Introduction

The economic characteristics of any population are important for development planning and other purposes. They are also development indicators that are largely determined by how governments are able to manage their populations and resources in order to provide the needs of their people and thereby achieve their human development goals.

The economic characteristics of a population also help in examining population and development interrelationship so that appropriate policies can be adopted. Population and development interrelationship has been a major area of research and policy concern in developing countries, including Ghana.

It is against this background that the economic characteristics of the population of the Ashaiman Municipality are examined in this chapter. The areas of focus include economic activity status, employment status and unemployment characteristics, occupation and industry.

Economic Activity Status

The question on economic activity was asked of all persons fifteen years and above who engage in any activity for pay (cash or kind) or profit or family gain during the seven days preceding census night. Table 4.1 shows population of 15 years and older who are economically active and economically not active in the Ashaiman Municipality.

The data shows that the economically active population of males in the Ashaiman Municipality constituting 77.7 percent is higher than the Female economically active population of 72.6 percent. This shows a vibrant economic working class demonstrated by both males and females employed with an average representation of 92.2 percent and 91.0 percent respectively. The situation places Ashaiman Municipality as a business hub where there is ready market for goods and services. Approximately 25 percent (24.9%) of the population is economically not active. The table further reveals that about nine percent females and 7.8 percent males are unemployed in the municipality.

Economically active age groups who are employed, unemployed and economically not active are categorized in Table 4.2. The age bracket group 15-19 years recorded highest of 43.6 percent in the not economically active status. Since school attendance is highest among those aged 15- 24 years, some persons within this age group are not yet economically active. The age bracket group 20-24 years, representing 30.0 percent under unemployed status also recorded the highest in that category. This may be attributed to the rate of school drop-out or the general high rate of unemployment in the country.

Also, 25-29 age bracket groups under the employed status recorded the highest (19.9%). This shows that Ashaiman Municipality’s most active economically age bracket group falls between ages 25-29 and the least employed age bracket group falls between the ages 60-64.

The same active employed age bracket group (25-29) recorded highest 19.5 percent and 20.4 percent respectively for both males and females age. This is followed by age group 30-34 and 35-39 under employed status age bracket groups respectively by both sexes. The age bracket groups from 30-34 to 65+ recorded less than 10% for both males and females under the economically not active status.

Table 4.2, indicates the activity status of persons aged fifteen (15) years and older by economic activity status and sex. The age group with the highest proportion of employed persons is 40- 44 representing 89.8 percent, closely followed by age group 45 to 49 constituting 89 percent. The highest proportion of the unemployed age group is 20-24 (11.0%) followed by 25-29 (8.8%), Those 65 years and over are the least (1.3%). Majority of the unemployed among both male 10.6 percent and female 11.3 percent falls within age group 20-24. On the other hand majority of persons who are economically not active can be found within the age group 15-19 (75.2 percent) and this is followed by age group 65 and older who constitute 51.4 percent. This may probably be due to the fact that majority of persons within these age brackets are either still in school or are too old to work. Majority of both males and females who are economically not active also fall within the 15-19 age group (77.7 and 73.1 percent respectively.

Occupation

Occupation refers to the type of work a person is engaged in at the establishment where the person works. In the census, this was asked only of persons who worked for at least one hour during the seven days before census night, and those who did not work but had a job to return to as well as those who were unemployed but had worked before. All persons who worked during the seven days before the census night were classified by the kind of work they were engaged in. The emphasis was on the work the person did during the reference period.

From Table 4.3, females recorded the highest in service and sales workers category representing 55.3 percent. Thus females dominate in service and sales related work and majority of females in Ashaiman are engaged in such work for a living. The situation is different when it comes to craft and trade related work which is dominated by males, recording 28.4 percent against 15.4 percent female. The least recorded occupation in the Municipality is skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery workers. Thus even though some people in The Municipality engage in agricultural activities, agriculture is not a major employment avenue for the people.

Employment Status

Employment status refers to the position of a person in the establishment where he/she currently works or previously worked. Eight employment status categories were provided: employee, self-employed without employees, self-employed with employees, casual worker, contributing family worker, apprentice and domestic employee (house-help).

From Table 4.5, self-employed without employees 50.0 percent forms the majority for both sexes. This is a true reflection of the Municipality since majority of the people are engaged in petty trading, especially females, forming the highest proportion of (66.8%). Males constitute 49.9 percent in the employee category and are in the majority. This goes to suggest that more males are employed in the formal sector than females in the Municipality. Persons in domestic employment are in the least of all employment status in the municipality constituting less than one percent of all employment status (0.5%).

Employment Sector

Employment sector refers to the sector in which a person works. The sectors covered in the census were Public, Private formal, Private informal, Semi-public/parastatal, NGOs and International organizations.

The public sector remains the largest employment body in the country. However, in table 4.6, the situation is different in Ashaiman since majority of the people aged 15 years and older are employed under private informal and private formal sectors, representing 73.1% and 20.3% respectively for both sexes. In the private informal sector, females are more than males, representing 86.3% and 60.5% respectively. This clearly demonstrates that there are many private businesses in the municipality. The sector with the least employment representing 0.0% for both sexes is international organizations which barely exist in the Municipality. There are quite a number of NGOs which exist and operate in The Municipality, yet the sector offers the third least employment (0.8%) for both sexes in The Municipality.