Improvements in the census questionnaires and handbooks that gather information on the female labour force in Latin America
Recchini De Lattes, Z.
Population Bulletin of the United Nations 1990(29): 39-53
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0251-7604 PMID: 12343058 Document Number: 374192
This article analyzes the methods used by Latin American censuses of the 1980s to gather information of labor force participation, with emphasis on possible weaknesses and strengths in measuring women's economic activity. A comparison is made with censuses of the 1970s. Census questionnaires and enumerators' handbooks are systemically examined with regard to the following: questions on activity status, special instructions for identifying economically active women, and the specification (or not) of minimum time worked during the reference period to classify a person as economically active. The analysis shows a picture of general improvement in the ability of Latin America census questionnaires and enumerators handbooks to gather information on women's labor force participation from the 1970-80. 2 kinds of changes were observed: those specifically designed to improve the identification of economically active women and technical modifications not specifically geared to either sex. It is believed that changes of the 1st kind were at least partially the consequence of a specific recommendation by the UN Statistical Commission for the 1980 round of population censuses with reference to gathering information on female labor force participation and of the activities of the UN Decade for Women for the general improvement of statistics on women.