WITH scores of Jamaicans still not yet counted in the 2022 Population and Housing Census, there is growing concern regarding the status of the exercise which has been hampered by a lack of census takers and administrative issues.

There is uncertainty as to whether the census, which has been extended at least twice, is still being conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) or has been halted.

The undertaking, which commenced last September, was slated to end on March 31, 2023, but the institute subsequently advised that the deadline would not be met and that a new timeline would be set. However, there has been no word on this to date.

When the Jamaica Observer contacted Statin’s Director General Carol Coy she promised that an update will be provided next week Tuesday on the census.

The institute had previously revealed that it has been adversely impacted by internal resource constraints, including turnover in key posts prior to the start of data collection.

It said these constraints resulted in delays in the recruitment, training and onboarding of census takers and supervisors. As such, there was a phased approach to the start of data collection.

Statin was also having major challenges with the recruitment of census field workers, ranging from low to no applicants from some communities, applicants who did not pass the screening process, high drop-out rates during training, and low take-up post-training.

The employment target of approximately 7,000 census field workers was therefore not met. The agency said it was not able to recruit more than 4,000 at any given time.

The attrition of census workers also affected the data collection for the census. Several census workers opted out of the job for varying reasons, including unavailability to work on the census, given the delays in data collection and other commitments, the low remuneration for data collection, and the level of difficulty in collecting data.

The parishes most affected by the shortfall in field staff are St James, Hanover, Clarendon, Manchester, St Catherine, and St Andrew.

In an article written by Coy, published in this newspaper on March 15, she noted that new approaches were introduced and expanded to improve the rate of data collection.

“This includes expanding the modes of data collection to include teams of experienced and efficient data collectors targeting communities currently without census workers, among others,” she said.

She noted as well that to make the compensation more competitive, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service approved an increase in the compensation payable, including travelling allowance and salary, to census supervisors and census takers.

Coy further noted that improvement in administrative processes has reduced the lag between the end of training and payment of the training allowance.

The national census takes place every 10 years and is a vital source of social and demographic information on Jamaica. It provides data on the population, including the demographic structure, socio-economic conditions, and details on the housing stock. Every person who is usually resident in Jamaica must be covered in the census.