| Description |
This report presents the main results of the Nepal Labour Force Survey (NLFS) which was carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) during 1998/99. Additional technical inputs for the survey were supplied by the International Labour Organization (ILO) through funding made available by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
This NLFS report is structured as follows. Section 1 provides a detailed description of the methodology adopted for the survey, covering such issues as the scope and coverage of the survey, the questionnaire, sample design, organisation of fieldwork, and data processing. Section 2 presents brief definitions of the key terms used in this report. Giving these definitions is an essential first step in describing the employment situation in Nepal, since the terms are used here in their technical sense (in line with the ILO international definitions), which may sometimes be rather different from how the terms are used in casual everyday conversation. Section 3 gives a summary of the demographic characteristics of the population, based on the NLFS data, while Section 4 covers education and training. Sections 5 to 8 deal with different aspects of 'current' activity: the economically active and inactive (5), the employed (6), the unemployed (7), and the underemployed (8). Section 9 examines activity on a 'usual' as opposed to a 'current' basis. Section 10 presents a range of employment indicators at the sub-national level. Sections 11 to 13 deal with three issues of special interest in the context of employment: activity in the informal sector (11), the work activities of children (12), and the contribution of men, women and children to household maintenance activities (13). Finally, Section 14 discusses seasonal variations in employment.
Some additional tables are included in Annex E, and other tables are available on request. Amongst the other annexes, Annex A provides some background information on other sources of employment data, while Annex B provides a detailed description of the sample design and its implementation. Annex C contains the questionnaire and Annex D a flowchart of the questionnaire. Annex F shows the detailed codes used for the classifications of industry, occupation and educational attainment. |
| Table of contents |
Foreword
Preface
List of tables, boxes, and figures
1. Methodology
Introduction, scope and coverage, survey questionnaire, sample design, organisation of fieldwork, non-response and weighting, data processing, lessons learned
2. Concepts and definitions
Reference period, work, occupation, industry, status in employment, institutional sector of employment, currently employed, currently unemployed, current economic activity status, underemployed, usual economic activity, current versus usual, informal sector, earnings, vocational and professional training, household, urban/rural
3. Demographic characteristics
Household distribution, household composition, age and sex distribution
4. Education and training
Educational status, literacy, vocational training
5. Economic activity
Current activity status, reasons for inactivity, usual activity status
6. Employment
Work activities, occupation of main job, industry, education levels, paid and self-employment, institutional sector of employment, hours of work, earnings, second job
7. Unemployment
The unemployed, looking for work, duration of unemployment, previous work experience of the unemployed
8. Underemployment
Underemployment versus unemployment, visible underemployment, characteristics of the underemployed
9. Usual activity
Comparison of current and usual activity status, daily activity over the year, characteristics of the usually active population
10. Sub-national indicators of employment
11. Informal sector activity
Defining the informal sector, characteristics of the informal sector
12. Economic activities of children
Background, economic activity rates of children, work done by children
13. Non-economic activities
Participation in non-economic activities, time spent on these activities
14. Seasonal variations in employment |
