National Population Census - IPUMS Subset
Papua New Guinea, 1980
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Reference ID
PNG_1980_PHC_v01_M_v7.5_A_IPUMS
Producer(s)
National Statistics Office, IPUMS
Metadata
Created on
Sep 03, 2025
Last modified
Sep 03, 2025
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605
- Data files
- PNG1980_PHC-H-H.dat
- PNG1980_PHC-P-H.dat
Economic activity in the last week (PG1980A_ACTIVITY)
Data file: PNG1980_PHC-P-H.dat
Overview
Type:
Discrete
Decimal:
0
Start:
237
End:
238
Width:
2
Range:
-
Format:
Numeric
Questions and instructions
Literal question
<span class="em">For all persons 10 years of age and older (born in 1970 or before).</span>
<br />[Questions 17-19 were asked of all persons age 10+.]</p>
<p>19. Last week, what did you do most of the time?</p>
<div class="i1">[] 01 Worked at a wage job<br />[] 02 On leave or temporarily absent from work<br />[] 03 Big or small-scale business (including unpaid helper), e.g. PMV betal nut seller<br />[] 04 Farming or fishing for food and money</div><div class="i2">If code 01, 02, 03 or 04, ask Questions 20- 22.</div><div class="i1">[] 05 Farming or fishing, subsistence only <br />[] 06 Full time student (including student on holiday) <br />[] 07 Working in the house (e.g. housewife) <br />[] 08 Too old or too young to work or handicapped <br />[] 09 Other activities and looking for work <br />[] 10 Other activities and not looking for work</div>
<br />[Questions 17-19 were asked of all persons age 10+.]</p>
<p>19. Last week, what did you do most of the time?</p>
<div class="i1">[] 01 Worked at a wage job<br />[] 02 On leave or temporarily absent from work<br />[] 03 Big or small-scale business (including unpaid helper), e.g. PMV betal nut seller<br />[] 04 Farming or fishing for food and money</div><div class="i2">If code 01, 02, 03 or 04, ask Questions 20- 22.</div><div class="i1">[] 05 Farming or fishing, subsistence only <br />[] 06 Full time student (including student on holiday) <br />[] 07 Working in the house (e.g. housewife) <br />[] 08 Too old or too young to work or handicapped <br />[] 09 Other activities and looking for work <br />[] 10 Other activities and not looking for work</div>
Categories
| Value | Category |
|---|---|
| 01 | Worked at a wage job |
| 02 | On leave or temporarily absent from wage job |
| 03 | Small or big scale business |
| 04 | Cash croppers |
| 05 | Subsistence only |
| 06 | Full-time student |
| 07 | House work |
| 08 | Too old or too young to work or handicapped |
| 09 | Other activities and looking for work |
| 10 | Other activities and not looking for work |
| 98 | Unknown |
| 99 | NIU (not in universe) |
Warning: these figures indicate the number of cases found in the data file. They cannot be interpreted as summary statistics of the population of interest.
Interviewer instructions
<span class="h1">Section 6 - The census questions</span></p>
<p><span class="em">Urban RNVs and rural villages</span></p>
<p><span class="em">Question 19</span><div class="i1">Last week. What did you do most of the time?</div><p>Codes for question 11</p>
<div class="i1">01. Worked at a wage job<br />02. On leave or temporarily absent from work<br />03. Big or small-scale business (including unpaid helper) e.g. PMV betel nut seller<br />04. Farming or fishing for food and money<br />05. Farming or fishing, subsistence only<br />06. Full-time student (incl. student on holiday)<br />07. Working in the house (e.g. housewife)<br />08. Too old or too young to work, or handicapped<br />09. Other activities and looking for work<br />10. Other activities and not looking for work</div><p>In this question we want to find out what sort of work, if any. People were doing over the last week.
<br />The key words in this question are last week and most of the time. You must stress this when you ask the question.
<br />When a person answers, you must look at the list of activities and decide which one is the right one for that person. You then write in the code number of that activity</p>
<p><span class="pg">[pg.71]</span></p>
<p>When you ask this question some people will tell you that they did more than one of the activities listed. You have to find out which they did most. To find out you may have to ask how many days or hours they spent on each activity.
