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Seminar on the effects of the pandemic in household surveys

Statistics
16 March 2022|Event

National experiences on the continuity of the production of official statistics based on household surveys during the pandemic and its impact on data quality.

This virtual meeting is jointly organized by ECLAC Statistics Division and the Intersecretariat Working Group on Household Surveys.

The health emergency arising from the global COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of face-to-face data collection for household surveys in many countries. National Statistical Offices (NSO) had to carry out surveys over the telephone or the Internet. This change in the collection methodology was necessary to continue the production of statistics on employment, poverty and other socioeconomic indicators.

These indicators are critical to understand the impact of the pandemic on living conditions. As ECLAC has reported, the number of people living in poverty grew from 187 million in 2019 to 204 million in 2020, representing almost a third of the Latin American population. In 2020 the average economic participation rate shrank 5 percentage points, from 62,7% to 57,8%, and the unemployment rate increased from 8,1% to 10,5%, and new increases have been recorded during 2021.

Considering that two events (pandemic and change of mode in surveys) occurred at the same time, one because of the other, it is not straightforward to distinguish between the effect of the change of collection mode (from face-to-face to telephone) and the effect of the pandemic on figures based on household surveys. Work has been done at the national and international level to document the impact of the pandemic on the implementation of household surveys and to analyze its effect on the quality of data.

Objectives and outcomes

The webinar will present national experiences on the continuity of the production of official statistics based on household surveys during the pandemic and its impact on data quality. It will also introduce the ISWGHS Guidance Note on Assessing and Minimizing the COVID Impact on Survey Quality, aimed at NSOs that intend to measure the effects of the change of mode as well as the impact of the pandemic in official figures.

Target audience

The webinar is addressed to staff from the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and other institutions of the National Statistical Systems (NSSs), as well as social researchers in general, interested in the implementation of household surveys and their use in the production of labor-force and poverty statistics.

16 Mar 2022

  • Welcome remarks

    10:00 to 10:10

    » Moderator: Xavier Mancero, Statistics Division of ECLAC

    ▪ Rolando Ocampo, Director, ECLAC Statistics Division
    ▪ Papa Seck, Chief, Research and Data Section, UN Women; co-Chair of Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys

  • Household Surveys in Latin America: How did we face the Pandemic?

    10:10 to 10:30

  • Guidance Note on Assessing and Minimizing the COVID Impact on Survey Quality

    10:30 to 10:50

  • Questions and Comments

    10:50 to 11:00

  • Experience from MEXICO

    11:00 to 11:20
    • Edgar Vielma, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía de México / Mexico National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)
      Effects of the Pandemic on the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE)
      Download presentation
      Efectos de la Pandemia en la Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo (ENOE)
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  • Experience from UGANDA

    11:20 to 11:40

  • Discussion

    11:40 to 11:50
    • Kieran Walsh, Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) / International Labour Organization (ILO)
      COVID-19 impacts on household surveys - LFS (Labour Force Surveys)
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  • Questions and Comments

    11:50 to 12:00

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