COLLECTION METHODS
COLLECTION OF VARIABLES
The three questionnaire modules for labour force data are detailed below:
- the Labour Force Survey Questionnaire module, used in the ABS LFS;
- the Household Survey Questionnaire Module, a shorter module which is used in all other relevant ABS household surveys; and
- the Census of Population and Housing Questionnaire Module, used in the Census and is suitable for use in administrative data collections conducted by agencies other than the ABS.
SCOPE
The variable Labour Force Status is applicable to all persons in the survey population.
'Labour Force Status' is an attribute of the measurement unit 'Person'.
Questionnaire modules
HOUSEHOLD BASED SURVEYS
The standard ABS modules for household based surveys are:
Labour Force Survey Questionnaire Module - The full labour force questionnaire module is used in the LFS. Full details can be found in
Information Paper: Questionnaires used in the Labour Force Survey, 2014 (cat. no. 6232.0). This document provides detailed guidelines for deriving labour force status from the LFS questionnaire. This version of the questionnaire was implemented into the ABS LFS from July 2014.
Household Survey Questionnaire Module - The Household Survey Questionnaire module is recommended for household based surveys and comprises 15 questions. Sequencing ensures that all 15 questions will never be asked of any individual. For the vast majority, only five questions will be asked for those who have a job or eight for those who are unemployed and four for those who are not in the labour force. There are additional questions, asked of a small but significant minority of respondents, which are necessary to ensure a sufficiently accurate measure of the concepts. Although there are only 15 questions, they are numbered 1-17 as two introductory statements (Q.1 and Q.6) are included and are given question numbers in line with ABS Population Survey Operations conventions.
THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE MODULE
Questions 2-4 and 12-15 are used to determine labour force status.
| Q.1. | I WOULD LIKE TO ASK ABOUT LAST WEEK, THAT IS, THE WEEK STARTING SUNDAY THE .... AND ENDING (LAST SATURDAY THE .... /YESTERDAY.) |
 |
| Q.2. | LAST WEEK DID .... DO ANY WORK AT ALL IN A JOB, BUSINESS OR FARM? |
| | Yes | q | Go to Q.5 |
| | No | q | |
| | Permanently unable to work | q | No More Questions |
| | Permanently not intending to work (if aged 65 + only) | q | No More Questions |
|
| Q.3. | LAST WEEK DID .... DO ANY WORK WITHOUT PAY IN A FAMILY BUSINESS? |
| | Yes | q | Go to Q.5 |
| | No | q | |
| | Permanently not intending to work (if aged 65 + only) | q | No More Questions |
|
| Q.4. | DID ... HAVE A JOB, BUSINESS OR FARM THAT ... WAS AWAY FROM BECAUSE OF HOLIDAYS, SICKNESS OR ANY OTHER REASON? |
| | Yes | q | |
| | No | q | Go to Q.13 |
| | Permanently not intending to work (if aged 65 + only) | q | No More Questions |
|
| Q.5. | DID ... HAVE MORE THAN ONE JOB OR BUSINESS LAST WEEK? |
| | Yes | q | |
| | No | q | Go to Q.7 |
|
| Q.6. | THE NEXT FEW QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT THE JOB OR BUSINESS IN WHICH ... USUALLY WORKS THE MOST HOURS. |
|
| Q.7. | DO/DOES ... WORK FOR AN EMPLOYER, OR IN ... OWN BUSINESS |
| | Employer | q | |
| | Own business | q | Go to Q.10 |
| | Other/Uncertain | q | Go to Q.9 |
|
| Q.8 | ARE/IS ... PAID A WAGE OR SALARY, OR SOME OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT |
| | Wage/Salary | q | Go to Q.12 |
| | Other/Uncertain | q | |
|
| Q.9. | WHAT ARE ... (WORKING/PAYMENT) ARRANGEMENTS? |
| | Unpaid voluntary work | q | Go to Q.13 |
| | Unpaid trainee work | q | Go to Q.13 |
| | Contractor/Subcontractor | q | |
| | Own business/Partnership | q | |
| | Commission only | q | Go to Q.12 |
| | Commission with retainer | q | Go to Q.12 |
| | In a family business without pay | q | Go to Q.12 |
| | Payment in kind | q | Go to Q.12 |
| | Paid by the piece/item produced | q | Go to Q.12 |
| | Wage/salary earner | q | Go to Q.12 |
| | Other | q | Go to Q.12 |
|
| Q.10. | DO/DOES ... HAVE EMPLOYEES (IN THAT BUSINESS)? |
| | Yes | q | |
| | No | q | |
|
| Q.11. | IS THAT BUSINESS INCORPORATED? |
| | Yes | q | |
| | No | q | |
|
| Q.12. | HOW MANY HOURS DO/DOES ... USUALLY WORK EACH WEEK IN (THAT JOB/THAT BUSINESS/ALL ... JOBS? |
| | 1 hour or more | ¦___¦___¦ | |
| | Less than 1 hour/no hours | q | Go to Q.13 |
Industry and Occupation questions for the employed population would be included here if required.
