took place in 1967 and since then surveys have been made of varying geographical coverage and periodicity. Until the first half of 1972 the national survey and the survey for the Metropolitan Area of Caracas (AMC), Zulia and Guiana were independent; as from the second half of 1972 the AMC survey became part of the national survey but AMC results were given separately. Zulia was incorporated in the first half of 1973 and Guiana in 1974, both in similar conditions.

The sample size and design are revised on the basis of each decennial Population and Housing Census, and the survey data are revised from the results of the censuses.

Over the years questions have been added to the survey questionnaire, and changes have been made in others of its questions, so as to measure visible and invisible underemployment, school attendance, and the numbers of private domestic servants and of wage earners and salaried employees (governmental or private sector), etc.

18.Documentation:

The results of the survey are published in two volumes, as follows:

Presidencia de la República, Oficina Central de Estadística e Informática: "Indicadores de la Fuerza de Trabajo, Total Nacional" (Labour Force Indicators, National Total), and "Indicadores de la Fuerza de Trabajo, Total Nacional y por Regiones" (Labour Force Indicators, National and Regional Totals) (half-yearly) (Caracas). These publications appear three or four months after the end of the period covered by the survey.

The results are also available in the form of tables and magnetic tapes, and non-published results can be obtained upon request.

For methodological information, see:

idem: "Fuerza de Trabajo, Consideraciones Básicas, Empleo, Desempleo, Subempleo, Sector Informal" (Caracas, September 1988).