<br />You must only give one code for each person.</p>
<p><span class="em">Summary of activity codes</span></p>
<p><span class="em">N.B. last week</span><div class="i1">01 Wage Earner a person with any type of job for which he is paid.<br />02 On leave or temporarily absent person on recreation leave or sick leave from a wage job.<br />03 Big or small-scale business any type of business from PMVs to selling vegetables. Include unpaid people helping in a business.<br />04 Farming or fishing for food or money for people who sell some of the things they grow in the garden or fish they catch.<br />05 Farming or fishing subsistence only for people who do not normally sell anything from the gardens or any of the fish they catch.<br />06 Full-time student at school or university or on school holidays.<br />07 Working in the house must actually be working as a housewife not in the garden. Mostly applies in non-village areas.<br />08 Too old or too young or handicapped described as this by the person themselves.<br />09 Other activities and looking for work must have taken some active step to look for work.<br />10 Other activities and not looking for work things not included above e.g. House or boat buildings in a village not for .a wage or for sale</div><span class="pg">[pg.72]</span></p>
<p><span class="em">The codes</span></p>
<p><span class="em">01. Worked at a wage job. </span>If a person was working in a job for which he is getting paid you should give him code 01. For example the person could be a public servant, or working for a private company which pays him every fortnight, or he might be a road worker, who gets paid every day.
<br />In villages, if a pastor, missionary or village court magistrate says this is his major activity in the last week then he should go in 01 as these activities are usually paid a wage. However village councilors or committee men who say this was their major activity last week, should go in 03. They are not paid a wage.
<br /><span class="em">02 On Leave or temporarily absent from wage job. </span> This is the same as the first code wage earner (01) except that the person says he was not doing his job last week because he was on sick leave or recreation leave.
<br /><span class="em">03 Big or Small scale business (including unpaid helper), e.g. P.M.V., betel nut seller</span><div class="i1">- If a person says he worked most of the time in his own business like a Trade store or P.M. V. etc then you will give them code 03.<br />- If a person helped a relative or <span class="lang">wantok</span> in a business but didn't get a regular pay for it you should give them code 03. For example a wife might help her husband in a Trade store but not get paid. You should give her code 03.<br />- The business may be big or small. - If a person owns a large plantation or a large supermarket or a car sales yard, these are big businesses.<br />- If a person collects bottles and sells them or sells betel nut or has a small grass cutting business, these are types of small businesses.<br />- If someone spent most of the time selling food crops or fish at the market, you should also give them code 03.<br />- Many businesses are owned by village groups or cooperatives. Usually people working in these businesses are paid a wage and should be code 01 not 03. The members of the co-operative usually have other major activities.</div><span class="em">Codes 04 and 05</span>
<br />Codes 04 and 05 mostly apply to rural areas. There are some farmers on the edges of towns who could get these codes too.
<br />Most people living in the villages of Papua New Guinea work in their gardens for food. Sometimes village people also have crops like coffee or tea or copra which they sell for money. Sometimes too they sell food in the market.
<br />If the people you interview are farmers or gardeners or fishermen you have to find out if they sometimes get money from selling food from the garden or other crops or if they just grow or catch food for themselves to eat.
<br />Code 04 is for all those people who sometimes sell things that they have grown or caught.
<br />Code 05 is for those people who only grow things for themselves to eat. That is, they do not sell their food from the garden or the fish that they catch.
<br />If people are working on oil palm blocks or on settlement blocks and sell some of the things from their block you should give them code 04.
<br />In brief</p>
<div class="i1">04 Cash Croppers<br />05 Subsistence only.</div><span class="em">06 - Full-time students (including students on holidays)</span>
<br />- If a person was attending school or college or University during the past week, or spent most of the time studying he should be given code 06.
<br />- Students on school holidays should also get this code.
<br />- If a person is doing a course which is sponsored by the department or company he works for he should at get code 06. (He should be given code 02, because he is temporarily absent from his job).
<br />For example a person working for PNG Banking Corporation doing a bank clerks course or a apprentice electrician working for ELCOM should get code 02. They are really wage earners. Person at Admin. College, POM-T.T.C. or nurses who receive a regular wage are also wage earners and not students.
<br /><span class="em">07 - Working in the house (e.g. Housewife).</span>
<br />Normally this code applies for women looking after the house (washing clothes. cooking food, looking after the children).
