United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division Producing gender statistics through population censuses: UNECE Linda Hooper, Statistician Social and Demographic Statistics Section

UNECE Census Recommendations Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 2

Three main points: 1) Question wording 2) Sub-population groups 3) Dissemination of data Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 3

Regional perspective on census and gender analysis Question wording How can census questions be improved to contain more gender relevant concepts? For example: • can census questions be improved to include all women and men who do work according to the ILO definition? • Do the current questions capture persons who have “atypical jobs”? Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 4

Regional perspective on census and gender analysis Question wording • Formally there is a clear distinction between employed and non employed population • • ILO definition: a person is currently employed if he/she has worked at least one hour the week previous the survey Work: for income (cash or kind) or unpaid production of goods Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 5

Regional perspective on census and gender analysis Question wording Prior 1994, US Labour Force Survey (LFS): “What were you doing most of last week—working, keeping house, or something else? ” For women who primarily kept house but also did some paid work, this question appears to have led to some underreporting of work Now, US LFS: “Last week, did you do any work for pay or profit? ” Following the redesign, the survey found an increase in the number of workers, primarily women, who usually worked fewer than 10 hours per week Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 6

Question wording v Elimination of asking head of household v http: //www. cso. ie/census/documents/census_2006_guide_25 -27. pdf Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 7

Detailed data and its use v Gender analysis of special populations • Inclusion of questions to identify the subpopulation group status in the census, can provide very accurate data to measure the different social and economic status of the individuals according to both sex and minority status. Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 8

Unemployment rate by sex and ethnicity, United Kingdom 2004 Source: Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 9

Dissemination • Equality in Ireland 2007 by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland w Domains covered in the report: – – – – – Population Martial status Family status Sexual orientation Religion Age Disability Ethnicity Traveller community Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 10

Use and dissemination • Geographic distribution w Data from population censuses may at times be presented analysed in terms of statistics for a wide variety of geographical units ranging from the country as a whole to individual small localities or city blocks. Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 11

Use and dissemination Family composition w Working patterns of couples w Recombine data Source: Ireland CSO Census of Population, 2006 Rome, 10 -12 November 2007 Slide 12