Indicator 8.5.1 Average hourly earnings of employees, by sex, age, occupation and persons with disabilities

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value  

Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of employees, by sex, age, occupation and persons with disabilities.

November, 2021

1.1.1, 5.5.2, 8.2.1, 10.4.1 

Uganda Bureau of Statistics

Sharon Apio

Labour Statistics Unit

Senior Statistician

+256 782 770851

P.O. Box 7186, Kampala

sharon.apio@ubos.org

This indicator provides information on the mean hourly earnings of employees by sex, age and disability status.  

Earnings refer to the gross remuneration in cash or in kind paid to employees, as a rule at regular intervals, for time worked or work done together with remuneration for time not worked, such as annual vacation, other type of paid leave or holidays. Earnings exclude;

• Employers’ contributions in respect of their employees paid to social security and pension schemes and also the benefits received by employees under these schemes.
• Severance and termination pay.  

For international comparability purposes, statistics of earnings used relate to employees’ gross remuneration, i.e. the total before any deductions are made by the employer in respect of taxes, contributions of employees to social security and pension schemes, life insurance premiums, union dues and other obligations of employees.

Uganda shillings

The age classification is based on National definition of Working Age Population, youths and elderly. For international comparison, the WAP and youth is considered.

Disability status is based on the WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), according to which disability covers impairments (problems in body function or structure such as a significant deviation or loss), activity limitations (difficulties in executing activities) and participation restrictions (problems in involvement in life situations). For measurement purposes, the ICF defines a person with disability as a person who is limited in the kind or amount of activities that he or she can do because of ongoing difficulties due to a long-term physical condition, mental condition or health problem.

The Uganda National Household Surveys(UNHS)

Data collection includes; survey planning, consultative user needs assessment meetings, survey and sampling design, questionnaire development, pretesting and finalization of questionnaires, recruitment and training of field staff, field data collection and capture, data processing, management, checking and analysis, report writing and production. At each stage, the survey conformed to international best practices in survey implementation.

Sample Design

The sample was designed to allow generation of separate estimates at the national level, for urban and rural areas and for fifteen sub-regions of Uganda. A two-stage stratified sampling design is used. At the first stage, EAs are grouped by districts of similar socio-economic characteristics and by rural-urban location. The EAs were then drawn using Probability Proportional to size.

At the second stage, households which are the ultimate sampling units are drawn using Systematic Random Sampling. The total numbers of the EAs are selected from the National Population and Housing Census (NPHC) which constituted the sampling frame.

Training and field work

A team of field supervisors and interviewers are recruited and trained for the main survey. The main approach of the training comprised instructions in relation to interviewing techniques and field procedures, a detailed review of the data collection modules, tests and practice using hand-held Computer Assisted Interviews (CAPI) devices. The training also includes interviews and field practice in selected EAs outside of the main survey sample. Team supervisors are further trained in data quality control procedures and coordination of field activities.

Prior to the main fieldwork, the data collection module are pretested to ensure that the questions are clear, flowing and easily understood by respondents.

UNHS – every after 3 years

2023/24

Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UBOS-Department of Demography and social Statistics

The UBOS Act 1998 provides for the development and maintenance of the National Statistical System (NSS) to ensure collection, analysis and publication of integrated, relevant, reliable and timely statistical information.

Earnings are a key aspect of quality of employment and living conditions. Information on hourly earnings disaggregated by various classifications (sex, age, occupation, disability status) provides some indication of the extent to which pay equality is respected or achieved.

The reported sources for statistics on earnings are collected during different seasons and have varying coverage hence comparability.

When using household surveys as a source of earnings statistics, there are a number of issues related to the accuracy of the earnings information reported by the respondents. They may over declare or under declare their earnings for various reasons, or they may report gross or net wages while including or excluding bonuses and benefits, without distinction. This naturally affects the reliability of the results.

Statistics on average hourly earnings are calculated as follows:  Total earnings (cash and in-kind) for all employees/total hours for which employees receive pay)

Trend and independent analysis

International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) resolutions available at the ILO website.

Quality Management is addressed through a series of activities by the UBOS Management;

1. The survey implementation is overseen by a Technical Working Group which is constituted using a multi-sectorial approach.
2. The survey report is reviewed by an experienced team at Management level who are in most cases Directors or Heads of departments.

1. The 2019/20 UNHS underwent several stages before production and sharing of the final findings. During the Survey implementation.
2. Consultative user needs assessment meetings are held with all key stakeholders.
3. The survey and sampling design generated using scientific methods as recommended by the Census and Survey Rules and Regulations.
4. The questionnaire development follows a multi-stakeholder approach and pretesting helps to establish the relevancy and adequacy of the questions to be used.
5. Senior Supervision is conducted during data collection to ensure that quality data is collected Data editing, cleaning and coding is undertaken before analysis and report writing

Comparison with previous related surveys

Data availability:

Data for this indicator is available.

Time series:

The submission covers data from 2012/13 to 2019/20. :

Disaggregation:

Data disaggregated sex, age and persons with disability. Occupation is available for UNHS which has ample sample size.

Comparable though Earnings statistics present a number of complications in terms of their international comparability, most of which arise from the variety of possible sources of data. The various sources available -- establishment surveys, household surveys and administrative records -- differ in their methods, objectives and scope, which influences the results obtained.

Uganda National Household Survey Reports (2012/13- 2019/20) and Annual Labour Force Survey reports (2017/18 – 2018/19).