A. Introduction

1. The 2000 round of censuses in Latin America has encountered several challenges, some of them new and others long-standing. In the early 1990s, all signs pointed to an economic upturn, hence, to a reduction in fiscal pressures. In the last few years, however, the region was plagued with major economic difficulties and with sharp cutbacks in fiscal spending. This, clearly, affects the censuses, which are costly operations requiring timely financing to carry out each programmed phase and ensure accurate results.

2. Whether the content of the censuses is relevant to the problems currently affecting the countries of the region is another issue to be resolved. Reference is made to the crucial social issues—for example, poverty and inequities, the environment and health and social security reforms.

3. The first section of this study reviews some aspects of the census tradition in the region, and the second section explains the role of population and housing censuses within the national statistical system. The third section refers to some of the financial aspects of the censuses and alternative arrangements for defraying related costs. The next two sections deal with conceptual and technological innovations which have been discussed or incorporated, while the last section analyses methods of evaluation of the results.

4. The information and ideas contained herein were obtained primarily through contact with the countries through technical assistance, seminars organized in the countries and at the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (ECLAC, 1999), as well as from a survey held in 1998 of the statistical institutes and offices in the region on the experience of the last census (Del Popolo, 1999).

1. The census tradition

5. Although censuses were held in several Latin American countries for different purposes in the first half of the 1900s and even earlier, it was not until 1950 that population and housing censuses started to be held systematically in most of the countries of the region. Beginning with this decade, countries have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to follow the recommendations of the United Nations by holding such censuses once every ten years, where possible in years ending in zero, and by ensuring that they are conducted simultaneously throughout the national territory. Of the 20 countries in the region, only one did not conduct a census around 1950, and fifteen did so in that very year. Since then, the tradition has continued, although always with some exceptions, since, for financial or political reasons, some countries have had to skip a decade or to hold their census after the year ending in zero. For example, in the 1990s, Costa Rica and Cuba did not hold censuses, Honduras held one in 1988 and of the total of 20 countries, only four held censuses in 1990. In the current decade, a similar situation has arisen: censuses were held in 2000 in only four countries: Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama; five other countries are planning to hold their censuses in 2001, while more than half of the remaining countries are scheduling theirs for the following years.

6. According to joint evaluations made by national agencies and the Population Division, Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE), census coverage is considered generally satisfactory. Except for a few cases, the percentage of omission has been less than 10 per cent and, in a considerable number of cases, less than 5 per cent (Table 1). The interesting point to note is that, over time, there has not been any clear improvement in population coverage. Instead, in some cases, there has actually been a decline. This may be due to a number of factors, such as the increasingly complex situation arising from high population growth, especially in cities, improved techniques for evaluating the quality of information, the difficulty in incorporating new concepts and more sophisticated technology.

Table 1

Latin America: Percentage of census omission*

Censuses from 1950 to 1990

Country	Census round
Country	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990

Argentina	1.4	3.3	2.8	1.0	0.9
Bolivia	0.7	-	5.9	-	6.7
Brazil	3.8	4.2	3.4	2.5	2.5
Colombia	12.9	8.1	19.1	12.5	11.2
Costa Rica	6.7	2.2	-0.4	5.4	-
Cuba	5.0	-	-0.3	0.8	-
Chile	6.1	4.0	6.1	1.2	1.1
Dominican Republic	9.5	6.0	8.2	6.1	5.1
Ecuador	6.5	6.1	2.6	5.1	6.8
El Salvador	4.7	5.1	3.8	-	4.4
Guatemala	5.5	2.8	8.7	12.8	13.8
Haiti	5.2	-	6.1	12.0	-
Honduras	0.7	3.2	8.3	7.2	-
Mexico	6.8	5.3	3.4	0.9	1.8
Nicaragua	6.5	9.3	13.8	-	1.0
Panama	13.0	5.7	4.8	5.8	2.6
Paraguay	11.4	6.6	4.6	8.4	7.1
Peru	-	3.1	2.7	4.2	3.0
Uruguay	-	1.7	1.4	2.0	2.3
Venezuela	2.8	3.1	4.5	6.9	7.8

* The omission is calculated by comparing the population enumerated with the estimated population based on population estimates and projections existing in CELADE. Updated in November 2000.

