Turkey

Title of the survey:

Household Labour Force Survey.

Organization responsible for the survey:

Planning and conduct of the survey:

State Institute of Statistics.

Analysis and publication of the results:

State Institute of Statistics.

Topics covered:

Employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work, place of work, informal sector employment, duration of unemployment, discouraged workers, industry, occupation, status in employment, educational level and second jobs.

Coverage of the survey:

Geographical:

Whole country.

Population groups:

Persons in private households whose members are Turkish nationals, excluding residents of schools, dormitories, kindergartens, homes for elderly persons, special hospitals, military barracks and recreation quarters for officers. As from 2000, the economically active population refers to persons aged 15 years or over.

Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:

Not applicable.

Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:

None.

Periodicity:

Conduct of the survey:

Monthly.

Publication of results:

Quarterly.

Reference periods:

Employment:

One week (last seven days prior to the date of the interview).

Seeking work:

Three months prior to the date of the interview.

Availability for work:

15 days following the date of the interview.

Concepts and definitions:

Employment:

Persons aged 15 years or over who, during the reference week, worked for at least one hour as regular or casual employees, employers, self-employed persons or unpaid family workers (persons at work), and persons with a job who did not work, during the reference week, for various reasons but had a job attachment (persons not at work).

It includes:

  1. persons with a job but temporarily absent from it due to illness or injury, vacation or annual leave, maternity or paternity leave, parental leave, educational or training leave, absence without leave, labour management dispute, bad weather, etc.;
  2. full or part-time workers seeking other work;
  3. persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week but were subject to compulsory schooling, were retired and receiving a pension, or were registered as jobseekers at an employment office;
  4. full or part-time students working part- or full-time;
  5. paid or unpaid apprentices and trainees;
  6. participants in employment promotion schemes;
  7. persons engaged in production of goods for own final use;
  8. persons in civilian service equivalent to military service.
Members of the armed forces (volunteers, career members, conscripts) are excluded.

Unemployment:

Persons aged 15 years or over (including persons subject to compulsory schooling or retired and receiving a pension) who, during the reference week, were not employed, had taken specific steps to obtain a job during the last three months and were available to start work within 15 days. Also considered as unemployed are persons who had already found a job or established their own enterprise but were waiting for documents to be completed in order to start work and were available to work within 15 days, as well as full- or part-time students seeking fullor part-time work and available to work within 15 days.

Underemployment:

Time-related underemployment:

Persons who, during the reference week, worked less than 40 hours due to economic reasons and were able to work more hours in their present job or in another one at their current wage rate. Reasons may be slack work for technical or economic reasons, no work, impossibility to find a full-time job, or that the job has just started and/or ended during the reference week.

Inadequate employment situations:

Persons (excluding those in time-related underemployment) who were seeking other work because of insufficient income or inadequate occupation.

Hours of work:

Usual and actual hours worked in the main and secondary job(s). Actual hours are asked for each day of the reference week.

Employment-related income:

Income from paid employment:

Not applicable.

Income from self-employment:

Not applicable.

Informal sector:

All non-agricultural economic units which are unincorporated (legal status: individual ownership or simple partnership), paying lump sum tax or no tax at all, and working with less than 10 persons engaged.

Usual activity:

Not applicable.

Classifications:

Branch of economic activity (industry):

Title of the classification:

International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC-Rev.3).

Population groups classified by industry:

Employed persons and unemployed persons with previous work experience.

Number of groups used for coding:

All the 292 ISIC classes (4 digit level)

Links to ISIC:

ISIC-Rev.3.

Occupation:

Title of the classification:

International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88).

Population groups classified by occupation:

Employed persons and unemployed persons with previous work experience.

Number of groups used for coding:

All the 390 ISCO unit groups (4 digit level).

Links to ISCO:

ISCO-88.

Status in employment:

Title of the classification:

No information.

Population groups classified by status in employment:

Employed persons and unemployed persons with previous work experience.

Groups used for classification:

6 groups (regular employees, casual employees, paid domestic workers, employers, self employed persons and unpaid family workers.

Links to ICSE:

ICSE-1993.

Education:

Title of the classification:

No information.

Population groups classified by education:

All persons of age 6 years and older.

Groups used for classification:

11 groups (no school, primary school, primary education, general junior high school, vocational junior high school, general high school, national high school, two year vocational training school, three year vocational training school, university, master or post graduate, etc.).

Links to ISCED:

Yes.

Sample size and design:

Ultimate sampling unit:

Household.

Sample size (ultimate sampling units):

About 23,000 households per quarter (18,000 from urban and 5,000 from rural areas).

Overall sampling fraction:

0.388 per cent.

Sample frame:

Starting with the 2000 survey, the frame is based on the 1997 Population Count. Previously, it was based on the results of the 1980, 1985 and 1990 General Population Censuses.

Updating of the sample:

Annually.

Rotation:

Scheme:

Not applicable.

Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:

Not applicable.

Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:

Not applicable.

Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:

Not applicable.

Field work:

Type of interview:

CAPI (Computer-assisted personal interview).

Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:

Variable.

Duration of field work:

Total:

Two weeks.

Per sample area:

Two weeks.

Survey organization:

Permanent survey organization.

Number of field staff:

Approximately 150 interviewers, 30 supervisors and 23 persons responsible for organizing the survey.

Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:

No.

Estimation and adjustments:

Total non-response rate:

About 10 per cent.

Adjustment for total non-response:

Yes.

Imputation for item non-response:

No.

Adjustment for areas/population not covered:

No.

Adjustment for undercoverage:

No.

Adjustment for overcoverage:

No.

Adjustment for seasonal variations:

No.

History of the survey:

Title and date of the first survey:

Household Labour Force Survey 1966.

Significant changes or revisions:

Various modifications have been introduced, either in the questionnaire design (in particular in 1988, 1990 and 2000), geographical coverage, sample size or sample design.

Documentation and dissemination:

Documentation:

Survey results:

Household Labour Force Results (bi-annual).

Survey methodology:

Household Labour Force Survey Results (biannual).

Dissemination:

Time needed for initial release of survey results:

About 4 months.

Advance information of public about date of initial release:

No.

Availability of unpublished data upon request:

Yes.

Availability of data in machine-readable form:

Diskettes, Internet.

Website:

http://www.die.gov.tr/.