URUGUAY

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

Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Río Negro 1520, C.P. 11 100, Montevideo.

2. Population censuses conducted since 1945 (years):

1963, 1975, 1985 and 1996. The description below refers to the 1996 population census (carried out on 22 May).

3. Coverage of the census:

a) Geographical scope: The whole country (according to the definition of a de facto census).

b) Persons covered: The whole population (according to the definition of a de facto census).

4. Reference period:

-   The week preceding the date of the census for employed status;

-   Four weeks preceding the date of the census for unemployed status.

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: no

h) Other characteristics: yes

Re. a): Age was defined in terms of age at last birthday.

Re. h): The census also collected information on relationship within the household; usual and current place of residence, place of birth and residence five years prior to the census; retiree or pensioner status; health coverage; year of arrival in the country (for those born abroad); literacy; number of years of education passed; completion of level of education attained, professional training and technical studies completed; children born alive, children deceased and born in the last twelve months (women aged 15 and over).

6. Concepts and definitions:

a) Economically active population: The census collected information on the economic activity of persons aged 12 and over who, during the reference week, were either employed or unemployed according to the definitions below. For purposes of calculating employment indicators, the definition of economically active population refers to persons aged 14 and over.

b) Employment: Considered as employed are all persons who, during the reference week, for at least one hour engaged in an activity for which they were remunerated in cash or in kind, or, without being paid directly, assisted a family member in his or her business (shop or enterprise, garden or farm, etc.) producing goods for sale; also included are those who were temporarily not at work for reasons such as illness, leave, strike, bad weather, etc., but had a job to which they would return. The questions used were: “(i) During the last week did you work at least one hour? (ii) During the last week did you make something at home for sale outside the home, or help anyone in their business or farm, or work even without being paid regularly? (iii) During the last week did you have a job, but did not go to work because you were ill, on leave or suspended from work?”.

It is reported that the following categories were included:

i)         persons doing unpaid work in a family enterprise or business;

ii)        employed persons temporarily absent from work;

iii)       students working part time;

iv)       seasonal or casual workers (only if employed);

v)        apprentices and persons undergoing training (only if paid).

Categories (i) and (ii) can be identified separately.

c) Unemployment: Considered as unemployed are all persons who were not employed (according to the above definition) and were seeking work during the four weeks preceding the census. The questions used were: “(i) Did you look for work during the last four weeks? (ii) Have you worked before?” (only for persons who replied “no” to all the questions in 6(b) above).  

7. Classifications used:

Both employed persons and unemployed persons who had been employed were classified by industry, by occupation and by status in employment.

a) Industry: Based on the question “What is the main activity of the place or establishment where you work (worked)?”. For coding industry, all the groups of the national classification were used. Links were established with the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC) Rev. 3.

b) Occupation: Based on the question: “What is the occupation, profession or trade that provides (provided) most of your income?”. For coding occupation, all the groups of the national classification were used. Links were established with the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88).

c) Status in employment: Based on the question “Which of the following categories applies (applied) to you in the stated occupation: (1) employer, employing labourers or employees; (2) public sector labourer or employee; (3) private sector labourer or employee; (4) self-employed; (5) unpaid family worker; (6) member of a production cooperative; (7) other?”.

d) Level of education: Based on the questions: “Which of the following was the highest level of education you attended? (1) never attended; (2) preschool; (3) primary; (4) high school or basic secondary education; (5) preparatory or upper secondary education; (6) university; (7) teacher training; (8) military or police training.” Links were established with ISCED 97. 

8. Main differences compared with the previous census:

-         Design:  the application of imaging technology for entering data on magnetic supports, interpretation of text and figures and automatic coding of geographical locations, education, occupation and industry, resulted in substantial changes being introduced in the design of the questionnaire to meet the requirements of these technologies during their implementation.

-           Content:  (i) new questions on health coverage were introduced; (ii) more questions were used to collect information on economic activity, mainly in order to recapture the economic activity of what is termed the “secondary labour force”; (iii) specific questions on technical education were introduced.   

9. Publication of the census results:

The final results of the census were published between August and December 1997 in VII Censo General de Población, III de Hogares y V de Viviendas [7th General Population Census, 3rd Household Census and 5th Housing Census], 22 May 1996 (20 volumes – Total country and 19 departments).

The organization responsible for the publication is the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Río Negro 1520, C. P. 11 100, Montevideo.

Los The results of the census are also available on diskettes, CD-ROM and the INE web site (www.ine.gub.uy).