Questionnaires
The questionnaire of the NCLS was modelled after a questionnaire developed by ILO as part of its Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labour (SIMPOC), and consists of three main modules:
(i) The Adult Questionnaire,
(ii) The Household Characteristics Questionnaire,
(iii) The Child Questionnaire.
The adult questionnaire was administered to the most knowledgeable person in the household and includes a household roster covering the basic demographic characteristics of all household members and more detailed questions relating to the education experience of members ages 5 and older and the employment characteristics in a short reference period of one week and a long reference period of one year. The adult questionnaire also inquires about the participation of children 5-17 in unpaid household services and parental attitudes about children’s work.
The household characteristics questionnaire is also administered to the most knowledgeable individual and includes questions about housing characteristics, access to services, ownership of durable goods, livestock and land. It also inquires about any shocks the household may have been exposed to in the past twelve months and the coping mechanisms the household adopted in the face of these shocks. The Child Questionnaire was administered to children 5-17 themselves and includes questions relating to their schooling and vocational training experience as well as their employment experience in the past week and their participation in unpaid household services.
The main topic addressed in the Child Questionnaire that has no direct counterpart in the Adult Questionnaire relates to the health and safety conditions of children’s work, a subject that is crucial in distinguishing between children’s permissible work and child labour.
Number of questions relating to children’s education and employment are repeated in the adult and child questionnaires. This is done deliberately to control for differences in response, whether intentional or unintentional, between adults and children.
Interviewers were instructed to interview children privately if possible, but this was not also the case. The analysis of children’s work, schooling, and engagement in unpaid household services relies primarily on information from the adult questionnaire, but where relevant we compare across child and adult responses to highlight possible differences. The main exception, as mentioned above, is with regards to children’s working conditions, where the information is obtained exclusively from the child questionnaire.
Note: The questionnaire can be seen in the documentation materials tab.