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PH2010A_OCC3
Usual occupation (3-digit)
Return to Work: Occupation variables list

Questionnaire Text

Questionnaire form view entire document:  text  image
Population Census Questions

For all 15 years old and over.
[Questions 20 to 23 were asked of persons 15 years and over]

P20. Usual occupation - During the past 12 months, what was [the respondent]'s usual activity/occupation?

Write detailed description on the space provided. If student, housekeeper, dependent, or other non-gainful activity, skip to P24.

Occupation____
Questionnaire instructions view entire document:  text  image
Columns P20 to P23 for All Persons 15 Years Old and Over
Columns P20 to P23 are to be accomplished only for household members 15 years old and over. Thus, if a household member is less than 15 years old, leave these columns blank.

P20-Usual Occupation
Data on occupation are essential in analyzing the growth, composition, and distribution of the country's work force. They provide information on the socio-economic status of the population and are essential in planning the necessary training programs aimed at full and efficient utilization of the country's human resources.
Ask the question in column P20, "During the past 12 months, what was [the respondent]'s usual activity/occupation?" for all persons 15 years old and over.
Through this question, we can determine whether a person is a gainful or non gainful worker. Write in the space provided the type of activity/occupation of the household member. This will be coded later in the PO.
The term usual activity/occupation refers to the kind of job or business, which a person was engaged in most of the time during the last 12 months preceding the interview. In other words, usual activity/occupation is the person's principal means of earning a living such as real estate salesman, medical doctor, architect, rice farmer, elementary school teacher, police inspector, lawyer, call center representative, and others during the past 12 months.
For persons who did not work during the past 12 months, their usual activity/occupation relates to the non gainful activities they usually do most of the year or to their status.
Non gainful persons may be reported as any of the following:

[] Housekeeper, own home
[] Student
[] Pensioner (quite old to work and receiving monthly pension or annuity)
[] Retired (quite old to work and not receiving monthly pension or annuity, including those who retired from the government service or private employment, can still work but do not care to work anymore)
[] Persons with disability (persons suffering from permanent illness or disability)
[] Dependent (other than above), and others.

For purposes of this census, a person is considered a gainful worker or usually working most of the time during the past 12 months if he/she works for at least 10 hours a week for six months (26 weeks) or longer, including vacation or sick leave, in one or more of these classes of work:

[] 1. Work for pay (wage, salary, commission, tips, and others);
[] 2. Work for profit in own farm, business, or private practice of a profession or trade; and
[] 3. Work without pay on own family farm or business.

For persons whose activities varied during the preceding 12 months, report as his/her usual activity/occupation that which he/she was engaged in for more than six months. However, if none of these activities lasted for more than six months, report the one which had the longest duration.
Take note of the following cases:

[] 1. When reporting usual occupation, note that a gainful activity takes precedence over a nongainful one when a person is engaged in both types of activities at the same time. For example, a student works in a slaughterhouse as a helper every other day in the mornings and goes to school every day in the afternoons. Report his/her occupation as a slaughterhouse helper.
However, note that if the activities do not occur at the same time, such that there is a clear-cut period to separate the gainful from the nongainful one, report the activity which occurs more than six months.
[] 2. If for several years a person had been a school teacher but on May 1, 2010 he/she had already quit his/her teaching job and is operating a palay farm, his/her usual occupation is still an elementary school teacher. Again, the reference should be the past 12 months.
[] 3. During the census, a person may be working in a job other than his/her usual occupation. For instance, a palay farmer or fisherman works temporarily as a carpenter. In this case, the report should be "Palay farmer" or "Fisherman", and not the temporary job he/she is presently doing.

Always describe the specific job or occupation performed by the person in the establishment, office, and farm, among others, such as radio technician, records clerk, typist, stenographer, lawyer, farm manager, elementary school teacher, bill collector, carpenter, cigarette vendor, and hospital attendant, among others.
Answers such as agent, engineer, mechanic, employee, and others, do not describe adequately the work being performed. As such, ask the respondent additional questions like, "Does this person work for a life insurance company, advertising agency, and others?" or "What kind of engineer or mechanic is he/she?"
If the respondent gives a long description of the actual duties of work of the person, report the occupation that fits the description.

Avoid such ambiguous descriptions as owner, partner, businessman, and others. They do not adequately describe the occupation of the person. They simply indicate the proprietary relationship of the person to the business and some owners do not do any work in connection with their business.
If a person is the owner of an enterprise and he/she manages it or participates in its management, report "Manager" as his/her occupation. However, if such enterprise is engaged in wholesale and retail trade, hotel, dormitory, restaurant, cafeteria, or other lodging or eating places, said owner managing or participating in the management of the enterprise should be reported as "wholesale merchant", "retailer", or "working proprietor". Note however, that a partner in a business who is paid by the partnership to manage the business should be reported as "manager" and not "working proprietor".
Check for the consistency of the usual activity/occupation of a person with his/her highest grade/year completed. For instance, you need to probe further if the person's usual occupation is "civil engineer" or "lawyer" but the highest grade/year completed is only "high school graduate".
Jobs/Occupations which Need Special Care in Reporting
The following are examples of jobs or occupations, which need special care in reporting:

