363. Economic characteristics, combined with other personal, household and dwelling characteristics collected in the census, enable the assessment of the socio-economic situation of persons and households which is important for social policy and planning purposes. Furthermore, they will provide useful insight into a variety of wellbeing indicators which are recommended in the forthcoming revisions of macroeconomic statistics standards, such as the System of National Accounts.

364. Statistics on economic characteristics in a census might be obtained from different sources such as sample-based surveys or administrative records or registers, in addition to a full enumeration. Of the 47 responding countries, 24 collected the necessary information mainly from a full enumeration, 16 from registers or administrative records (as part of a combined census in three cases) and 7 from sample surveys.

365. In Europe, there is a clear regional difference between who is conducting a full enumeration or using registers/administrative data. North European countries mainly rely on administrative data, while South and East European countries mainly conduct a full enumeration. The latter is the case also for Central and West Asian countries, while Canada and the United States of America rely on sample data.

366. With this as a background, the rest of the chapter discusses the key findings from the survey and for each topic the conclusions are highlighted.

367. Measurement of economic characteristics of the population is based on the conceptual framework for work statistics. In the CESR work is defined as “any activity performed by persons of any sex and age to produce goods or to provide services for use by others or for own use” (paragraph 486). Information on the economic characteristics of the population should be collected for each person at or “above a minimum age” set in accordance with the conditions in each country (paragraph 494). To achieve international comparability, it is recommended to collect data at least for persons aged 15 years or over.

368. The results of the UNECE survey concerning the use of age limits for collecting information on activity status for the census are presented in Table 65. A large majority of the countries (40 out of 45, that is 89%) reported that they used age limits in their census but not all reported the limits. As the minimum age, 31 countries used 15 years, four countries used 16 years (Iceland, Monaco, United Kingdom and United States), and one country used 14 years (France).

369. Use of a maximum age limit is not recommended in the CESR (para. 495), as many people continue to be engaged in different forms of work beyond their normal retirement age and because the numbers involved are likely to increase as a result of factors associated with the ageing of the population. Only four countries reported a maximum age limit less than 100 years (between 74 and 78 years).

370. Besides age limits, seven countries confirmed that they excluded some population sub-groups from their census. Examples mentioned are people living in institutions (collective dwellings), homeless, and temporarily residing in the country (not part of the resident population).

	Total (out of 45 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (16 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (13 countries)
Age limits used, of which…	40	15	14	11
Minimum age	36	13	14	9
…minimum age 14	1	1	0	0
…minimum age 15	31	10	14	7
…minimum age 16	4	2	0	2
Maximum age	8	2	2	4
…maximum age 74	2	0	1	1
…maximum age 75	1	0	0	1
…maximum age 78	1	0	1	0
…maximum age 100	2	2	0	0
…maximum age 120	2	0	0	2
No age limits	5	1	2	2

371. In the CESR 2020, paragraphs 497 and 498 define the classification of labour force status and recommend the following classification at two-digit level:

1.0 Labour force

1.1 Employed

1.2 Unemployed

2.0 Outside the labour force

2.1 Attending an educational institution

2.2 Pension or capital income recipients

2.3 Performing unpaid household services

2.4 Others

372. Among responding countries, 29 indicated that they used the CESR classification at two-digit level, while a rather large group of 17 did not comply (Table 66). Of these 17 non-complying countries, 8 had a register-based census, 5 conducted a combined census and 4 full enumeration census. The challenges reported are essentially related to category 2.3 “Performing unpaid household services” and to some extent to 2.2 “Pension and capital income recipients”. “Performing unpaid household services” is not a variable that can be extracted from registers and altogether ten countries mention that "unpaid household services" (2.3) is not included. However, a few included this in the category “Others”. Regarding “pension and capital income recipients” several countries also included this category in “Others”. Israel mentioned that their census data does not include two-digit levels of “outside the labour force” because they considered that this should be explored in the Labour Force Survey.

