17. Activity status last week (employed, self employed, unpaid family worker, student, household work, looking for work, disabled, too old, etc.)

Question 17 and 18 Activity Status and Occupation

134. Questions 17 and 18 are concerned with how people provide for themselves, how they make their living. The questions apply to women as well as to men.

135. In the week before census night, almost everyone in Uganda will have done something to provide for him or herself. It is your job to discover and record what each person did. It does not matter whether they had a job or were paid for what they did. A person who farmed or fished or replaced thatch on a roof or cultivated a vegetable garden worked. So did people who were in paid employment.

136. Ask the questions as they are set out here and on the questionnaire and talk about each member of the household until you understand what he or she did in the way of making a living last week. Make entries on the questionnaire only when you have the picture clear in your mind.

Question 17 Activity Status Last Week

137. "What was the person's main activity during the past week?"

138. A person either did something to provide for him or herself last week or did nothing.

139. Those who were active in providing for themselves or their families, may have been active in different ways. We are concerned with the main activity - the one the person spends most time at - that which the person considers most important.

140. If the person combines paid employment with unpaid work you should record the paid job rather than the unpaid job - for example, if the person is a bus driver and worked as well in his garden to grow food it is the fact of his being a bus driver in which we are interested. And if the person is a housewife who went to market to sell fruit, it is the fact of selling to make money in which we are interested.

141. If the person is engaged temporarily on the census we are concerned with his or her usual activity. Thus if the person is a secondary school teacher and is working as a census enumerator or supervisor, it is the fact of being a teacher in which we are interested.

142. Persons who did something to provide for themselves or their families were active in one of the following ways:

Employed - such people are employed by others and are paid regularly in cash or in kind. If the person did some work last week for a wage or salary or was paid in kind, write "employed". You should also write "employed" if the person was temporarily absent from work because he or she was on leave or sick or for some other reason. A teacher on holiday, for example, may not have been teaching last week because schools are closed, but he or she should be recorded as "employed".

Self-employed - such people work for themselves and receive cash when they sell some thing or some service, or receive goods in exchange. They do not receive a wage or salary.

This category includes a person who runs his or her own shop or business, who sells in the market, which makes handicrafts or pottery or other things to sell, who grows vegetable or root crops or catches fish to sell. It includes casual workers and everyone who is paid on a contract, task or piece work basis. For these people write "self-employed".

Unpaid Family Worker - such people work to provide for themselves and their families but do not receive regular wages. Very often they work in the family business or farm and are members of the family who are provided with food and lodging and share in the profits which arise from the joint family work but do not receive cash on a regular basis. For such people write "unpaid".

143. A person may have done nothing last week to provide for him or herself. There are many reasons why this might happen. Those which are most important to the census are:

Household Work - this applies to men or women who were occupied with purely domestic duties round the house. For such people write "household work".

Many household workers combine domestic duties with working outside the house - in the garden, in paid employment, making articles for sale. In such cases they were active in providing for themselves and should be classified as "employed", "self employed" or "unpaid" as appropriate.

Student - if the person is a full time student, write "student".

Looking for work - this applies to people who were capable of working and who would have worked if there had been a job available. It includes those who wanted to work and actively looked for work as well as those who did nothing about finding a job because they knew there were none available.

The question is, "Did this person do anything to provide for him or herself last week?" If the person did nothing and was dependent on others for food and shelter but could have worked and wanted to work, write "unemployed".

There are other reasons why a person may have done nothing to provide for him or herself last week. Ask for and record the reason - "too old", "disabled", "pensioner", "mad" or as the case may be.