Collecting data on unpaid household services work in

Collecting data on unpaid household services work in Moldova Task Force meeting 26 -27 November, UNECE, Geneva National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Experience �Time Use Survey (TUS) �Survey on Volunteer Work (SVW) �Testing LFS model questionnaires (ILO project) National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Time Use Survey �Conducted from June 2011 to May 2012, during 12 consecutive months �According to the HETUS methodology �Using the list of activities developed by Eurostat for coding �One person per household selected �Each person was appointed one specific day to fill the diary National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Time Use Survey (2) �Diary for 24 hours, split into 144 time intervals, from 4 am (appointed day) to 4 am (next day) , 10 min each �For each of the 144 time intervals respondents had to indicate their main and secondary activities �Proxy interviews were not allowed National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Time Use Survey- results �Most respondents fill the diary once or twice per day, therefore the recall period is 8 to 16 hours, while awake �Recalling long periods of time spent in homogenous activities is easier than time spent in alternating, shorter activities �Recalling time spent in activities at home is more difficult than in activities not at home, especially for women �For women taking care of children, recalling time spent in activities at home is even more difficult but the option of a secondary activity is of a great help National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Survey on Volunteer Work �Conducted in April 2015 in order to test the methodology and tools �Recommendations of the resolution of the 19 th ICLS were applied to define and measure voluntary work �A questionnaire based on a mix of approaches proposed in the ILO manual was developed �Questionnaire was tested through in-depth interviews and expert review. National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Survey on Volunteer Work- results �It is very difficult to define the 'family' although it is a key element in defining voluntary work �Often there’s no clear distinction between family and household �Asking open questions (ex. 'What kind of work did you do? ') is not efficient, many activities remain undeclared �Asking respondents to answer Yes/No to a detailed list of activities is not practical. It is annoying and tiring for both respondents and interviewers. National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Survey on Volunteer Work- results (2) �We asked respondents about their participation in five broad activity groups offering several examples of most spread activities in each group: �Housework (cooking, cleaning, shopping, paying bills, etc. ) �Care for children and dependent adults �Repairs, construction �Agricultural work �Other services (transporting, teaching, consulting, etc. ) National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Survey on Volunteer Work- results (3) �Respondents had no significant problems recalling participation in activities from broad groups �Participation in occasional, short activities was more difficult to recall �Recalling time spent in activities was problematic because of the 'previous 4 weeks' reference period. Respondents find it too long �Was more difficult for respondents who had no 'routine' in doing volunteer work �Difficult to indicate time for activities done simultaneously National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Testing LFS model questionnaires �ILO project for testing model questionnaires, following the 19 th ICLS �NBS conducted cognitive interviews in July 2015 �NBS tested two model questionnaires, each of them containing questions on work in unpaid activities for own household �We obtained valuable data on how to better design our questions National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Testing model questionnaires - results �Using a reference period of more than one week (last week) makes the recalling process very difficult for respondents �It is quite difficult to make a clear distinction between different sub-groups of unpaid household services �Even if detailed sub-groups are built, with many examples, sometimes it is still difficult to avoid overlapping due to the words used and their meaning to respondents �Recalling hours spent caring for children or dependent adults is the most difficult task for persons spending most of the time at home �Respondents have difficulties in making a clear distinction between ‘household’ and ‘family’. National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

Recommendations �Use sub-groups of activities which offer the best distinction for respondents �Offer examples for each sub-group �Don’t offer too many sub-groups or examples �Use shorter reference period for recalling �If possible, collect data using diaries (like in TUS) which allow recording time spent in the main and the secondary activities for a very short reference period �Do cognitive tests �Avoid collecting data through proxy-interviews National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova

FIN National Bureau of Statistics, Moldova