Questionnaire Text

Questionnaire form view entire document:  text  image
VII. People in the census household

16. Type of activity

What did you do during the week prior to the census date?

[] 1 Worked
[] 2 Did not work, but had a job
[] 3 Looked for work, but work before
[] 4 Looked for work for the first time
[] 5 Lived on rent or pensions and did not work
[] 6 Studied and did not work
[] 7 Household duties and did not work
[] 8 Other (specify) ____

[If response 4-8, go to question 20]
Questionnaire instructions view entire document:  text  image
Questions for persons aged seven and older only
If the person is less than seven, do not ask him/her question 13-24. Instead, go to the next person on the list.

16. Type of activity
Before continuing with this question note the following definitions:

Type of activity: this refers to each person's usual activity during the reference period. The reference period is the week previous to the census date.

[A graphic of box 16, "type of activity," is reproduced on the right-hand side of the page.]

Work:
Consider the following as a work:

a) Work performed for another person as an employee or laborer. This includes:
- Day labor or regular wages

- Work in exchange for payment in kind (food, lodging or supplies received instead of payment in cash.)

- Work paid by the piece, on commission or as tips.

- Active duty in the armed forces
b) Work done in one's own business, professional practice, or as a self-employed worker.

c) Work done without payment in a business or on a farm run by a family member. Examples are a son or daughter who works without pay in his/her parent's store or helps his father in his agricultural work.

d) Any other job performed during the reference period for which the person receives payment in cash or kind. This includes sewing and other work, such as making food or candy for sale, which is performed in the person's home for other persons or companies.
[p. 59]

Keep in mind that housewives, students and the elderly may perform revenue-producing activity which should be considered "work," even though they may not appear to work.

For the census, the following is not considered work:

a) Jobs such as housework performed in the house (except when performed by domestic employees who receive pay for the work) and work that a person does on his/her own house.

b) Unpaid volunteer work for the church, as firefighters, or for other non-profit organizations.

c) Jobs performed by persons who are involuntarily confined in institutions such as prisons, sanatoriums, asylums, or jail-farms.

Keeping in mind the definition of "work," ask, "What did you do the week prior to the census?"

[p. 60]

- Worked: this is a person who performed paid or unpaid work for at least one hour in the week prior to the census.

- Did not work but had a job: this is a person who did not work during the reference week but who has a job or business which he/she did not do or from which he/she was absent due to illness, bad weather, vacations, etc.

- Looked for work and had worked before: this is a person who did not have work during the reference week because he/she left work due to a layoff or other reason, and was actively looking for work. Examples would be visiting factories, farms, etc.

- Looked for work for the first time: this is a person who had never worked before and was actively looking for a job for the first time during the reference week.

- Lived off of investment or retirement income and did not work: this is a person who did not perform any paid work during the reference week, and who received retirement, pension or investment income, or money from abroad.

- Studied and did not work: this is a person who was attending a school or university during the reference week and did not perform any work during this period.

- Did housework and did not work: this is a person who did not perform any paid work during the reference week and was dedicated exclusively to housework.

[p. 61]

If a woman performed work for which she was paid in cash or kind during the reference week, this must be considered work. Examples are:

- Doing washing and ironing for another person

- Preparing food for sale, such as tortillas or tamales

- Assisting with the harvest from the family plot, cleaning crops, etc. (as long as it was a performed as a regular job)

- Selling products in the market or from her home.

-Other. This is a person who does not fall into one of the previous categories, such as a person confined involuntarily in an institution (prison, hospital, etc.).

Include beggars in this category.

Mark an X in the appropriate circle.

If the answer is worked, did not work but had a job, or looked for a job but worked before, go to questions 17, 18, and 19.

If the respondent is a male and his answer fell into any other category, end the interview here.

If the respondent is a female who is 12 or older and her answer fell into any other category, go to question set 20 (live-born children).