Otherwise no more questions. |
| Q.13. | AT ANY TIME DURING THE LAST 4 WEEKS HAVE/HAS ... BEEN LOOKING FOR FULL-TIME OR PART-TIME WORK? |
| | Yes, full-time work only | q | |
| | Yes, part-time work only | q | |
| | Yes, either full-time or part-time work | q | |
| | No | q | No More Questions |
|
| Q.14. | AT ANY TIME IN THE LAST 4 WEEKS HAVE/HAS ... |
| | WRITTEN, PHONED OR APPLIED TO AN EMPLOYER FOR WORK? | q | Go to Q.15 |
| | HAD AN INTERVIEW WITH AN EMPLOYER FOR WORK? | q | Go to Q.15 |
| | ANSWERED AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR A JOB? | q | Go to Q.15 |
| | LOOKED IN NEWSPAPERS, ON THE INTERNET OR CHECKED NOTICE BOARDS?
Yes
No | q
q | |
| | BEEN REGISTERED WITH CENTRELINK AS A JOBSEEKER?
Yes
No | q
q | |
| | CHECKED OR REGISTERED WITH A JOB SERVICES AUSTRALIA PROVIDER OR ANY OTHER EMPLOYMENT AGENCY? | q | Go to Q.15 |
| | TAKEN ANY STEPS TO PURCHASE OR START YOUR OWN BUSINESS? | q | Go to Q.15 |
| | DONE ANYTHING ELSE TO FIND A JOB? | | |
| | Advertised or tendered for work | q | Go to Q.15 |
| | Contacted friends/relatives | q | Go to Q.15 |
| | Other | q | No More Questions |
| | Only looked in newspapers, on the internet or checked notice boards, and/or Only registered with Centrelink as a jobseeker | q | No More Questions |
| | None of these | q | No More Questions |
|
| Q.15. | IF ... HAD FOUND A JOB COULD ... HAVE STARTED WORK LAST WEEK? |
| | Yes | q | |
| | No | q | |
| | Don't know | q | |
|
| Q.16. | WHEN DID ... BEGIN LOOKING FOR WORK? |
| | Enter Date | | |
| | Less than 2 years ago | ....../....../....../
DD MM YY | |
| | 2 years to less than 5 years ago | ....../....../....../
DD MM YY | |
| | 5 years or more ago | ....../....../....../
DD MM YY | |
| | Did not look for work | q | |
|
| Q.17. | WHEN DID ... LAST WORK? |
| | Enter Date | | |
| | Less than 2 years ago | ....../....../....../
DD MM YY | |
| | 2 years to less than 5 years ago | ....../....../....../
DD MM YY | |
| | 5 years or more ago | ....../....../....../
DD MM YY | |
| | Has never worked | q | |
CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING QUESTIONNAIRE MODULE
Following is the full Census of Population and Housing labour force module. Questions 1, 6 and 7 are used to determine labour force status.
| Q.1. | LAST WEEK, DID YOU HAVE A FULL-TIME OR PART-TIME JOB OF ANY KIND?
(A 'job' means any type of work including casual, temporary or part-time work, if it was for one hour or more.) |
| | Yes, worked for payment or profit | q | |
| | Yes, but absent on holidays, on paid leave, on strike
or temporarily stood down | q | |
| | Yes, unpaid work in a family business | q | Go to Industry/Occupation questions (if required) otherwise Go to Q5 |
| | Yes, other unpaid work | q | Go to Q6 |
| | No, did not have job | q | Go to Q6 |
|
| Q.2. | IN THE MAIN JOB HELD LAST WEEK, WERE YOU:
(If you had more than one job last week then 'main job' refers to the job in which you usually work the most hours.) |
| | Working for an employer? | q | Go to Industry/Occupation questions (if required) otherwise Go to Q5 |
| | Working in own business | q | |
| | | | |
| Q.3 | WAS YOUR BUSINESS: |
| | Unincorporated? | q | |
| | Incorporated (e.g. Pty Ltd)? | q | |
| | | | |
| Q.4 | DOES YOUR BUSINESS EMPLOY PEOPLE? |
| | No, no employees (other than owner/s) | q | |
| | Yes, 1-19 employees | q | |
| | Yes, 20 or more employees | q | |
| Industry and Occupation questions for the employed population would be included here if required. Otherwise go to Q5. |
|
| Q.5. | LAST WEEK, HOW MANY HOURS DID YOU WORK IN ALL JOBS?
