Demographic

3.5 EMPLOYMENTMale and female respondents age 15 and older were asked whether they were employed at thetime of the survey and if not, whether they were employed in the 12 months preceding the survey. Themeasurement of employment, however, is difficult. The difficulty arises largely because some work,especially work on family farms, in family businesses, or in the informal sector, is often not perceived asemployment, and hence not reported as such. To avoid underestimating respondents’ employment, the2006-07 SDHS asked respondents several questions to probe for their employment status and to ensurecomplete coverage of employment in both the formal and informal sectors. Respondents were asked anumber of questions to elicit their current employment status and continuity of employment in the 12months prior to the survey. Employed individuals are those who said that they are currently working (i.e.,worked in the past 7 days) and those who worked at any time during the 12 months prior to the survey.Tables 3.5.1 to 3.5.3 show the percent distribution of 2006-07 SDHS adult respondents accordingto current and recent employment. Table 3.5.1 and Figure 3.1 show that four in ten women age 15-49 arecurrently employed, 4 percent are not currently employed but worked in the past 12 months, and 53percent did not work in the past 12 months. The proportion of women who are currently employed variesby age, ranging from 9 percent for women age 15-19 to 57 percent or higher for women age 30 and older.Women who have never been married, have no children, and are living in rural areas are lesslikely than other women to be employed. Women who are divorced or separated are more likely to beemployed than women who have never married or are currently married or living together (62 percent fordivorced or separated women, 49 percent for women who are married or living together, and 28 percentfor never married women). More than half of women who have three or more living children areemployed compared with 20 percent of women who have no living children. Women who reside in urbanareas are much more likely to be employed than rural women. In three of the four regions, Hhohho,Manzini, and Lubombo, four in ten women are employed. In Shiselweni, only 27 percent of women arecurrently employed. Employment of women does not vary much by education and wealth status except ifthey have tertiary education or are in the highest wealth quintile.The age pattern of employment for men is the same as that for women; older men are more likelythan younger men to be employed. However, the pattern of employment for men by marital status is thereverse of that for women; married men, those living with women as spouses, are more likely to beemployed than men who are divorced or separated (81 percent compared with 69 percent). The likelihoodthat a man holds a job increases with the number of living children he has; 33 percent of men who haveno living children are currently employed, and at least 74 percent of men who have children areemployed. This may be due to the social expectation that mature men provide for their families byworking. As in the case of women, men in Hhohho, Manzini, and Lubombo are more likely to beemployed than those in Shiselweni (52 percent or higher compared with 38 percent). The relationshipbetween employment and education for men is U-shaped; high among men with the least education,declining with increasing education to reach the lowest for men with secondary education, and increasingto the highest proportion for men with tertiary education. The likelihood of men being employed increaseswith wealth; 36 percent of men in the lowest wealth quintile are employed compared with 64 percent ofmen in the highest wealth quintile.Characteristics of Respondents | 39