The Potential Influence of Multiple Job Holding on Official Statistics Describing The Rural Workforce: Issues for Data Series and Workforce Policy

The research programme on multiple job holding identified substantial discrepancies between the Census and HLFS series regarding the increasing level of rural multiple job holding 1981 to 2001. Furthermore, evidence from the Time Use Survey suggests that the distribution of second job occupations does not match those for first jobs. This result and qualitative data indicate answers to census questions could lead to under-reporting of some rural occupations "hidden" as second jobs. Any under-reporting of the scale and form of the rural labour force in official statistics has implications for understanding rural occupations and industries, and formulation of rural policies.