373. In general, those countries not complying with the CES Recommendations adapted the sub-categories of “Outside the labour force” mainly by combining them fully or partially or introducing further sub-categories of interest. For instance, the United Kingdom have introduced a category specifying if people outside the labour force are long-term sick or disabled. The United States of America pointed out the general challenge to split between those in the labour force and those outside for persons who are engaged in multiple activities, such as being employed and receiving capital income at the same time. It should be noted that full aggregation is in line with the 2019 ILO-definition which came after the CES Recommendations were written.

	Total (out of 46 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (15 countries)	Combined (17 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
CES classification of labour force status fully applied at the two-digit level	29	11	12	6
CES classification not fully applied	17	4	5	8

374. According to the CESR 2020, “persons in employment are those above the specified age who, during a short reference period of 7 days or one week, were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit” (para. 501) and that employed persons are (para. 502):

(a) employed persons “at work”, that is who worked for pay or profit for at least one hour; and

(b) employed person “not at work” due to working time arrangements (such as shift work, flexitime and compensatory leave for overtime) or to a temporary absence from a job for pay or profit.

375. Concerning the reference period used to identify employed persons, 32 countries used the “one week/ seven days” criterion, 5 the “employed at the census day” criterion, 3 used one month and further 3 countries the reference date (Table 67).

376. Use of the one-hour criterion serves to ensure coverage of all types of jobs, including part-time, temporary, or casual jobs etc (para. 503). The one-hour criterion was followed by 32 countries, while nine had no threshold (including five from register-based countries). Finally, two countries with register-based censuses, used a different criterion, e.g., data obtained from other sources (social security), and wage limit corresponding to one hours work per week given the minimum wage.

377. Persons temporarily absent from their jobs should be considered in employment if they were “not at work” for only a short duration and maintained a job attachment during the absence (para. 504). Nearly all countries (39 out of 45) complied with the recommendation. However, not all countries can identify the persons temporarily absent from their jobs but point out that these still will be included in employment.

	Total (out of 46 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (16 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Reference period used
One week (7 days)	32	13	11	8
Employed at the census day	5	1	3	1
One month	3	0	0	3
At reference date	3	0	2	1
Defined according to the register	1	0	0	1
One-hour or other criteria
One-hour criterion	33	13	13	7
No threshold	10	2	2	5
Other threshold or criterion	2	0	1	2
Treatment of persons temporarily absent from their jobs
Identified and included as employed	39	13	15	11
Not explicitly identified	3	1	1	1
Other	3	1	0	2

378. The CES Recommendations para. 508 presents various population groups that should be considered as employed, while para. 509 lists other groups that should be excluded from employment. The UNECE survey asked countries whether some of those groups were considered as employed persons or not, in order to assess the compliance with the CESR. The results are presented in Table 68.

	Total (out of 42 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (13 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (13 countries)
Unpaid contributing family workers – CESR 508(b)
Considered as employed (rec. by CES)	30	12	14	4
Not considered as employed	12	1	2	9
Apprentices, interns and trainees who receive pay in cash or in kind – (CESR 508(c)
Considered as employed (rec.by CES)	39	11	15	13
Not considered as employed	3	2	1	0
Persons with seasonal jobs during off-seasons – (CESR 508(e)
Considered as employed	25	6	12	7
Not considered as employed	16	7	4	5
Persons who, during the reference period had a different main activity (e.g. mainly students, homemakers, pensioners, registered unemployed) but at the same time carried out work for pay or profit in the reference period – (CESR 508(f)
Considered as employed (rec. by CES)	36	12	14	10
Not considered as employed	4	0	2	2
Members of the armed forces – (CESR 508(g)
Considered as employed (rec. by CES)	38	12	15	11
Not considered as employed	4	1	1	2
Apprentices, interns and trainees who did not receive pay in cash or in kind – (CESR 509(a)
Considered as employed	12	0	8	4
Not considered as employed (rec. by CES)	30	13	8	9
Farmers producing crops that are mainly intended for the use of the household but where a surplus is sold – (CESR 509(h)
Considered as employed	31	9	14	8
Not considered as employed (rec. by CES)	10	4	2	4
Volunteers carrying out unpaid work through a non-profit organization – (CESR 509(j)
Considered as employed	6	1	4	1
Not considered as employed (rec. by CES)	35	12	11	12

379. Unpaid contributing family workers (CESR 508(b): employed): 30 countries considered contributing family workers as employed, while 12 answered reported them as outside employment.

