Introduction

The 2010 PHC collected data on the economic characteristics of the population. The data provide information on how persons in the District are economically engaged and the sectors in which they are involved in. This chapter discusses the structure of the population of the District with regard to the proportion of economically active and economically not active persons. The type of economic activity pursued is influenced by the nature of the economy and level of socio-economic development (Hull, 2009). Generally, the larger the employed population, the more wealth is created leading to the increased well-being of the population.

The main focus of the chapter is in five areas, economic activity status, occupation, industry, and employment status and employment sector. There is also information on the economically active population and economically not active population, the employed and unemployed. Although data was collected on population five years and older, the analysis in this section concentrates on the population 15 years and older.

Economic Activity Status

Activity status refers to economic and non-economic activity of respondents during the seven days preceding the census. The censuses conducted over the years have adopted standard internationally accepted definitions and concepts for economic activity. Information on type of activity was collected on persons five years and above in order to meet current international standards. For this chapter however, analysis was restricted to the population 15 years and older.

The economically not active population is made up of those who, during the reference period, did not work and were not seeking for work. They are classified by reasons for not being economically active. They include homemakers, full-time students, retired persons and people with disabilities who were unable to work because of their age or disability.

The economically active population is made up of;

a. Employed - That is, those who worked for at least one hour within the 7 days preceding the census. Those with a job but not at work, that is, persons who were temporarily not at work during the reference period but had jobs to return to, were also included in the economically active population.

b. Unemployed - comprising all persons who during the reference period were;

§ Without work and had no fixed jobs;

§ Currently available for work;

§ Seeking for work by taking specific steps to look for work (by writing applications, visiting job sites, and visiting employment agencies).

Economic activity status

Table 4.1 provides information on the economic activity status of the population 15 years and older in the District. It shows that out of the total population of 28,488 persons aged 15 years and older in the District, 23,230 (81.5%) are economically active. This means that 18.5 percent of persons aged 15 years and older are economically not active. From the 23,230 economically active persons in the District, 22,629 or 97.4% are employed. The employed comprise people 21,956 (97.0%) who have worked, 609 or 2.7 percent who did not work but had job to go back to, and 64 (0.3%) who did voluntary work without pay. On the other hand, the unemployed that is persons who worked before, seeking work and available and persons seeking work for the first time and available constitute 2.6 percent of the economically active persons in the District. Among the unemployed 62.4 percent are new entrants into the job market that is first time job seekers and 37.6% have worked before but are, at the time of the census, seeking work and were available for work.

About 18.5 percent of the population 15 years and over in the District are economically not active. Over five in six of the economically not active people (85.8%) fall into three main categories. About one-half of the 5,258 economically not active (49.8%) are in full time education while slightly over one-quarter (26.4%) do home duties (household chores) and 504 or 9.6 percent of the economically not active are too young or too old.

In terms of sex, Table 4.1 also shows that among the population 15 years and older, there are slightly more males, 14,801 (51.9%) than females 13,687 or 48.1 percent. The proportion of economically active males (83.5%) is slightly more than that for females (79.5%). In terms of those employed, almost all of the males (98.0%) and the females (96.8%) are employed. Among the employed population, the same proportion of females (2.7%) as males (2.7%) did not work in the reference period for varied reasons but had their job to go back to. More females (3.2%) than males (2.0%) are unemployed.

Slightly over six out of 10 unemployed are first time job seekers with a higher proportion of them (64.7%) being males. The corresponding proportion for females is 60.8 percent. However, more unemployed females (39.2%) have worked before compared to unemployed males (35.3%).

Economic activity and age

Table 4.2 provides data on the economic activity status of the population 15 years and older by age and sex in the District. Almost eight out of 10 (79.4%) persons aged 15 years and over are employed compared to 2.1 percent who are unemployed and 18.5 percent who are economically not active.

Within the age groupings the proportion employed rises steadily from as low as 42.5 percent in the 15-19 year age group to a peak of 95.3 percent in the age group 50-54 years. It reduces slightly to 94.3 percent in the age group 55-59 years before falling gradually with increasing age to 73.7 percent in age group 65 years and older.

