JORDAN

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

Department of Statistics, P.O. Box 2015, Amman 11181.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1952, 1961, 1979 and 1994.  The present description relates to the population census planned to take place in 2004.

3. Coverage of the census:

(a) Geographical scope: Whole country.     

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

4. Reference period:

The week preceding the census day and the 15 days following the census day.

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:  yes

(g) Hours of work:  still under consideration                                     

(h) Other characteristics:  yes            

Re (a): The age will be determined in terms of date of birth and age at last birthday.  

Re (g):  Hours of work will relate to: still under consideration.

Re (h): The census will also collect information on handicapped persons and migration.

6. Concepts and definitions:

(a) Economically active population:  It will comprise all persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference period, were either employed or unemployed, according to the definitions given below.

(b) Employment:  Considered as employed will be all persons who, during the reference period, worked for the public or private sector, provided they worked for at least one hour.

The question(s) which will be used to determine whether a person is to be counted as employed are still under consideration.    

It is reported that the following categories will be included:                                        

i)         persons doing unpaid work in family firm or business;          

ii)        persons engaged in production for own consumption;            

iii)       persons, temporarily absent from a job;                                 

iv)       working students with a part-time job;                                   

v)         seasonal or occasional workers;                                            

vi)       conscripts for military/civilian service;

vii)      apprentices and trainees.

It is not known, however, whether persons belonging to any of these categories can be identified separately.

(c) Unemployment: Considered as unemployed will be all persons who, during the reference period, are without work, able to work, available for work and looking for work.  Also included in the definition will be persons who are currently available for work, but did not search for work during the four weeks prior to the date of interview because they were waiting to return to their previous job or had found a job that they would start at a future date. The questions which will be used to determine whether a person is to be counted as unemployed are “If a job had been offered during the seven days prior to the date of the reference period or were offered in the next 15 days would you have been/would you be prepared to start that job?  Yes or No?” and “If yes, did you actively search for work during the four weeks prior to the date of the reference period?”.    

7. Classifications used:

Only employed persons will be classified by industry, by occupation and by status in employment.   

(a) Industry:   Based on the question “What is the type of the major economic activity of the establishment in which you are working?”.   For coding industry, the national classification will be used.   Links to ISIC-rev.3 will be established at the 4-digit level.

(b) Occupation:  Based on the question “What kind of work did you carry out during the seven days prior to the date of the reference period?”.  For coding occupation, the national classification will be used.  Links to ISCO-88 will be established at the 4-digit level.

(c) Status in employment: Employed persons will be asked their status in their current job.  For coding status in employment, the following five groups will be used: paid employee; employer; own-account worker; unpaid family worker; unpaid worker.

 (d) Level of education: All persons aged 15 years and over will be asked their educational attainment at the time of the reference period.  For coding level of education the following 12 groups will be used: illiterate; able to read and write; elementary; preparatory; basic education; vocational apprenticeship; secondary; Intermediate diploma; Bachelors degree; Higher diploma; Masters degree; PhD degree. 

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

It is not yet known whether there will be any major differences.

9. Publication of the census results:

No information concerning the publication of the results of the 2004 census is available as yet.