380. Apprentices, interns and trainees who receive pay in cash or in kind (CESR 508(c): employed): 39 countries considered the group as employed.

381. Persons with seasonal jobs during off-seasons (CESR 508(e): employed if they continue to perform some tasks of the job, but excluded from employment if they cease to perform the tasks): 25 countries considered these persons as employed, while 16 countries left them outside employment.

382. Persons who, during the reference period had a different main activity (e.g. mainly students, homemakers, pensioners, registered unemployed) but at the same time carried out work for pay or profit in the reference period (CESR 508(f): employed): A large majority of countries (36) identified these persons as employed. Only 4 countries indicated they could not.

383. Members of the armed forces (CESR 508(g): employed): Nearly all countries recognized members of the armed forces as employed persons.

384. Apprentices, interns and trainees who did not receive pay in cash or in kind (CESR 509(a): excluded from employment): 12 countries considered them as employed. Some countries have noted that they did not specifically identify this group, but that the apprentices were categorized according to their personal response in the questionnaire (whether they worked or not). One country stated that the group of people had not been surveyed.

385. Farmers producing crops that are mainly intended for the use of the household but where a surplus is sold (CESR 509(h): excluded from employment): 31 countries reported they considered persons belonging to the group as employed, while 10 countries regarded them as excluded from employment.

386. Volunteers carrying out unpaid work through a non-profit organization (CESR 509(j): excluded from employment): Six countries could not identify the group and considered volunteers as employed.

387. According to the CESR paragraph 511, unemployed persons are defined as all “those above the specified age who (a) were not in employment, (b) carried out activities to seek employment during a specific recent period, and (c) were currently available to take up a given job opportunity”.

388. The UNECE survey asked countries to specify which criteria were used to identify unemployed persons in their census. The results are presented in Table 69.

	Total (out of 46 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (15 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (13 countries)
Used at least one of the three CES criteria	41	15	15	11
Used all three CES criteria	24	9	12	3
Criteria used
Not in employment	36	13	14	9
Carried out activities to seek employment during a specific recent period (specify reference period below)	29	11	12	6
Were currently available to take up a given job opportunity (specify period below, e.g. within forthcoming two weeks/ within reference week and previous week, etc.)	30	12	13	5
Other	3	0	1	2

389. Among the 46 responding countries, 41 were able to identify unemployed persons using at least one of the criteria, where “not in employment” was most common (reported by 36 countries). Over half of those countries (24) identified unemployed persons according to all three criteria. Yet especially countries whose censuses are based on administrative data, mostly rely only on the “not in employment” criterion, as this is typically available in registers. Ireland reported that they identified unemployed persons by asking "How would you describe your present principal status?” The relevant response options were "Looking for first regular job", "Short term unemployed (less than 12 months)" and "Long term unemployed (12 months or more)".

390. In the CESR (para. 528), occupation refers to the type of work done in the main job by the person employed (or in the last job held if the person is unemployed) as defined by the main tasks and duties performed in the job, irrespective of the industry in which the person’s job is classified or the status in employment.

391. The CESR recommended, for purposes of international comparability, that countries prepare tabulations of data on occupation in accordance with the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) which is ISCO-08.

392. The UNECE survey asked countries whether they collected information on occupation, what was the main data source, and which classification was used. The results are presented in Table 70.

393. Most of the countries (42 out of 45, that is 93%) collected information on occupation. The ISCO-08 classification was used by 32 countries (80% of those who responded this question) while 2 countries used the older ISCO-88 and 6 countries used another classification, mainly own national standards.