<br />Women in rural areas will not normally get this code because spend most of the time working in the gardens (04 or 05).
<br /><span class="em">08 - Too old or too young to work or handicapped.</span><div class="i1">This code is for anyone who says he is not working because he is too young or too old to work.<br />Don't give this code just by looking at the person. Sometimes young children and very old people do work. They may be growing food in the garden or making carvings. Ask them if they do any work.<br />If a person cannot work because he is "long long" or physically handicapped (that is, he has damaged arms or legs) then he should be given this code.</div><span class="em">09 Other activities and looking for work.</span>
<br />If a person is not included in any of the categories 01 to 08 but says he has been looking for work then he should get code 09.
<br />Any type of activity to look for work is included here, for example:</p>
<div class="i1">Asked <span class="lang">wantoks</span> or friends for work<br />Walked around to some business asking for work<br />Written some letters to employers<br />Gone to the labor office.</div><p>If the person is not doing any of codes 1 to 8 and has made any attempt to look for work you should give him code 09.
<br /><span class="em">10 Other activities and not looking for work.</span><div class="i1">This code is only for those people who cannot be given one of the other codes. It is for people who are not covered by any of the codes 01 to 08 and is not looking for work.<br />In rural areas, people preparing for a Singsing, or building themselves a new house or building a canoe and not looking for work would be given this code.<br />Teenagers or young men sitting around the village who say they are not too young to work and they are not looking for work are given this code.</div>
<p><span class="em">Urban RNVs and rural villages</span></p>
<p><span class="em">Question 19</span><div class="i1">Last week. What did you do most of the time?</div><p>Codes for question 11</p>
<div class="i1">01. Worked at a wage job<br />02. On leave or temporarily absent from work<br />03. Big or small-scale business (including unpaid helper) e.g. PMV betel nut seller<br />04. Farming or fishing for food and money<br />05. Farming or fishing, subsistence only<br />06. Full-time student (incl. student on holiday)<br />07. Working in the house (e.g. housewife)<br />08. Too old or too young to work, or handicapped<br />09. Other activities and looking for work<br />10. Other activities and not looking for work</div><p>In this question we want to find out what sort of work, if any. People were doing over the last week.
<br />The key words in this question are last week and most of the time. You must stress this when you ask the question.
<br />When a person answers, you must look at the list of activities and decide which one is the right one for that person. You then write in the code number of that activity</p>
<p><span class="pg">[pg.71]</span></p>
<p>When you ask this question some people will tell you that they did more than one of the activities listed. You have to find out which they did most. To find out you may have to ask how many days or hours they spent on each activity.
<br />You must only give one code for each person.</p>
<p><span class="em">Summary of activity codes</span></p>
<p><span class="em">N.B. last week</span><div class="i1">01 Wage Earner a person with any type of job for which he is paid.<br />02 On leave or temporarily absent person on recreation leave or sick leave from a wage job.<br />03 Big or small-scale business any type of business from PMVs to selling vegetables. Include unpaid people helping in a business.<br />04 Farming or fishing for food or money for people who sell some of the things they grow in the garden or fish they catch.<br />05 Farming or fishing subsistence only for people who do not normally sell anything from the gardens or any of the fish they catch.<br />06 Full-time student at school or university or on school holidays.<br />07 Working in the house must actually be working as a housewife not in the garden. Mostly applies in non-village areas.<br />08 Too old or too young or handicapped described as this by the person themselves.<br />09 Other activities and looking for work must have taken some active step to look for work.<br />10 Other activities and not looking for work things not included above e.g. House or boat buildings in a village not for .a wage or for sale</div><span class="pg">[pg.72]</span></p>
<p><span class="em">The codes</span></p>
<p><span class="em">01. Worked at a wage job. </span>If a person was working in a job for which he is getting paid you should give him code 01. For example the person could be a public servant, or working for a private company which pays him every fortnight, or he might be a road worker, who gets paid every day.
<br />In villages, if a pastor, missionary or village court magistrate says this is his major activity in the last week then he should go in 01 as these activities are usually paid a wage. However village councilors or committee men who say this was their major activity last week, should go in 03. They are not paid a wage.
<br /><span class="em">02 On Leave or temporarily absent from wage job. </span> This is the same as the first code wage earner (01) except that the person says he was not doing his job last week because he was on sick leave or recreation leave.
