The survey also found Hunger higher among families of the unemployed compared to families of the employed (consisting of private employees, government employees, and the self-employed).
Unemployment has been over 20% since 2005
The percentage of unemployed adults in the SWS surveys has been 20% and above since May 2005, except for December 2007 when it was 17.5% [see Chart below].
In the SWS data series which began in 1993, unemployment was below 15% until March 2004, and then ranged from 16.5% to 19.0% from August 2004 to March 2005.
The SWS data on unemployment refer to the population of adults in the labor force. This is because respondents in the standard SWS surveys are those at least 18 years old. The 1993-2008 figures are consistently based on the traditional definition of unemployment as not working and at the same time looking for work. Those not working but not looking for work are excluded from the labor force; these are housewives, retired, disabled, students, etc.
On the other hand, the official lower boundary of the labor force has always been 15 years of age. Formerly, the official definition of unemployment was not working and looking for work. However, from April 2005 onward, the new official definition has included the concept of availability for work; it subtracts those not available for work, even though looking for work, and adds those available for work but not seeking work for the following reasons: tired/believe no work is available, awaiting results of a job application, temporarily ill/disabled, bad weather, and waiting for rehire/job recall.
If the official definition is applied, the unemployment rate among adults 18 years old is 22.3% in the SWS December 2008 survey. It is lower than when computed using the traditional definition because the correction for those looking for work but 'not truly available' is much larger than the correction for those 'actually available' though not looking for work at the moment.
Hunger and work status
Unemployment raises the vulnerability of families to hunger.
In December 2008, Total Hunger, or experiencing involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months, was 31.4% among families of the unemployed, compared to 29.2% among families of private employees, 19.7% among families of the self-employed, and 12.7% among families of government employees [see Chart below].
Severe Hunger, referring to those who experienced involuntary hunger "Often" or "Always" in the last three months, is 7.6% among the unemployed, also 7.6% among private employees, 2.6% among the self-employed, and also 2.6% among government employees.
Moderate Hunger, referring to those who experienced it "Only Once" or "A Few Times" in the last three months, is 23.8% among the unemployed, compared to 21.6% among private employees, 17.1% among the self-employed, and 10.1% among government employees.
Survey Background
The Fourth Quarter of 2008 Social Weather Survey was conducted over November 28 - December 1, 2008 using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, and ±4% for Balance Luzon). The area estimates were weighted by National Statistics Office medium-population projections for 2008 to obtain the national estimates.
Source: SWS
No comments:
Post a Comment
This is a public comments area. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the blog author.