	Total (out of 45 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (15 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Information collected	42	13	15	14
Main data source:
Question(s) included in the census	25	12	13	0
Registers/administrative sources	12	0	1	11
Other	5	1	1	3
Classification used:
ISCO-08	32	7	13	12
ISCO-88	2	1	1	0
Other classification	6	5	1	0
Information not collected	3	2	1	0

394. In the CESR (para. 532), industry (branch of economic activity) refers to the kind of production or activity of the establishment or similar unit in which the main job of the employed person, or the last job of an unemployed person, was located.

395. For purposes of international comparability, the CES recommended that countries compile information on industry according to the latest revision of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) available, which is ISIC Rev.4, or according to NACE Rev.2 for countries belonging to the European Economic Area.

396. The UNECE survey asked countries whether they collected information on industry and which classification was used. The results are presented in Table 71.

397. Most of the countries (41 out of 45, that is 91%) collected information on industry. The NACE Rev.2 classification was used by 33 countries, ISIC Rev.4 by 2 countries, and 5 countries used either national or regional standards, e.g., the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). These, however, are typically based on ISIC or can be somewhat converted to ensure international comparability.

	Total (out of 45 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (15 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Information collected	41	13	15	13
Classification used:
ISIC Rev.4	2	1	1	0
NACE Rev.2	33	8	13	12
Other classification	5	4	1	0
Information not collected	4	2	1	1

398. The CESR paragraph 537 recommends that the employed population be classified by status in employment according to the latest standard of International Standard Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93).

399. The UNECE survey asked countries whether they collected information on status in employment, on the main data source, the classification used and the level of detail available. The results are presented in Table 72.

400. Nearly all countries (45 of 46) included status in employment in their census. The classification ISCE-93 recommended by the CES was used by 30 countries, while a rather large number of countries (11) used their national classifications.

401. All countries but one can provide data on the categories recommended by the CES, but 14 countries can only provide those at one-digit level, identifying employees and self-employed. All categories at the three-digit level are available in 15 countries, including only one country with a register-based census (Belgium).

	Total (out of 46 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (16 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Information collected	45	16	15	14
Main data source:
Question(s) included in the census	28	16	12	0
Registers/administrative sources	15	0	2	13
Other	2	0	1	1
Classification used:
ICSE-93	30	11	9	10
Other classification	11	3	6	2
Data available on the categories as recommended by CESR?
Yes, for all categories at the 3-digit level	15	7	7	1
Yes, only for groups at the 1- and 2-digit levels	12	3	4	5
Yes, only for groups at the 1-digit level	14	4	4	6
No	1	0	1	0
Information not collected	1	0	1	0

402. The CESR suggested a number of other economic-related topics that countries might consider including in their census on a non-core basis. The UNECE survey inquired whether countries included in their censuses those topics. The results are presented in Table 73.

403. Overall, the non-core topics were included in the census by a limited number of countries, and one third of the reporting countries (15) did not include any of the topics.

404. The non-core topics that were included in the census by most countries are type of place of work (12 countries), institutional sector, main source of livelihood and socio-economic group (9 countries each). The other topics were included in the census by a relatively low number of countries (4 to 6).

405. In general, countries with a register-based census seem less likely – compared to countries with other types of censuses – to include in the census those topics, except for institutional sector and number of persons working in the local unit of the establishment.

Topics	Total (out of 45 countries)	Type of census
		Field enumeration (15 countries)	Combined (16 countries)	Register-based (14 countries)
Type of place of work	12	4	7	1
Institutional sector	9	3	2	4
Main source of livelihood	9	6	3	0
Socio-economic group	9	5	3	1
Duration of job search	6	2	3	1
Household income	6	3	1	2
Hours usually worked	5	2	3	0
Persons in own-use production of goods	5	2	3	0
Number of persons working in the local unit of the establishment	4	0	1	3