Labour Force Survey 2012-2013
Malawi, 2012 - 2013
Identification
MWI_2012_LFS_v01_M
Labour Force Survey 2012-2013
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Malawi | MWI |
Labor Force Survey [hh/lfs]
This survey presents the major findings of the 2012-13 Labor Force Survey (LFS).This is the second stand-alone Labor Force Survey to be conducted in Malawi. The first comprehensive stand-alone LFS was carried out in 1983. However, the survey results were not published. As a result, the country lacked comprehensive labor market information since the available labor market statistics had been collected as part of population census data and other surveys data. The results of the 2013 LFS provided detailed statistics on the country's labor market situation.
The Labor Force Survey (LFS) 2012-13, was carried out to generate reliable up-to-date information on employment and unemployment situations and other labor force characteristics of the Malawian population between the ages of 15-64 years. The National Statistical Office (NSO), together with the Ministry of Labor and Trade, the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development collaborated in conducting this survey.
The 2012-13 survey indicated that 7 million people within the age group 15-64 were in the labor force. Of this total, 3.3 million were males and 3.7 million were females. By sub-population groups, the results show that out of the total labor force, 87 percent were residents in the rural areas, 64 percent had no education and nearly half (48 percent) were under 30 years old. The labor force participation rates for both males and females were quite high. The rates ranged from 70 percent in the age group 15-19 to 97 percent in age groups 30-34 and 40-44.The specific objectives of the survey were:
- To estimate the size of the labor force of people between 15-64 years by demographic characteristics.
- To estimate the number of employed persons by occupation, industry and employment status.
- To estimate the population which is not working together with their demographic characteristics.
- To estimate youth unemployment.
The results of the survey provided statistics that served a wide variety of purposes. Some of these purposes are:
- To monitor the economic situation.
- To formulate and implement policies for decent work, employment creation and poverty reduction, income support as well as other social programs.
- To provide indicators for monitoring the country's progress towards achieving both Millennium Development Goals (MGDS II and MDGs) goals.
Sample survey data [ssd]
- Individuals
- Households
Version
v01
Scope
The 2012-13 Labor Force Survey included the following topics:
- Population characteristics
- Employment
- Unemployment and underemployment
- Youth employment
- Identification of persons currently employed
- Characteristics of main job/activity
- Multiple job holders and characteristics of secondary activity
- Occupational injuries
- Hours of work, earnings and wages
- Time related underemployment and other inadequate employment situations
- Income from employment
- Unemployed and persons not in the labor force
- Previous work experience
- Usual activity
Coverage
National and regional levels for rural and urban areas.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| National Statistical Office | Ministry of Labour |
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| International Labour Organization | Technical assistance |
| Name |
|---|
| African Development Bank |
Sampling
The primary objective of the sample design for the LFS was to provide employment and unemployment estimates at the national and regional levels and for rural and urban areas.
A two stage sampling design was used. During the first stage, 550 clusters were drawn from the 2008 Population and Housing Census sample frame. 213 clusters from urban areas and 337 clusters from rural areas. At regional level, Northern, Central and Southern, 97 clusters, 192 clusters and 261 clusters were drawn respectively.
The NSO staff conducted an exhaustive listing of households in each of the selected clusters between July and September 2013. The household listing provided the frame for second stage of sampling, where a systematic sample of 20 households was drawn from each of LFS selected cluster. A total of 11,000 households were sampled; 4,260 from urban areas and 6,740 from rural areas. All men and women age 10 years and over in selected households were eligible for individual interviews.
97.5%
Survey instrument
There were two types of questionnaires used in the 2012-13 LFS survey for data collection: the Household Questionnaire and the Individual Questionnaire. The contents were based on ILO model questionnaires, which were adapted for use in Malawi in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders. The questionnaires were translated into two local languages, Chichewa and Tumbuka prior to pretesting.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2012-12 | 2013-03 |
Data collection was done by 17 mobile teams. Each team comprised of 1 supervisor, 4 research assistants and 1 driver under the close supervision of staff from the National Statistical Office headquarters. Fieldwork took place from December 2012 to March 2013.
Data processing
All completed questionnaires were sent to the NSO Headquarters for data processing. The data processing started in February and was completed in June 2013. The data went through several rigorous stages of data cleaning such as structural edits, content edit and imputation.
Data entry was done in the Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro), data entry application which was developed in-house. The final dataset was sent to the ILO Office in South Africa for data weighting and estimation.
Data Access
The use of this dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the identification of the Primary Investigator (including country name)
- the full title of the survey and its acronym (when available), and the year(s) of implementation
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download (for datasets disseminated online)
Example:
National Statistical Office. Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2012-2013, Ref. MWI_2012_LFS_v01_M Dataset downloaded from [url] on [date].
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
| Name | URL | |
|---|---|---|
| National Statistical Office | enquiries@statistics.gov.mw | http://www.nso.malawi.net |
Metadata production
DDI_MWI_2012_LFS_v01_M
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Statistics | International Labour Organization (ILO) | Metadata preparation |
| Development Data Group | The World Bank | Review of metadata |
2014-08-26
Metadata version
Version 02 (August 2016)
Edited version, produced by Development Data Group (The World Bank), based on ILO version. The following changes were made:
- Updated date of production, sampling procedure, questionnaires
- Updated external resources
- Dropped topics classifications
Version 01 (August 2014)
Metadata documentation produced by the Department of Statistics of International Labour Organization (ILO).