Section 4. Economic activity - For all persons 15 years old and over
This section deals with the economic activity of all who are 15 years old and over. It relates to the past week as well as the past 12 months. Questions 16 to 18 apply to those answering from 10 to 30 in Question 15.
Interviewer: Job seekers and persons wanting work must have responses to Questions 16-18
21. Main activity during the past twelve months
What did [the respondent] do most during the past twelve months?
[] 10 Had a job, worked (HJ/W)
[] 11 Had a job, did not work (HJNW)
[] 20 Seeking first job (SFJ)
[] 21 Others seeking work (OSW)
[] 30 Wanted work and available past three months (WW)
[] 40 Student (S)
[] 41 Home duties (HD)
[] 42 Retired (R)
[] 43 Disabled (D)
[] 44 Old age pensioner (OAP)
[] 45 Did not want work (DNWW)
[] 98 Other
[] 99 Not stated (NS)
Section 4 - Economic activity-questions [15] to [21] The main purpose of this section is to determine which individuals have been engaged in economic activity, that is the production of goods and services for sale during the week preceding enumeration and at any time during the past twelve [12] months and, those who were not so engaged. It is essential that the enumerator understands the concept of the term work as given in question [15] and makes use of it in his interviews. Generally, work done outside Trinidad and Tobago is not relevant to the census, but work done under contract on Canadian farms by residents is to be included, as also is work by resident crew on ships and aircraft operating outside of the country.
It should be noted that priority is given to work over all other activities. Also, economic activity holds precedence over non-economic.
Question 21 - Main activity during the past twelve months
This question aims at classifying persons aged fifteen years and over according to their main activity, that is, what they did most during the twelve-month period preceding enumeration. It is also intended to distinguish between persons who worked [i.e. were economically active] and those who did not work [those who were not economically active].
Categories of persons who were not economically active in this context include persons who had never worked but who were seeking their first job, people engaged in home duties, full-time students and those retired or disabled. The term "did not want work" refers to those persons who were neither students, retired, pensioned, home duties, etc. but clearly did not wish to engage in economic activity. Discrete prompting should be used to elicit a reply.
It is to be noted that the term "most" need not be continuous.