<br /><span class="em">03 Big or Small scale business (including unpaid helper), e.g. P.M.V., betel nut seller</span><div class="i1">- If a person says he worked most of the time in his own business like a Trade store or P.M. V. etc then you will give them code 03.<br />- If a person helped a relative or <span class="lang">wantok</span> in a business but didn't get a regular pay for it you should give them code 03. For example a wife might help her husband in a Trade store but not get paid. You should give her code 03.<br />- The business may be big or small. - If a person owns a large plantation or a large supermarket or a car sales yard, these are big businesses.<br />- If a person collects bottles and sells them or sells betel nut or has a small grass cutting business, these are types of small businesses.<br />- If someone spent most of the time selling food crops or fish at the market, you should also give them code 03.<br />- Many businesses are owned by village groups or cooperatives. Usually people working in these businesses are paid a wage and should be code 01 not 03. The members of the co-operative usually have other major activities.</div><span class="em">Codes 04 and 05</span>
<br />Codes 04 and 05 mostly apply to rural areas. There are some farmers on the edges of towns who could get these codes too.
<br />Most people living in the villages of Papua New Guinea work in their gardens for food. Sometimes village people also have crops like coffee or tea or copra which they sell for money. Sometimes too they sell food in the market.
<br />If the people you interview are farmers or gardeners or fishermen you have to find out if they sometimes get money from selling food from the garden or other crops or if they just grow or catch food for themselves to eat.
<br />Code 04 is for all those people who sometimes sell things that they have grown or caught.
<br />Code 05 is for those people who only grow things for themselves to eat. That is, they do not sell their food from the garden or the fish that they catch.
<br />If people are working on oil palm blocks or on settlement blocks and sell some of the things from their block you should give them code 04.
<br />In brief</p>
<div class="i1">04 Cash Croppers<br />05 Subsistence only.</div><span class="em">06 - Full-time students (including students on holidays)</span>
<br />- If a person was attending school or college or University during the past week, or spent most of the time studying he should be given code 06.
<br />- Students on school holidays should also get this code.
<br />- If a person is doing a course which is sponsored by the department or company he works for he should at get code 06. (He should be given code 02, because he is temporarily absent from his job).
<br />For example a person working for PNG Banking Corporation doing a bank clerks course or a apprentice electrician working for ELCOM should get code 02. They are really wage earners. Person at Admin. College, POM-T.T.C. or nurses who receive a regular wage are also wage earners and not students.
<br /><span class="em">07 - Working in the house (e.g. Housewife).</span>
<br />Normally this code applies for women looking after the house (washing clothes. cooking food, looking after the children).
<br />Women in rural areas will not normally get this code because spend most of the time working in the gardens (04 or 05).
<br /><span class="em">08 - Too old or too young to work or handicapped.</span><div class="i1">This code is for anyone who says he is not working because he is too young or too old to work.<br />Don't give this code just by looking at the person. Sometimes young children and very old people do work. They may be growing food in the garden or making carvings. Ask them if they do any work.<br />If a person cannot work because he is "long long" or physically handicapped (that is, he has damaged arms or legs) then he should be given this code.</div><span class="em">09 Other activities and looking for work.</span>
<br />If a person is not included in any of the categories 01 to 08 but says he has been looking for work then he should get code 09.
<br />Any type of activity to look for work is included here, for example:</p>
<div class="i1">Asked <span class="lang">wantoks</span> or friends for work<br />Walked around to some business asking for work<br />Written some letters to employers<br />Gone to the labor office.</div><p>If the person is not doing any of codes 1 to 8 and has made any attempt to look for work you should give him code 09.
<br /><span class="em">10 Other activities and not looking for work.</span><div class="i1">This code is only for those people who cannot be given one of the other codes. It is for people who are not covered by any of the codes 01 to 08 and is not looking for work.<br />In rural areas, people preparing for a Singsing, or building themselves a new house or building a canoe and not looking for work would be given this code.<br />Teenagers or young men sitting around the village who say they are not too young to work and they are not looking for work are given this code.</div>
Description
Definition
This variable indicates a person's economic activity in the last week.
Universe
Papua New Guinea 1980: Persons age 10+ [discrepancies: type I trace; type II trace]
concept
Concept
| var_concept.title | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Work Variables -- PERSON | IPUMS |