The ILO Department of Statistics has an active programme of methodological research to identify and promote good practices in the collection and reporting of labour statistics. This work is done both to provide support to countries and to inform ongoing standard setting work. The research work spreads across a wide range of topics with a changing focus over time reflecting latest demands and work required to support standard setting and implementation.
A substantial body of ongoing research involves the identification of best practices in labour force survey (LFS) design. The ILO is pursuing a modular approach to LFS questionnaire design based on thorough development and testing. Such an approach seeks to enable elements of a questionnaire to be added or dropped as needed with the aim of increased flexibility over time and across countries. An initial modular LFS has been published based on a major pilot study programme undertaken between 2015 and 2017. Since then, the ILO has worked across a range of topics with the aim to identify good measurement approaches on key subjects such as work relationships, green jobs, volunteer work, education qualification and skills mismatches, labour migration and others. The ILO will seek to continue this process in collaboration with countries and other partners to build on and improve existing tools and guidance over time.
LFS projects
The ILO partners with national statistical offices from different regions of the world to ensure the tools and guidance developed are grounded in national realities and relevant to countries with different socioeconomic contexts. The ILO also works with international agencies including the World Bank, FAO, UN Statistics Division as well as development partners such as Data2x of the UN Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote wide implementation of ICLS standards across different household survey programmes and to improve knowledge sharing in survey design.
LFS pilot studies (phase 1)
Sri Lanka pilot
Time use
Volunteer work
Gender and informality
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Research findings
Click on a tab for research findings related to a specific pilot, project or topic.
Measuring Women and Men’s Work: Summary of Main Findings and Recommendations from a Joint ILO and World Bank Study in Sri Lanka
This brief highlights the key lessons learned during the ILO-World Bank study in Sri Lanka. It provides recommendations for household surveys seeking to measure in line with the latest international statistical standards, in particular those adopted at the 19th ICLS.
Measuring Women and Men’s Work: Main Findings from a Joint ILO and World Bank Study in Sri Lanka
This report presents the findings of the ILO-World Bank study in Sri Lanka. It shows the key areas of inconsistency discovered between the labour force survey and multi-topic living standards survey, how those inconsistencies were addressed across a range of topics including the measurement of employment, labour underutilization and own-use production work. In addition, the report highlights the range of valuable data that can be generated when the 19th ICLS standards are applied through household surveys.
Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic: Gender relevance of the 19th ICLS statistical standards
This brief gives a summary overview of the impact of the introduction of the 19th ICLS statistical standards on labour statistics, as compared with the previous standards from the 13th ICLS. The key gender differences between the frameworks are illustrated using data collected from pilot studies completed between 2015 and 2017.
Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic: Closing gender data gaps in the world of work – role of the 19th ICLS standards
This report provides a detailed overview of the relevance of the 19th ICLS for gender analysis of participation in work and the labour market. It uses data from the pilot studies completed between 2015 and 2017 to illustrate the wide range of analytical potential when the new standards are implemented.
Measuring working time and time-related underemployment in labour force surveys: Main findings from the ILO LFS pilot studies
This report presents the main findings on the measurement of working time and time related underemployment drawn from the ILO LFS pilot studies. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the project.
Measuring employment in labour force surveys: Main findings from the ILO LFS pilot studies
This report presents the main findings on the measurement of employment drawn from the ILO LFS pilot studies. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the project.
ILO LFS pilot studies in follow up to the 19th ICLS: Background, objectives and methodology
This report describes the main features of Resolution I of the 19th ICLS and the process by which it was developed. It goes on to describe the objectives chosen for the ILO LFS pilot studies arising from the changes introduced through the new standards and the overall testing approach and methodology adopted in the pilot studies. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the project.
ILO LFS pilot studies cognitive interviewing tests: Methodology, process and outcomes
This report describes the cognitive testing methodology used as first stage of evaluation in the ILO LFS pilot studies. The main focus is on country practices in implementing the cognitive tests to assess the model questionnaires. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the project.
ILO LFS pilot studies experimental field tests: Methodology, process and outcomes
The focus of this report is to provide a more detailed description of the field testing stage of the process including the design, implementation and lessons learned. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the ILO LFS pilot studies.
Measuring main activity in labour force surveys: Main findings from the ILO LFS pilot studies
This report presents the main findings on the measurement of main activity drawn from the ILO LFS pilot studies. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the project.
Measuring unemployment and the potential labour force in labour force surveys: Main findings from the ILO LFS pilot studies
This report presents the main findings on the measurement of unemployment and the potential labour force drawn from the ILO LFS pilot studies. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the project.
National practices in measuring volunteer work: A critical review
This report presents the results of a global review of national practices in measuring volunteer work, between 2007 and 2017, undertaken by the Statistics Department of the ILO. The review was conducted under the framework of the ILO-UN Volunteers (UNV) partnership established to promote and facilitate the regular measurement of volunteer work by the National Statistical Offices.