April 2026 Labor Force Survey: Informal Work & Unpaid Care Focus

Tacloban City–The Regional Statistical Services Office VIII (PSA – RSSO 8) is conducting the April 2026 Labor Force Survey (LFS), with rider questions on informal statistics and unpaid care and domestic work. Data collection is expected to be completed from 08 to 30 April 2026.

The LFS is a monthly and quarterly survey that gathers comprehensive data from households nationwide. This information enables the estimation of key national and regional employment indicators and is a vital instrument in assessing the current state of the Philippine labor market.

The inclusion of informal statistics questions in the April 2026 LFS will address the data gap about workers in the informal economy which is essential for improving working conditions and reducing poverty.

A comprehensive statistics on informal economy will enable the government to support the development of policies and programs to address the consequences of informality.

The data is also crucial in tracking the progress in achieving the sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, specifically SDG 8.3.1 – Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex.Meanwhile the unpaid care and domestic work questions aim to measure the amount of time women and men spend doing unpaid work, to ensure that all work, whether paid or unpaid, is valued.In the April 2026 survey round, 2,688 households will be interviewed to obtain reliable estimates in Eastern Visayas.

The sample housing units are selected from the 2023 GeoMS for household-based surveys of PSA. Data collection in the field will utilize Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) using Tablet installed with an application called Computer-Aided Data Collection System (CADaCS).

The PSA–RSSO 8 enjoins everyone to support the survey by providing accurate information to authorized Statistical Researchers who will be visiting sample households.

PSA reassures the public that all personnel involved in the survey are bound by the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) to keep all information obtained during the survey in strict confidence.

Individual data provided to PSA for statistical inquiries, surveys, and censuses are considered privileged communication and cannot be used as evidence in any court of law, tribunal, or administrative body.