ISLE OF MAN

1. Name and address of the organization responsible for the census:

Economic Affairs Division, Isle of Man Government, Illiam Dhone House, 2 Circular Road, Douglas, Isle of Man IMI IPQ, British Isles.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1951, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001. The present description relates to the 2001 population census (held on 29th/30th April).

3. Coverage of the census:

(a) Geographical scope: Whole country.

(b) Persons covered: All persons of all ages.

4. Reference period:

Usually the census night, except for employment status when the week preceding the census night was used.

5. Main topics:

(a) Total population, by sex and age:  yes

Economically active population by:

(b) Sex and age group:  yes

(c) Industry:  yes

(d) Occupation:  yes

(e) Status in employment:  yes

(f) Highest educational level:  no - all educational qualifications

(g) Hours of work: yes

(h) Other characteristics:  yes

Re (a): The age is defined in terms of age at last birthday.

Re (f): All persons aged 16 years or over and not in compulsory education were asked to complete the educational qualifications question. All qualifications were listed rather than the 'highest achieved’.

Re (h): The census also collected information on work permits (based on the question “Does the person hold a current work permit?”) and on means of transport used to travel to workplace.

6. Concepts and definitions:

(a) Economically active population: The economically active population includes persons aged 16 years and over who were not in compulsory education in the week before the census night and who were either employed or unemployed as defined below. All members of the armed forces are included in the definition. There are no conscripts in the Isle of Man.

(b) Employment: The employed population is all persons aged 16 years and over who were not in compulsory education who stated that they were either working for an employer full time (30 hours or more per week) or for an employer part time (less than 30 hours per week) or for more than one employer part time (less than 30 hours per week) or were self-employed employing others or were self-employed and not employing others in the week before census night.

It is reported that the following categories are included:

i)         employed persons, temporarily absent from work;

ii)        multiple job holders;

iii)       apprentices and trainees.

Only persons belonging to category (ii) working less than 30 hours per week can be identified separately.

(c) Unemployment: The unemployed population is all persons aged 16 years and over who were not in compulsory education who stated that they were unemployed and looking for work in the week before census night. Additional questions were asked to determine whether unemployed persons had looked for work in the previous four weeks, were available to start work within two weeks, were waiting to start work already obtained or were available for part-time work (less than 30 hours per week).

7. Classifications used:

Persons in the employed population are classified by industry, by occupation and by status in employment.  Persons in the unemployed population are classified by their main occupation.

(a) Industry: Based on Question 18 of the Census form: “Name and address of employer and description of employer's business” together with the instruction “Describe clearly what the employer (or self-employed person) makes or does, for example: provides office cleaning services; manufactures electrical goods”.  There were additional instructions for the civil service, local government and the armed forces.

Industry has been coded using both ISIC-rev.3 (Tabulation Categories A to Q) and the Isle of Man Industrial Classification (30 groups).

(b) Occupation: Based on Question 19 of the Census form: “What is the person's main occupation, full job title and main tasks done in job”.  (‘Full job title’ was supplemented by the instruction “Give the full job title by which the job is known, for example: gas fitter; accounts clerk; packing machinist, rather than a general title like fitter; clerk; machinist”.    ‘Main tasks done in job’ was supplemented by the instruction “Give the main tasks actually done in the job, for example, audio-typing; managing accounts for private clients; repairing agricultural machinery; delivering goods to customers”).  There were additional instructions for the civil service and the armed forces.

For coding occupation, 353 groups of SOC-2000 (United Kingdom's Standard Occupational Classification) were used.  Links to ISCO-88 have been established to the minor group (3-digit) level.

(c) Status in employment: Five groups were used for coding this variable, namely: full-time employee; part-time employee; part-time employee working for more than one employer; self-employed employing others; self-employed not employing others.

(d) Level of education: Based on Question 15 of the Census form which asked: “Which of these qualifications does the person have?  Please tick the appropriate box or boxes”.  12 boxes specifying various types of qualifications and a further box for no qualifications were proposed.  Links to ISCED have yet to be established.

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

In comparison with the 1996 census, the 2001 census included additional questions on educational qualifications, place of work and transport to work. For unemployed persons questions were included on their availability for part-time work and main, rather than previous, occupation.

A dual coding system was used for industrial activity and a new occupational classification was introduced.

9. Publication of the census results:

The final census data on the economically active population and its components were issued in the “Isle of Man Census Report 2001, Volume 1” and “Isle of Man Census Report 2001, Volume 2”, published in March 2002.

The organization responsible for the publication is the Economic Affairs Division, Illiam Dhone House, 2 Circular Road, Douglas, Isle of Man IMI IPQ, British Isles.

Additional information is available subject to confidentiality in the form of either unpublished tables or diskettes.

Information is available from the Isle of Man Census website at www.gov.im/census.