7. The first part of the questionnaires includes the geographic location of the housing unit and questions relating to the quality, occupancy status and basic services thereof. In most cases, each household within a housing unit is counted as a single enumeration unit (Table 2), although some countries fill out only one questionnaire per housing unit and identify the households or families living there. Households are defined as consumer units insofar as their members share the budget and may or may not be relatives. As consumer units, households are asked to respond to a series of questions referring to the number and use of rooms, sanitary conditions, equipment (radio, television, washing machine, telephone, car, etc.). Other questions usually included for investigating specific facts concern the language spoken (to identify indigenous communities), deaths that have occurred in the household (to assess adult mortality), and persons living abroad (to measure international emigration), to name a few. The quality of the housing, the availability of basic services in the housing unit and the items of household equipment are details frequently used for assessing the social stratification of households through the procedure of indicators of unmet basic needs.

8. Once the persons belonging to the household have been listed, questions are included for each individual, following identification of the head of the household. Whatever the format of the questionnaire (a form with persons listed by column or, as is more common today, a booklet listing persons on separate leaves), normally the questionnaire is organized by sections moving from the general to the particular: questions addressed to all persons (relationship to the head of household, sex, age, marital status, residence, and, in some cases, nationality and religion), questions on educational background (addressed to persons over 5 years old or some other similar age), questions relating to economic characteristics (addressed to persons over 15 years of age or, in some cases, younger), and lastly questions addressed to women 15 years and over on the number of children ever born and surviving.

9. In order to decide which persons should be included in each household, the type of count used is important—that is, whether it is a de facto or a de jure census. In the former case, all the persons present in the household on the night prior to the census are included in the count, while in the de jure type, the persons who usually reside in the household are counted, including absent residents and excluding non-residents who happen to be present. The de facto census was more common in the past, for practical reasons, since the concept is clear and easy to understand. However, by 1990, about half of the countries had opted for a de jure census (Table 2), a decision based on conceptual reasons, since it is assumed that this type of census is a more accurate reflection of the true situation and facilitates the study of migration and family composition. Practical arguments have also been advanced to the effect that it would be easier to use the de jure type of census in cases where the field operation lasts several days.

10. Some of the heavily populated, geographically vast countries have used sampling for investigating a series of issues. That is to say, they have adopted a basic universal questionnaire with just a few questions and a more complete form for household samples. The sampling technology seems suitable for certain types of study, bearing in mind its potential for reducing costs and improving the quality of responses. However, this arrangement is not widely accepted in Latin America (Table 2), probably for two reasons. The first, and perhaps the more important, is that decentralization policies at geographically disaggregated levels require representative information in the local sphere, which, in most cases, cannot be obtained through surveys. The census is practically the only source of information for small populations. The second reason is that the use of samples tends to make fieldwork and data processing more complex, since two questionnaires are involved, only one of which is applicable in some households. Moreover, expansion factors must be used in giving the results and these usually complicate the data-processing exercise. Nevertheless, countries with larger populations have incorporated a complete questionnaire for large samples, as was the case in Brazil and Mexico in the census taken in 2000.

Table 2

General characteristics of the last censuses carried out by Latin American countries

Country

Date last census

Date next census

Type of

Unit of

Use of

Number of questions (d)

Survey of

Month

Year

Month

Year

Census

Enumeration

Sampling Frame

Housing

Household

Persons

Coverage

Argentina

1991

2001

De Facto

Household

Bolivia

1992

2001

De Facto

Household

Brazil

1991

De Jure

Housing (c)

2000 (a)

De Jure

Housing (c)

Chile

1992

2002

De Facto

Household

Symposium 2001/14

Juan Chackiel **

A. Introduction

1. The census tradition

Census round

Table 2

De Facto