Old Labour Force Survey Data

Question

A UBC professor is looking for Labour Force Survey statistics for the period 1960-1975, i.e. the years prior to those available on CANSIM and the Labour Force Historical Review as well as in the microdata files. His specific requirement is for the numbers of employed persons, male and female, for Canada, by five-year age groups.

I have combed through the print issues of The Labour Force. Before September 1971 the only age groups are 14-19 and 20-64. Beginning in September 1971 there are monthly breakdowns for ten-year age groups.

But in the earlier (pre-September 1971) issues there is a statement in the technical notes regarding access to more. It reads:

"Other Data Available - In addition to the published statistics, there is a considerable amount of data which can be obtained on request. Following is a list of data available.

1. Age and sex distributions..."

My question therefore is whether the numbers can still be retrieved for five-year age groups for the period 1960-1975 since we cannot locate them in the standard published data. Or is there somewhere else to look? It seems unlikely since the main labour force publication at the time published ten-year age groups only.

Answer

As you are probably aware, there were significant changes in the methodology of the Labour Force throughout the years, which explains why all data is not currently available in one continuous series. The division did revise the standard data (CANSIM, LFS Historical Review, etc..) back to 1976, but not earlier.

It was very good of you to use the older printed versions for additional information, but caution should be used as they used a different methodology and the numbers can not necessarily be used for comparison purposes. One could say it is comparing "apples and oranges" so to speak... I am simply alerting you to a problem that has happened to others.

In terms of getting older data in five year age groups, the only option that I can think of is to contact the division for a "fee" product that would ensure the continuous series with the same methodological concepts.