Harmonizing Labour Statistics Marwan Khawaja UN-ESCWA Beirut, Lebanon

Outline Overview of current situation UN-ESCWA experience Data sources Some challenges in harmonizing LF data

Analytic Framework (ILO) – still valid??

Arab Society – a compendium of social indicators A bi-annual regular publication Based mainly on data from NSOs A large questionnaire is sent in March to NSO for completion A descriptive portrait of Arab society – covering essentially the same set of topics as MEDSTAT: Population, health, employment, education, housing, household budget (poverty et al.), crime, and culture One thematic topic in each issue – employment 2011; education 2013 Comparative in nature – but thematic topic is presented as country profiles A core set of indicators – based on availability of quality data Not yet agreed upon by member countries

Labor/Employment items (from LFSs): Labor force participation rate (age 15+) Youth labor force participation rate (age 15-24) Unemployment rate (age 15+) Youth unemployment rate (age 15-24) Employment status (age 15+) Employment by economic activity (age 15+) Employment by economic sector (age 15+) Employment by main occupations (age 15+) All by nationality/citizenship (if applicable) & sex

Responses 2011 - 7 out of 13 countries: Egypt, Jordan Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, & UAE. 2013 – So far: 7 out of 17 countries: Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Qatar, Iraq & Jordan. Data on all indicators requested – inconsistencies in some variables e.g., occupation (armed forces) and sector

Data sources All countries (save Lebanon) have had 1-2 censuses since 1990 Limited labor force data & slightly different definitions (reference period) Most have LFS or household surveys with labor force questions E.g. Lebanon: living conditions survey and post-war living conditions survey (‘07) included a module on labor force Lack of longitudinal LF surveys (except Egypt & Jordan –ERF’s LMPS) Limited use of administrative data Problems: Lack of time series in most countries Incomparability of data collected : Different years & slightly different definitions/standards (ISCO)

Issues of comparability & data quality Discrepancies in definitions/concepts (re ILO standards) E.g., economically active - Consistency with ILO, but still not strictly comparable Looking for work (reference period: 1 month, last wk etc) Lack of data Incomplete series for variables collected No data on some important variables (e.g., informal, hours of work, wages) Different classifications Occupation (ISCO vs. Arab league) & Industry Status in employment, background variables e.g., education Tabulation – questions sequence Occupation/industry for economically active OR only employed

Issues of comparability (II) Survey design Seasonality: A cross section (annual) vs. Continuous (quarterly) Missing data (due to respondent burden re rotated samples?) Geographic coverage (whole country vs. part – due to wars etc) Population coverage (civilian vs. total; Bedouin) + citizens vs. total resident population Different reference period for some definition Worked (last week, day, month) Looking for work (last week, last month, last day) Different age groups (re rates) 15 and older vs. 15-60/65 vs. 10 and older Comparability across survey years Changed definitions or survey design etc.

Other challenges re harmonization Budget constraints In conducting a regular (yearly) labor force survey (Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan) Dissemination of data Collected survey data are partially published Lack of metadata – for some countries Lack of micro data files – for public use Almost all countries except Palestine, Tunisia DIQA -

DIQA initiative A one year pilot project With the World Bank & ILO So far, 5 countries are participating Egypt, Kuwait, Palestine, Tunis and Morocco (Yemen was invited but did not confirm) Focus on LFS data – HIES later on ..

Thank you!