POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS TOOLKIT
FAQS
The fundamental purpose of the population census is to provide the facts essential to national policymaking, planning and administration. The population census, by providing comparable basic statistics for a country as a whole and for each administrative unit, locality and small area therein, can make an important contribution to the overall planning process and the management of national affairs, including but not limited to describing and assessing economic, social and demographic circumstances and for developing sound policies and programmes aimed at fostering the welfare of a country.
Counts of the population overall, or of subgroups (e.g youth, persons with disabilities, women) within the population, by geographic region (e.g district, parish, community) are often used for the distribution of government funding and services. For example, population censuses provide basic information for the preparation of population estimates or projections and detailed demographic and socioeconomic analysis of the population. The census also provides data for the calculation of social indicators (e.g proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age, particularly those that may be observed infrequently because they measure phenomena that change slowly over time, and those that are needed for small areas or small population groups.
Counts of the population overall, or of subgroups (e.g youth, persons with disabilities, women) within the population, by geographic region (e.g district, parish, community) are often used for the distribution of government funding and services. For example, population censuses provide basic information for the preparation of population estimates or projections and detailed demographic and socioeconomic analysis of the population. The census also provides data for the calculation of social indicators (e.g proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age, particularly those that may be observed infrequently because they measure phenomena that change slowly over time, and those that are needed for small areas or small population groups.
In addition to serving specific governmental policy purposes, the population census provides indispensable data for the scientific analysis and appraisal of the composition, distribution and past and prospective growth of the population. The changing patterns of urban-rural concentration; the development of urbanized areas; the geographic distribution of the population according to such variables as occupation and education; the changes in the sex and age structure of the population; and the mortality and fertility differentials for various population groups; as well as the economic and social characteristics of the population and the labour force. These are all questions of scientific interest that are of importance to research and for solving practical problems of industrial and commercial growth and management.
In addition to government and research uses, the census has many important uses for individuals and institutions in business, industry and labour. Reliable estimates of consumer demand for an ever-expanding variety of goods and services depend on accurate information on the size of the population in subnational areas and its distribution at least by sex and age, since these characteristics heavily influence the demand for housing, furnishings, food, clothing, recreational facilities, medical supplies and so forth. Furthermore, the census can be used to generate statistics on the size and characteristics of the supply of labour needed for the production and distribution of such commodities and services in conformity with International Labour Organization statistical standards (19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Resolution Concerning Statistics of Work, Employment and Labour underutilization (Geneva, 2013).
One of the basic administrative uses of census data is to support political and administrative mapping. Detailed information on the geographic (district, parish, community) distribution of the population is indispensable for this purpose. A compelling use of population census data is in the redrawing of electoral constituency boundaries. This is often enshrined in a country’s constitution and provides a legal basis for census-taking. The current distribution of a country’s population is thereby used to assign the number of elected officials who will represent people in the country’s legislature.
Population censuses constitute the principal source of records for construction of a sampling frame for surveys during the intercensal years on many topics, such as the labour force, fertility and migration histories. An essential ingredient of probability sample design is the existence of a complete, accurate and up-to-date sampling frame. A sampling frame is a list of all (or most) of the N units in the universe. A sampling frame may be a list of small areas. It may also be a list of structures, households or persons. The census can be used to construct either type of frame, or both; indeed, most countries do use their census for such purposes. The OECS PHC will be used as a sample frame for the agriculture census.
An agricultural census collects household or individual data for members of the agricultural holder’s household. Depending on the population and housing census portend for reduced costs; improved data quality and comparability; and better disaggregation of the agriculture census data. For instance, definitions used in the population and housing censuses should be compatible with those used in the agricultural census so that meaningful comparisons can be made between the two data sets. The population census provides data on all persons working in agriculture, including as paid employees. Such information is not available from the agricultural census, which only covers households with own-account agricultural production. To get a complete picture, agricultural data users will need both agricultural census data and population census data.
Although the collection of information on industrial and commercial establishments do not constitute a part of the population census, the information that is collected from an exercise referred to the building the visitation record, can be used for preparing listings of the physical location of establishments and stating whether they are active or not; and whether they are located within the living quarters (or dwellings) of the household. Experience shows that these listings can be used in a subsequent census of establishments or for supplementing the registers of establishments and utilized as a list-based or area-based sampling frame for their establishment surveys.
