Questionnaire Text

Questionnaire form view entire document:  text  image
Only for people 12 years or older
[Questions 20 through 23 are asked only of persons aged 20 and older]

23. Last week [the respondent]...?

[] 1 Looked for work and had worked previously (go to 30)
[] 2 Looked for work for the first time (go to 30)
[] 3 Is pensioned or retired (go to 30)
[] 4 Makes a living by renting (go to 30)
[] 5 Only studies (go to 30)
[] 6 Dedicates time to domestic chores of the household (go to 30)
[] 7 Another situation (go to 30)
Questionnaire instructions view entire document:  text  image
Questions 20 to 31 are asked only of people 12 years of age or older.

Questions 21 to 23: Determine the activity status of the people.

In order to adequately establish the economic activity condition of the people of the household as "employed, unemployed, or inactive" it is important that you analyze the following diagram and know the main concepts and related definitions.

Activity status

Active economic population (work force)
Employed population
Worked for an hour or more in the last week
Carried out economic activities for money or something in exchange
Did not work but has employment
Worked or helped in the family business without pay
Unemployed population
Looked for work and had worked previously
Looked for work for the first time
Inactive economic population (not in work force)
Student
Retired or renter
People with domestic chores in their own home
Other situation
[p. 157]

Keep in mind the following definitions:

Reference week: the information that is collected about the activity status must refer to the week immediately prior to the interview (from Sunday the 22nd to Saturday the 28th of May).

Activity status: this refers to the classification of the population 12 years or older according to their participation in economic activities.

Economic activity: all activity or work directed to the production of goods or economic services, designed for sale or exchange.

Work: the participation of the population in economic activities.

Employed population: according to the previous definitions employed people are those that during the reference week:

a) Worked or carried out some economic activity for at least one hour, without counting domestic tasks of their own home.

b) Were found not working but who have employment (they did not work because of some incapacity, vacations, suspension or leave of absence for a month or less, strike, lack of clients at the premise or office, bad weather, equipment failure, lack of raw materials, or closure period).

c) Worked or helped in a family business without pay.

[p. 158]

Keep in mind that for the purposes of the census, the following activities are not considered work:

Having exclusively carried out volunteer work as a fireman, red cross worker, and other volunteers that go to the hospitals and do not receive pay.

Voluntary help in domestic tasks in another household different from one's own, without receiving remuneration.

Help given to a friend or relative as a favor.

Ad honorem labor.

Begging.

Professional internship without remuneration that the students are required to do in order to graduate.

Agricultural activities exclusively for self consumption.
Unemployed population: people that are unemployed during the reference week are those that did not work and did not have employment, they were available to work and took concrete actions to look for a salaried or independent employment.

Economically inactive population: this is composed of the collection of people that during the reference week did not form part of the work force, that's to say, they did not participate in the production of goods and economic services, they were not available to do so and they did not look for work.

Question 23: Unemployed or inactive people

23. Last week [name]...?

[] 1 looked for work and had worked before (go to 30)
[] 2 looked for work for the first time (go to 30)
[] 3 is pensioned or retired (go to 30)
[] 4 makes a living by renting (go to 30)
[] 5 only studies (go to 30)
[] 6 dedicates time to domestic chores of the household (go to 30)
[] 7 another situation (go to 30)

This question is applied to those who responded in question 22 "I didn't carry out any of the previous." Keep in mind that if one person declared to find himself/herself in situations 1 and 2, it is an "unemployed person" and the people that declare to find themselves in situations 3 to 7 will be considered "inactive."

Looked for work and had worked before: this refers to the person at working age that during the reference week did not have work, was available, and took action to find it and they have worked at some point.

Looked for work for the first time: this refers to the person at working age that has never worked but that during the reference week was available and took action to find work.

The actions to find work include the following:

a) Trying to obtain a salaried or independent employment through friends or relatives, answering announcements in the newspaper, visiting places to look for a position or taking actions to work

[p. 161]

on one's own account, such as seeking financing, materials, equipment, or clients.

b) Waiting for a response from recent applications or stopping to look momentarily because of a passing sickness.

c) Conversations in the street with acquaintances or not. Assisting an employment fair. Looking for work via the internet.

Is pensioned or retired: this refers to the person that did not work nor looked for work and that receives a pension from some agreement.

Makes a living by renting: this includes those that live by renting dwelling or offices or from utilities, interests, banking, bonds, investments, etc.

Only studies: this refers to someone that dedicates himself/herself to his/her studies without working nor looking for work during the reference week; if in addition he/she helped with the domestic tasks of the home he/she must be considered a student. In this case it can include people that in question 13 said that they did not attend school but attended free classes at the INA or other places.

Dedicates time to domestic chores of the household: the person that exclusively dedicates his/her time to the domestic tasks of his/her own household and cannot be classified in the previous categories. Keep in mind that this activity is carried out by men and women.

Other situation: this includes the people not classified in the previous categories, for example: people with a permanent work disability, residents permanently in jails that don't work, convents, hospitals, etc. Also consider lazy people, homeless, and others that are not already classified.

The categories are mutually exclusive. It only requires one response.

[p. 162]

Remember that the employment condition is priority over unemployment and inactivity and that the condition of unemployment is priority over any condition of inactivity.