(Add any overtime or extra time worked and subtract any time off.) |
| | Hours worked | ¦___¦___¦ | |
| | None | q | |
|
| Q.6. | DID YOU ACTIVELY LOOK FOR WORK AT ANY TIME IN THE LAST FOUR WEEKS?
(Examples of actively looking for work include: checking or registering with a Job Services Australia Provider or any other employment agency; writing, telephoning or applying in person to an employer for work; having a job interview; taking steps to purchase or start a business; or advertising for work.) |
| | No, did not look for work | q | |
| | Yes, looked for full-time work | q | |
| | Yes, looked for part-time work | q | |
|
| Q.7. | IF YOU HAD FOUND A JOB, COULD YOU HAVE STARTED WORK LAST WEEK? |
| | Yes, could have started work last week | q | |
| | No, already had a job to go to | q | |
| | No, temporarily ill or injured | q | |
| | No, other reason | q | |
Single question - It is recognised that the standard ABS question modules may be difficult to implement in some administrative settings where there is a requirement to collect information on labour force activities from clients for client profiling or service provision analysis. If this is the case, a single question is suggested to promote comparability of data collected as a product of administrative activities of that nature.
It should be noted that the single question module is
not an ABS standard and is not used in ABS statistical collections. As this question is reliant of the respondent or client's own perception of his or her labour force activities and on that person's understanding of the words for labour force concepts used in the question, its accuracy is very limited. It may nevertheless be useful for agencies which require a broad understanding of the labour force profile of their clientele but cannot use the seven question approach of the ABS Census of Population and Housing Questionnaire Module standard.
| Q.1. | OF THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES, WHICH BEST DESCRIBES YOUR CURRENT LABOUR FORCE STATUS |
| | | Mark one box only. | |
| | Full-Time employee | q | |
| | Part-Time employee | q | |
| | Self-employed - not employing others | q | |
| | Self-employed - employing others | q | |
| | Employed - unpaid worker in a family business | q | |
| | Unemployed - seeking full-time work | q | |
| | Unemployed - seeking part-time work | q | |
| | Not employed - not seeking employment | q | |
| | | | |
| Note that if data on the full-time/part-time status of the unemployed are not required, the two unemployed categories may be combined as "Unemployed - seeking full-time or part-time work. It is important to emphasise in the question that to be unemployed one has to be looking for work. |
In addition to the question modules stated in this standard, for certain enumeration situations (e.g. remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities) a modified questionnaire format may be used. Details of these circumstances can be provided on request, please contact labour.statistics@abs.gov.au.
Derivation procedures
Labour force status is derived by asking a series of questions about a person's work-related activities in the reference period. The derivation procedure is different for each questionnaire module.
For the Labour Force Survey Questionnaire Module:
- employed persons are those who respond (in Q19 to Q21) that they worked in a job, business or farm, or in a family business without pay, or that that had a job they were away from in the reference week; and
- worked in a job, business or farm, or in a family business without pay, for one hour or more in the reference week (as reported in Q44); or
- were away from work during the reference week (or worked less that one hour during the reference week), but maintained job attachment in the reference week, and usually works one hour or more, as determined in Q69.
- unemployed persons are those who did not have a job but had been looking for work in the four weeks to the end of the reference week (as reported in Q22 and Q23), and people who, although they report that they have a job, fail to satisfy the employed criteria as specified above. In order for a persons to be classified as unemployed:
- took an active step to find work in the four weeks to the end of the reference week, that is, answer one of the questions in Q88A, Q88B, Q88C, Q88F, Q88G, or codes 1 or 2 in Q88H, and was available to start work in the reference week (including 'Don't know' responses) determined by Q89; or
- was waiting to start a job they had already obtained, as reported in Q25, Q90 or Q93, and would be starting that work within four weeks as reported in Q91 or Q94, and could have started in the reference week if the work had been available then as reported in Q95.
- persons not in the labour force are derived as the residual population who do not meet the criteria to be classified as either employed or unemployed.
For the Household Survey Questionnaire Module:
- employed persons are those who respond 'yes' to either Q2, Q3 or Q4 and have worked more than 1 hour as reported in Q12;
- unemployed persons are those who respond 'no' to Q2, Q3 and Q4, answer 'yes' to Q13, indicate in Q14 that they have been engaged in active job search, and answer 'yes' or 'don't know' to Q15;
- persons not in the labour force are derived as the residual population, not identified as employed or unemployed.
For the Census of Population and Housing Questionnaire Module:
- employed persons are those who answer 'yes, worked for payment or profit'; 'yes, but absent on holidays, on paid leave, on strike or temporarily stood down'; or 'yes, unpaid work in a family business' in Q1.
- unemployed persons are those who answer 'yes' in Q6 and 'yes' in Q7.
- persons not in the labour force are derived as the residual population, not identified as employed or unemployed.
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