Basseterre, St. Kitts (March 11, 2004): A Labour Force Survey, scheduled to take place in April, will assist in designing and evaluating policies and programmes for the promotion and creation of employment.
This is but one of the beneficial uses for the findings of the survey which will be undertaken by the Statistics Division of the Planning Unit.
Other uses for the survey findings includes assessing the effects of structural adjustments and stabalization programmes on the employment situation of the working population and obtaining basic information on the size and structure of the country’s workforce.
Survey findings will also provide a base to measure labour supply and input and the extent of utilization of the available human resources in the production of goods and services. Critically, findings will also assist in the formulation of policies and programmes to alleviate poverty and bring about a more equal distribution of income.
An objective of the Labour Force Survey is to measure the labour force and its characteristics so as to generate and disseminate timely, reliable and internationally comparable labour market statistics on a periodic basis.
Another objective is to provide a key set of indicators that would assist institutions and organisations interested in labour market analysis in measuring the extent of available and unused labour and human resources.
In speaking to SKNIS, Chief Statistician Ms. Beverly Harris said that enumerators are being trained and all necessary measures are being taken to ensure that the survey is efficiently carried out next month.
She also encouraged the general public to kindly cooperate with the enumerators who will be visiting approximately 1,800 homes in the Federation asking specific labour-related questions. She informed that they can be recognised by their Labour Force Survey identification cards.
The survey is sponsored by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
