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The 2002 Employment Status Survey Explanation of Terms
- Age
- Marital status
- Labour force status
- Status in employment and type of employment
- Industry
- Occupation
- Days worked per year, regularity of work and working hours per week
- Income
- Second job
- Change of labour force status
- Previous job
- Wish for work
- Whether seeking a job
- Ratio definitions
1. Age
Age is counted in full years as of September 30, 2002.
2. Marital status
Persons currently with a wife or husband are considered to have a spouse, regardless of whether the marriage has been registered.
3. Labour force status
Persons 15 years old or more are categorized as follows according to usual labour force status. *
* It is based on usual status in this survey, though the Population Census and the Labour Force Survey measure current status during one week in the end of the month.
| Persons engaged in work |
Persons who are usually working for financial reward and intend to continue working after the survey date (October 1, 2002), and those who have jobs but are absent from work at present. Family workers who as a matter of course are working are considered persons with jobs even if they work without pay. |
| Persons not engaged in work | Persons who are usually not working for financial reward, namely those who never work usually; and those who work only temporarily. |
4. Status in employment and type of employment
Status in employment
| Self-employed workers |
Persons who operate on their own. Included here are owners of private stores, factories and farms; physicians, lawyers, writers and suchlike. Those doing piecework at home are also included. |
| Family workers | Family members of self-employed workers engaged in businesses operated by these self-employed workers. In principle, family workers work without pay. Persons with minimal earnings of pocket money level are also considered family workers. |
| Employees | Persons who work for wages or salary as employees of companies, private stores, organizations, public corporations, government, public offices, etc. |
| Executive of company or corporation | Included here are directors of companies or organizations, and presidents, directors or supervisors of public corporations; namely, directors and auditors of joint stock companies, representative partners of unlimited or limited partnerships, directors or supervisors of associations or societies. |
Type of employment
Employees other than "Executive of company or corporation" are divided into six categories according to the type their employment takes, namely "Regular staffs", "Part-time workers", "Arbeit (temporary workers)", "Dispatched workers from temporary labour agency", "Contract employees or entrusted employees", and "Other". With "Executive of company or corporation" added to these six categories, seven divisions are sometimes used to classify the type of employment of all those in the workforce.
5. Industry
Industries were determined according to the type of business of the establishment for which employees were actually working. However, dispatched workers from temporary labour agency under the Worker Dispatching Law are categorized according to the type of business of the establishment they were dispatched to.
The industrial classification has been compiled to match the Employment Status Survey in line with the Japan Standard Industrial Classification (revised in March 2002). In addition to three industrial sectors, 19 major groups and Industrial Classification Used in the 1997 Employment Status Survey.
6. Occupation
Occupations have been categorized according to the type of work in which employed persons were actually engaged.
Using 10 major groups, the occupational classification was based on the Japan Standard Occupational Classification (revised in December 1997) to match the Employment Status Survey.
7. Days worked per year, regularity of work and working hours per week
| Working 200 days or more | Persons working 200 days or more over the year |
| Working less than 200 days | Persons working less than 200 days over the year |
A survey was conducted on the working hours per week of regularly employed workers from among those employed persons working 200 days or more and those working less than 200 days. The "Working hours per week" here indicate the actual working hours per week rather than those prescribed in working regulations, etc.
8. Income
When "Income" is referred to with no other details, it means the annual income (inclusive of tax) that workers ordinarily earn from their main jobs. The number of family workers is included in the total.
| Income of self-employed workers | Revenue gained during the past year from business, namely gross sales less necessary associated expenses. |
| Income of employees |
Gross earnings inclusive of tax gained during the past year from wages, salaries, charges for labour, various allowances, bonuses and the like. (Earnings in kind are excluded.) |
| Income of household | Sum of ordinary earnings gained by the head of household, spouse and other relative household members. |
9. Second job
Jobs other than main job.
When a person holds one or more second jobs, the major job among them determines his or her status in employment and the industrial category thereof.
10. Change of labour force status
(1) Change of labour force status during the past year
Persons 15 years old or more were divided into the following categories according to change of their labour force status during the past year.
| Did not change the job | Persons who were working a year ago at the same place (enterprise) as at present |
| Changed a job | Persons working at present at a different place (enterprise) a year ago. |
| Began work for the past year | Persons who were not working a year ago, but took their present job during the past year |
| Quitted a job | Persons who were working a year ago, but quitted that job and are not working at present |
| Not working continuously | Persons not working a year ago and at present |
(2) Change of labour force status
| Newly engaged in work | Working persons who had no job previously |
| Engaged in work who had a previous job | Working persons who had a previous job |
| Not engaged in work who had a previous job | Persons who had a previous job but are not working at present |
| Never had a job | Persons with no previous job and not working now |
11. Previous job
The job engaged in prior to taking the present job. The previous job here is defined as the job engaged in up to one year ago for "Changed a job", and "Quitted a job", while for "Did not change the job", "Began work for the past year", and "Not working continuously", the previous job is defined as one which they left more than a year ago.
12. Wish for work
Persons 15 years old or more were divided into the following categories according to their wishes regarding work.
Persons engaged in work
| Wishing to continue the present job | Persons who wish to continue the present job, excluding those who fall under "persons wishing to have an additional job" below. |
| Wishing to have an additional job | Persons who wish to have another job in addition to their present one |
| Wishing to change the present job | Persons who wish to leave their present job for another one |
| Wishing to stop working | Persons intending to leave their present job but with no intention to work further |
Persons not engaged in work
| Wishing to work | Persons who wish to work for earnings |
| Not wishing to work | Persons who have no intention of working |
13. Whether seeking a job
"Wishing to have an additional job", and "Wishing to change the present job" among persons engaged in work, and "Wishing to work" among persons not engaged in work were divided into two categories, namely "Seeking a job" and "Not seeking a job" according to whether they were actually seeking a job or preparing for a job.
Of the persons not engaged in work, those who wished to work and actually sought a job with the intention of taking a job promptly if one became available were considered to be persons seeking a job and available for work.
14. Ratio definitions
| Ratio of "Did not change the job" | Percentage of persons who did not change the job to present persons engaged in work |
| Ratio of "Changed a job" | Percentage of persons who changed a job to persons engaged in work as of a year ago |
| Ratio of "Began work for the past year" | Percentage of persons who began work for the past year to present persons engaged in work |
| Ratio of "Quitted a job" | Percentage of persons who left job to persons engaged in work as of a year ago |
| Ratio of "Not working continuously" | Percentage of persons not working continuously to persons not engaged in work at present |
| Ratio of "Seeking a job" | Percentage of persons seeking a job to persons not engaged in work at present |
| Ratio of "Seeking a job and available for work" | Percentage of persons seeking a job and available for work to persons not engaged in work at present |
