[Questions 4.9 - 4.13 were asked of persons who were employed at the time of the interview, and were age 14 and older]
4.13 What is your/is [the respondent's] weekly, monthly or annual income from all employment (in JA dollars)?
[JA dollars refers to Jamaican currency]
[] 99 Not stated
Weekly
[] 1 Less than 1,000
[] 2 1,000-1,499
[] 3 1,500-5,999
[] 4 6,000-9,999
[] 5 10,000-19,999
[] 6 20,000-29,999
[] 7 30,000-59,999
[] 8 60,000 and over
Monthly
[] 9 Less than 3,500
[] 10 3,500-5,999
[] 11 6,000-24,999
[] 12 25,000-39,999
[] 13 40,000-79,999
[] 14 80,000-129,999
[] 15 130,000-249,999
[] 16 250,000 and over
Annually
[] 17 Less than 40,000
[] 18 40,000-79,999
[] 19 80,000-299,999
[] 20 300,000-499,999
[] 21 500,000-999,999
[] 22 1,000,000-1,499,999
[] 23 1.5 million-2,999,999
[] 24 3 million and over
Section 4: Economic activity
[Persons age 14 and older]
5.73 General
Section 4 is comprised of Questions 4.1 through 4.20, and should be asked to persons age 14 and older. The main purpose of this section is to determine which individuals were in the working force of the country at some point in time.
This section is included in the sample coverage because it requires much more probing than should be undertaken for the short form. Economic activity in Jamaica has undergone some amount of transformation within the past two or three decades, whereby there has been a significant development of what has come to be regarded as the "Informal sector". People have in many instances moved away from the traditional jobs in the public and private sectors and have ventured into their own small scale businesses, some of which are being operated within homes.
You must pay close attention to the skip instructions at all times to ensure that you ask relevant questions. You will also need to pay close attention to the different reference periods stated. Questions 4.1 through 4.4 seek to identify the persons who worked. As we know that work means different things to different people, we try in these questions to establish clearly whether an individual worked or not within a particular week. These questions relate to the week preceding the Census date, as do Questions 4.5 through 4.13. Question 4.14 asks for a specific date. Questions 4.15 and 4.16 relate to the past twelve months, while questions 4.17 and 4.18 refer to the past 5 years. Questions 4.19 and 4.20 are relevant to persons of pensionable age and seek to determine the type of social welfare benefits or pension being received. Even if the person has never worked, he/she can be in receipt of social welfare benefits (as the beneficiary of a spouse).
It is important that the concept of work be fully understood.
Work includes:
(a) Work with pay, that is:
(i) Work for others for a wage or salary including commission or tips. Work may be done either in the employment of the government, a business organization, some private or public organization, or an individual. These correspond to the categories "Paid employee of government", "Private enterprise", or "Private home" in question Q4.6).
(ii) Work as trainee (such as nurses in training) or apprentice (persons at trade). This could also correspond to the same categories at is point (i).
(iii) Work for oneself in one's own business (including farm), which is run for profit or fees but does not employ paid help. This corresponds to "Self-employed without Employees" in question Q4.6. For example: odd job, hustling, buying and selling etc.
(iv) Work for oneself in one's own business (including farm), which is run for profit or fees and employs paid help. This corresponds to "Self-employed with employees" in question Q4.6.
(b) Work without pay in a business or farm which is run for profit that is:
(i) Work without pay in a business or farm run for profit (usually by a relative), in cases where the individual is either supported by the owner or obtains some benefits other than cash from running of business (see "Unpaid employee in agriculture" or any type of business in question Q4.6).
(ii) Work as an unpaid helper in a business or other organization, in cases where the respondent is learning a trade or profession in this way, with a view to engaging in work for pay (see "Unpaid employee in agriculture" or any type of business in question Q4.6).
Do not include as "working" those persons who:
(i) Work without money or pay for a relative or other person on tasks that did not contribute to the operation of a farm or of a business: e.g., housework, gardening, odd jobs around the house or yard, such as painting the fence, etc.
(ii) Work without pay assisting a relative or friend in his duties as an employee.
(iii) Work without pay either in cash or in kind as a volunteer worker for service Society for Blind, Operation Workshop.
Note also that "work" must relate to work in Jamaica. It includes, however, those persons who are residing in the territory but are on boats, ships, airplanes, etc., which may operate outside of the territory, as well as travelling salesmen, consultants, etc. Informal commercial importers who travel to the Cayman Islands buying and selling are to be included. Do not include the work done by persons going as contract workers to North America for a few months to work on farms there during the crop season. Other persons who live and work outside of the country should not be classified as having worked with respect to the time they were resident outside of the country.
5.82 Meaning of income
It is intended to include all income from employment that is income from different jobs, if a person has had more than one job at the same time Add together the income from the different jobs. In special cases, even a person classified in Q4.6 as an "Unpaid worker" may have an income, since the classification in Q4.6 relates to his activity during the week preceding the Census only, and he might be receiving an income from regular a job.
In general, there are two types of income to be dealt with depending on whether the person worked for others or for himself. Persons who worked for others for pay (i.e., for wages and salaries) should give their gross income, including any overtime payments and other [fees]. That is, it should be the income before deductions.
For self-employed persons (employers and own account workers), on the other hand, what is required is their net receipts -- that is, their total gross receipts minus any wages and salaries they have to pay people working in the business, and other business expenses. It is appreciated that persons in these categories will not often be able to give their net income with absolute accuracy, but you must make every effort to help them to give as accurate a figure as possible.
In particular, many self-employed persons and some wage and salary earners might not be able to give a reasonable income figure for a short period, such as a week or a month. For example, a cane farmer who reaps his cane once per year may have to give his income for the past year, for if he gives his income for a week or month, and the period excludes the time when he received this payment, the average income will be under-stated. On the other hand if it includes this payment, the average income will be over-stated. Similarly, a wage earner who regularly receives an annual bonus would need either to give all his income for the year or else add a proportional part of his annual bonus to his monthly or weekly income.
There will, therefore, be some difficulty in ensuring that you obtain the accurate income for persons who receive income for different periods or from different sources.
Remember that many people do not like to tell others how much money they earn. Often they do not tell this even to their own family or friends. You must therefore be tactful if you are to get the questions answered correctly and willingly. You must remind and reassure the respondent of the confidentially of all information given. Explain further that we are not interested in the exact income but rather in the range.
5.83 Question 4.13: Income from employment
Question 4.13 identifies three different pay periods. Pay-period indicates the length of time the amount of money scored refers to.
You must decide what is the most convenient pay-period with which to record the person's income. The most convenient pay-period for you to use would usually the one in which the person receives most of his income. For example, in the case of the wage-earner who is paid weekly and gets no other income, then the pay-period should be the week. Similarly, the month would be the most convenient pay-period for the person who receives only a monthly income.
This question, which is asked of all persons who worked or had a job during the reference week, requires income from employment only and excludes gifts, rents from property, interest and dividends, pensions, and other income that was not obtained directly from employment.
It is also recognized that many self-employed persons and some wage and salary earners might not be able to give a reasonable income figure for a short period, such as a week or a month. In such case, the convenient pay period will be the year.