The proportion of unemployed rises from a low of 2.2 percent in the age group 15-19 years doubles to 4.5 percent for the 20-24 year group and dropped to 3.5 percent in the 25-29 year age group. It declines steadily with age from age group 30-34 years and beyond. Overall unemployment in the District is 2.1 percent. The higher level of unemployment for people aged 20 to 29 years suggests that many school graduates are in pursuit of job opportunities.

The proportion of economically not active is high (55.3%) in age group 15-19 years and drops significantly by more than half to 24.6 percent in the 20-24 year group. The high proportion economically not active also indicates that a larger population in this 15-19 years age group might be students in full time education. The proportion of economically not active continues to decline with advancing age to age 45-49 years and then rises again for every age 50 years and above..

For specific results dealing with the two sexes, Table 4.2 also shows a similar pattern of economic activity status by age as is observed for the entire district except that the proportions differ in magnitude for males and females. For example, whereas the proportions of males employed in age group 60-64 years is 94.8 percent, the proportion of females employed in that same age group is 86.3 percent. On the other hand, whereas the proportion of males economically not active in age group 60-64 years is 4.0 percent, the proportion of females economically not active in that same age group is 11.9 percent. For the age group 65 years and over, the proportions of the population who are economically not active are 18.8 percent for males and 34.2 percent for females.

The proportional distribution of activity status by age in the District clearly illustrates the distinction between age-based dependency and economic dependency. For instance, in theory, the population age 15-64 years are expected to be economically active while those aged 0–14 and 65+ are expected to be economically not active and therefore economically dependent on the population age 15-64 years. However, Table 4.2 shows that 73.7 percent of the population aged 65+ are economically active (currently employed) when in theory they are supposed to be economically dependent on the population aged 15–64 years. Several reasons could account for such phenomenon;

a) The retirement benefits for the population 65+ is not sufficient to sustain them economically hence the need for continued economic activity in order to earn a decent livelihood.

b) The per capital income of the population aged 15- 64 years is not sufficient to fully cater for the economic needs of the total population.

c) Some of the self-employed of the economically active population decide to continue in economic activity after age 64 years for non-economic reasons.

d) The demand for some special skills that requires many years of experience are more easily available in the population 65+ who may have had better education

e) It is medically advisable for older people especially those 65+ to undertake some modest work without excessive stress if they are fit to prolong their life expectancy as some modest work can keep the physical body in good shape.

Similarly, 17.9 percent of the people aged 15-64 years are economically not active when they are expected to be economically active (and be looking after those 65+ and below 15 years). The non-activity status of people in the 15 to 64 years group is concentrated in the age groups 15–19 years and 20-24 years who are economically not active because they are mainly schooling. However the economic not active status of the 15 to 64 years group decreases with age. For instance, the proportion of the age group 20-24 years that is economically not active is 24.6 percent compared to 10.5 percent for the age group, 25–29 years.

Occupation

Occupation refers to the actual work that a person does at his/her place of work whether in paid employment, unpaid family worker or self-employment. The occupations are classified according to the International Standard Classifications of Occupations (ISCO) and have been customized to the Ghanaian situation. Table 4.3 presents the distribution of the workforce by occupation and sex in the District. It shows that out of the 22,629 employed persons in the District, 17,781 or 78.6 percent are skilled agricultural forestry and fishery workers. Service and sales workers constitute 7.9 percent of the employed people aged 15 and over. Craft and related trade workers are the third largest group of workers accounting for 5.4 percent of the workforce. Professionals comprise 2.2 percent of the employed.

There are significant variations between the sexes in terms of occupations. For example, although about the same proportion of males (78.6%) as females (75.4%) are skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers, service and sales workers are mainly females. The proportion of female workers engaged in service and sales work occupations (13.7%) is about four times higher than the corresponding proportion for males (2.9%). The proportion of female workforce in managerial positions (1.1%) is higher than the corresponding proportion for males. Male dominance as proportions of the workforce over females is evident in professionals, plant and machine operators and assemblers, technicians and associate professionals.