The Economics and Statistics Office is sending interviewers into Cayman households to conduct the Spring 2026 Labour Force Survey and Quality of Life Survey.
Trained interviewers equipped with tablets and ESO identification cards will survey approximately 2,000 randomly-selected households. The interviewers are already knocking on doors as the survey began on 26 April.
The Labour Force Survey aims to capture information about Cayman’s labour market.
The main measures include economic activity and inactivity, all aspects of people’s work, job-search for the unemployed, education and training, income from work and benefits.
The Quality of Life Survey examines the changing relationship between wealth, prosperity and quality of life as a measurable concept. The two surveys are carried out in the same interview but the minimum age is 15 years for the Labour Force Survey and 18 years for the Quality of Life Survey.
Difficult questions
One Compass staff member was interviewed for the surveys on 28 April. “It must be a tough job, getting into someone’s house and persuading them to tell you lots of personal financial and emotional information,” said the staff member.
Some of the more difficult questions touch on respondents’ personal finances and emotional well-being. “My interviewer was a real professional and managed to coax the information out of me, but I can imagine some people might not necessarily give fully accurate answers to some of the more awkward questions,” said the Compass staff member.
Yet such surveys are common around the world and ESO adheres to best practices laid out by international bodies, such as the International Labour Organization.
The surveys are typically carried out twice a year – in spring and autumn. However, in spring 2025 no surveys were conducted because it clashed with elections in Cayman. The latest surveys to be conducted were in fall 2025. To date, only The Cayman Islands Quality of Life Fall 2025 Survey Report has been published. The Compass understands that The Cayman Islands Labour Force Survey Report Fall 2025 has been passed to government but not yet published.
The Spring 2026 Labour Force Survey and Quality of Life Survey come as some in Cayman society question if the islands’ fast economic growth has improved the quality of life for Caymanians.
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