[Unacceptable entry: Acceptable entries and examples]
[] Agent: Insurance agent, real estate agent, among others. Note that a Philippine National Police (PNP) agent should be reported as "enlisted man" while "PNP Inspector" should be reported as "police detective" or "private detective".
[]Apprentice: An entry should include both the occupation and the word "apprentice". The correct entry should be apprentice plumber, apprentice printer, and others.
[]Assemblers: Specify the type of machinery or products being assembled, such as mechanical machinery assembler, electrical machinery assembler, wood and related materials product assembler, and others.
[] Attendant: Bar attendant, hospital attendant, and others
[] Businessman: Wholesale merchant, retailer, manager, and others
[] Clerk: Accounting clerk, filing clerk, records clerk, and others
[] Collector: Bill collector, garbage collector, collector, market collector, toll collector
[] Contractor: A contractor is engaged principally in obtaining building and/or other contracts and in supervising the work. He/she should be reported as "building contractor", "road contractor", and others.
[] Craftsman or skilled worker: Specify type of skill such as miner, quarry worker, bricklayer carpenter, roofer, plumber, pipe fitter, spray painter, metal molder, sheet metal worker, blacksmith, toolmaker, metal worker, metal grinder, metal polisher, motor vehicle mechanic and fitter, radio and television services, telephone installer, electrical line installer, glass engraver, printing engraver, basket weaver, wood treater, cabinet marker, and others.
[] Driver: Tricycle driver, taxi driver, jeep driver, heavy equipment driver, calesa driver, light van driver, bus driver, tram driver, heavy truck driver, heavy van driver, and others
[] Employee: Specify whether the employee is a statistician, receptionist, typist, and others.
[] Engineer: Civil engineer, mining engineer, marine engineer, and others
Factory worker: Weaver, knitter, sewer, tinsmith, and others
[] Farmer: Rice farmer, corn farmer, sugarcane farmer, coconut farmer
[] Farm worker: Skilled rice farm worker, skilled corn farm worker, and others; farm hand, farm laborer, and others
[] Fireman: Locomotive fireman, city fireman (for city fire department), fire fighter (as in airfields), and others
[] Fisherman: Fisherman in deep-sea, fish pen, fishpond, coastal, inland, and others; fishpond operator, prawn farm machinery operator, and others
[] Foreman: Foreman-carpenter, foreman-electrician, and others
Government official: Specify position such as mayor, congressman, senator, cabinet secretary, assistant cabinet secretary, commissioner, and justice; councilor, barangay chairperson, barangay treasurer, and others.
[] Helper: Store helper, bakery helper, and others
Inspector: Meat inspector, market inspector, and others
[] Manager: Board of Director, special company manager such as: production and operations manager, finance and administration manager, personnel and industrial relations
manager, sales and marketing manager, advertising and public relations manager, supply and distribution manager, computing services manager, research and development manager, small firm manager, and others
[] Mechanic: Auto mechanic, airplane mechanic, radio mechanic, and others. Do not confuse mechanic with machinist who is a skilled craftsman and who constructs and repairs all kinds of metal parts, tools, and machines through the use of blueprints, machine and hand tools, and precision measuring instruments.
[] Midwife: Differentiate "licensed midwife" from "practical midwife", "hilot", and others
[] Nurse: Registered nurse, practical nurse, nurse's aide, and others
[] Operator: Bulldozer operator, elevator operator, telephone operator, mining plant operator, mineral ore and stone treating operator, well driller and borer, ore smelting operator, metal melter, caster and rolling-mill operator, metal heat-treating plant operator, metal drawer and extruder, glass and ceramics kiln operator, paper-making plant operator, chemical processing plant operator, power-generating plant operator, steam turbine operator, automated assembly-line operator, machine tool operator, chemical products machine operator, rubber and plastic products machine operator, wood products machine operator, printing machine operator, binding machine operator, paper and paperboard products machine operator, spinning and winding machine operator, weaving and knitting machine operator, sewing and embroidering machine operator, textile bleaching, dyeing and cleaning machine operator, meat and fish processing machine operator, dairy products machine operator, grain and spice milling machine operator, fruit, vegetable and nut processing operator, sugar processing and refining machine operator, tea, coffee, cocoa and chocolate preparing and producing machine operator, tobacco products processing machine operator, brewer and wine and other beverage machine operator, and others
[] Police: Police officer, detective, patrolman, traffic police, and others. Note that in municipalities with small police force, an entry of policeman may be sufficient or acceptable.
[] Secretary: The title "secretary" should be used for persons doing secretarial work in an office. The secretary who is an elected or appointed officer of a corporation, firm or other organization should be reported as "executive secretary".
Supervisor: Principal, superintendent, sales supervisor, teacher- supervisor, transport supervisor, housekeeping supervisor, farm overseer, and others
[] Teacher: Elementary school teacher, high school teacher, professor, instructor, substitute teacher or teaching assistant (elementary, high school or college), private tutor, university instructor, vocational-technical skill instructor, specialized trainer such as sales trainer, management trainer, instructor-trainer, and others
[] Technician: Civil engineering technician, quantity surveyor, surveyor's technician, mining technician, electrical engineering technician, electronics engineering technician, telecommunications technician, mechanical engineering technician, aeronautical engineering technician, automotive engineering technician, chemical engineering technician, metallurgical technician, mining engineering technician, production engineering technician, draftsman technician, and others. Note that an engineering graduate or a licensed engineer is an engineer by qualification but may be hired as a technician and performing technician jobs. Report him/her as a technician and specify his/her field
[] Unskilled laborer: Whenever possible, specify the unskilled laborer as "street sweeper", "janitor", "stevedore", and others

Important Notice: Pay special attention to the preceding instructions because ambiguous reporting of the usual occupation or activity will result to inappropriate or wrong codes and consequently, affect the data on the economic characteristics of the population
Skip to P24 if the member is reported to have a nongainful activity during the past 12 months.