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Topic 15. Demcgraphic and eccnomic characteristics of the head of the household
151. From the list of topios recommended for investigaticn in a popula-tion census, the topics described below have been selected as being of ths greatest significance in revealing variations in the pattern of housing conditions. They are defined and fully described in the African Recommendations for the 1970 Population Censuses, and a summary is given below of the most important points to be taken into consideration.
152. As a foreward to the summary, it should be noted that it will always be necessary to identify the head of the household, defined as that person in the household who is recognized as the head by the other hOusehold members. In countries where the compound is a widespread phenomenon, it will be necessary to identify also the head of the.
oompound. The head of the compound is defined as the person reoognized as suoh by the other occupants of the compound. So far as
character-istics of the head of the ccmpound are concerned, ethnio group (or citizenship) is the only topic re~uired for the recommended tabulations (paragraph
195).
153. i. Se~. The sex of the head of the household should be reoorded on the ~uestionnaire.
154. i1. ~. ~ is the interval of time between the date of birth and the date of the census, expressed in completed solar years. Every effort should be made to obtain the precise age of the head of the household. Where this is impossible, age must be estimated.
155. Information on age may be secured either by obtaining the year, month and day of birth or by asking directly for age at last birthday.
The first method usually yields more precise information but it is extremely difficult to use in enumerating illiterate persons and, in any case, it involves additional processing in oonverting the answers into completed years. The direct question on age at last birthday is more economical to process but may yield less precise results, eince" it
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more ·eas~ permits approximate replies. It is, however, the appropriate question to use when a considerable proportion of the population cannot give a precise birth date.
156. iii. Ethnio group (or citizenship). These are suggested as alternative topios, the choice depending on which is oonsidered more appropriate to eaoh partioular country.
157. The olassifioation by ethnic group to be adopted for census purposes will depend on national circumstances and must be adapted to accord with these ciroumstanoes. Some of the bases on whioh ethnio groups may be identified are: country of area of origin, raoe, oolour, language, religion, tribe or various oombinations of these oharaoter-istios. In addition, terms such as "raoe", "origin" and "tribe" have a number of different connotations and the definitions or oriteria applied by eaoh oountry must, therefore, be determined by the groups whioh it desires to identify. The oriteria should be olearly stated in the oensus report so that the nature of the olassifioation is readily apparent.
158. It is reoommended that the first step should consist of a broad general classification of the total population into a very few categories, suoh as Afrioan, European, Asian (where relevant) and other. The non-Afrioan oategories oould, if desired, be further olassified by oountry or oontinent of origin while the African category oould be olassifisd into such sub-divisicns as may be required by eaoh oountry.
159. It may be that in some oountries ethnio groupings more or less coinoide with regional divisions, in whioh oase a provision in the geographic olassifioation for a tabulation by rsgions known to be homogeneous, or virtually so, in respect of ethnio oharacteristics, would serve the purpose.
160. Oitizenship, or legal nationality, should in the first instanoe distinguish (a) oitizens, whether by birth or by naturalization and (b) aliens. Additional information should be oollected on the oountry
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of oi tizenship of aliens. The census instructicns and/or repcrt should indicate the method of recording citizenship for categories presenting special difficulties (for example; stateless persons, persons with dual nationali ty), and shout.d aJ.8o indicate likely souroes of errors of reporting.
iv. Type of aotivity
161. Type of activity is the relationship of each person to current eoonomio aotivity. For household heads at or above the minimum ~e for which economio aotivities are tabulated, information should be oolleoted as to whether or not the person is eoonomioally active.
162. The allocation of individuals to the correct activity oategory presente par·ticular difficulties in subsistence eoonomies, as alElo in the monetary seotor amohgut pcraOTIC whose participation ie marginal.
Examples of particular instances which present difficulties are; female unpaid family workers in agriculture, persons without a job and not looking for a job beoause there are no opportunities for work, beggars who offer minor 8ervices in return for a tip, young people seeking work for the first time. The census report should provide preciss information on the method used for classifying all suoh oases.
163. The time-reference for census data on economic charaoteristios recommended for gen8ral use in the region is one week. It is recognized that this short period is unrepresentative of changes over the year in the level of activity, particularly in the agricultural seotor. Efforts should be made to conduct the census at a period of the year which is as nearly "normal" as is possible and, if considered necessary, a
supplementary question should be asked to obtain soms measure of eoonomio aotivity over a long period.
164. Eoonomioally active ~9~lation oomprises all persons of either sax who furnish the supply of labour for the produotion of eoonomio goods and servioes during the time-reference period chosen for the investiga-tion. It inoludes both persons in the civilian labour foroe and those
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