Table of Contents
Quick downloads
PAPI documentation
CAPI documentation
New add-on modules
National labour force surveys are the main source behind essential headline indicators of the labour market and the world of work. A wide range of economic and social policies, from monetary and fiscal policies to employment, decent work, vocational education and training, and a wide range of poverty reduction and social inclusion policies depend on labour force surveys as their main source of statistics for informed decision-making and monitoring.
To support countries in developing their national LFS, the ILO Department of Statistics maintains a set of model LFS resources to support PAPI and CAPI data collection. The ILO model LFS resources consolidate existing good survey practice and new approaches following evidence from ILO’s LFS testing programme to support the collection of work and labour market data, aligned with the latest international standards.
Overview of resources
The ILO model LFS resources provided here include:
- Modular questionnaires
- Accompanying national adaptation guides
- Variable derivation flow-charts and syntax
- LFS integration guide (for special add-on modules)
- Basic demographics, education, international migration status, disability status to support essential disaggregations needed to monitor Decent Work, SDGs and other national and global goals.
- Labour force status, labour underutilization including time-related underemployment, unemployment, long-term unemployment, discouragement, potential labour force, previous employment experience;
- Special add-on modules covering emerging work-related topics for use on a less frequent basis, including volunteer work, skills mismatches, barriers to the labour market entry of persons with disabilities, return migrant works, and others.
- Current employment, including multiple job holding, occupation, industry, institutional sector, status in employment, informal sector employment and informal employment, contract characteristics, job-related social protection; identification of policy priority groups such as domestic workers, home-based workers, dependent contractors and others.
- Own-use production of goods in agriculture, fishing, fetching water, collecting firewood, manufacture of other household items, and own-dwelling construction or renovation, as per national relevance.
PAPI resources
Paper and pencil interviewing (PAPI) remains an important method of LFS data collection in many countries and regions around the world. Updating LFS questionnaires implemented through PAPI to incorporate the latest international standards in labour statistics can be an important challenge.
The ILO model LFS for PAPI is designed using a modular approach to facilitate selection of topics relevant to the national context and simplified skip instructions to enable interviewers to manage a good quality interview flow using paper questionnaires.
LFS questionnaire viewer
This viewer allows users to take a close look at questions in the ILO model LFS questionnaires for PAPI.
LFS model modules, documentation, and guidance
Household module
(required)
Core LFS modules
(select one)
Add-on modules
(optional)
For countries with low prevalence of small-scale own-account farming or fishing
For countries with high prevalence of small-scale own-account farming or fishing
For countries wishing to capture main activity as self-declared in addition to labour force status
Guides:
National adaptation guide for ILO Model LFS Questionnaires for PAPI (2024)
Variable derivation guide for ILO Model LFS Questionnaires for PAPI (2024)
Previous versions:
Self-perceived mismatches by level of education, field of study and type of skills among employed persons
Participation and time spent in volunteer work, including organization-based and direct volunteering, and essential characteristics of the volunteer work activities
Guidance on implementing the add-on module for own-use provision of services in national labour force surveys
Different barriers to the labour market integration of persons with disabilities
Occupational accidents, occupational injuries, work-related health problems, and exposure to risk factors at workplace
CAPI resources
Computer Assisted Interview methods are being increasingly used in survey implementation. Questionnaires implemented in this way can utilise in-built features to improve the flow of the questionnaire for the interviewer and respondent versus pen and paper questionnaires. This not only lowers respondent burden, but it also increases the ability to create more varied and wide-ranging questionnaires, which is more difficult to manage through PAPI. Furthermore, the ability to capture data electronically creates both data quality and efficiency gains given the possibility to implement improved real-time validations and the removal of the need for manual data entry. As such, CAPI and other computer assisted interviewing methods offer a wide range of benefits both for data quality but also in efficiency, flexibility and adaptability of surveys.
Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) is transforming survey data collection, employing computer or tablet technology for in-person questionnaire administration. With CAPI, interviewers interact directly with respondents, leveraging advanced tools to streamline the interview process. These resources enhance questionnaire delivery, enable real-time data validation, and ensure accurate data capture, marking a significant advancement in survey methodology.
CAPI LFS documentation
CAPI Questionnaire “Job-type start” (2024 Edition)
A model questionnaire for CAPI interviews fully aligned to the 19th , 20th and 21st ICLS Resolutions I on labour statistics
Household information and characteristics, Household roster with essential background for household members, Individual core LFS modules (Current employment, main and second job characteristics, working time, job search and availability, own-use production of goods.
CAPI data collection tools
CAPI tools for data collection have been developed using CSPro and Survey Solutions, both can be deployed for use on android devices.
These tools are completely aligned to the ILO model questionnaire Job-type Start, 2024 Edition. They can be further adapted to national specificities and integrated with new questions and modules needed for national purposes.
Please contact us at statistics@ilo.org to know more.
FAQs
This will depend on your resources. Both can be used to successfully carry out a labour force survey.
As of 2024, almost half of ILO Member States have adopted the standards from the 19th ICLS. We can provide examples of LFS questionnaires on demand, selecting those countries that have the most similar labour market situation as in your country.
The short answer is no. Please contact us to discuss.
The steps will depend on your current situation, such as the existence, frequency and contents of an existing LFS questionnaire. The ILO does not necessarily need to be involved but it would be a missed opportunity not to rely on our expertise to implement a revised LFS questionnaire or carry one out for the first time.
COVID-19 data collection guidance
COVID-19
This page discusses the impact of the pandemic on labour markets and the collection of labour statistics. It features guidance for data producers.
