to think my age and ethnicity is not relevant

[Therevchasesducks]

I live in HA house, just had a call about a repair that was done a while back, they asked me the normal stuff, then at the end of the survey they asked my age, and ethnicity, I said it wasnt relevant.
so aibu in thinking it is relevant?

[shakespearssister]

This 'demographic' information is not stored in the same place as your personal data and is not linked to it. As others have pointed out above, it is used to monitor whether the service is reaching all sections of the community or whether uptake is disproportionately high or low amongst certain groups.

Also, when these questions are asked at the end of a questionnaire, the information is used to check that the respondents are a representative sample of the wider population - and thus ensuring that the results are representative.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

In the perfect world, they might use the info of age/ethnicity of tenants getting repairs to compare with the age/ethnicity of tenants overall to identify if e.g. very elderly tenants get more repairs done because they're less able to DIY (or conversely ask for fewer because they don't want to bother anybody), or to identify if there's any discrimination. But in this world I expect it's a box-ticking exercise, filed and forgotten.

[chegirl]

I have a feeling this started as a good thing but has morphed into a pointless exercise in many cases.

It is important to monitor who is using a particular service but not everything. I think it should only be used when absolutly relevant.

It should be used by services to check against local populations to see if they are not reaching certain groups. Remember that can include white people, men, the more affluent. It doesnt just have to be used to target minorities.

I was working with community groups in the early 90s. It all got a bit silly when people started adding to the list. Gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual preference, HIV status, employment status, level of education etc etc. All these could be relevant in some cases but all of them, all the time? Just to attend an evening class?

My pet hate was the 'other' box on the ethnicity forms. Bloody insulting. Thankfully these seem to have disappeared. I refused to describe my children and 'other'!

[edam]

Quite, Kathy. Same for mountain rescue.

Someguy, how did you know how to describe me so accurately?



Actually, I never have a vegetarian box to tick. S'not fair.

[SomeGuy]

My friend is in an amateur gay choir, and he says they get booked for everything because they tick the diversity box, so they very often end up appearing next to proper professional outfits.

[kathyis6incheshigh]

Edam it was particularly interesting re RNLI because they do in fact rescue a small number of ethnic minorities (who don't tend to be yachtsmen but do tend to be crewmen on commercial ships that are crewed by people from all over the world). If RNLI had been prepared to monitor it they would probably have come out ok, but they (quite rightly) said that it was utterly against their principles because their job was to rescue anyone in trouble on the sea whoever they were.

[SomeGuy]

You could go for 'black, vegetarian, Muslim, asylum-seeking, one-legged, lesbian lorry driver'

Although you might get arrested for it (itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005338.html)

[edam]

Thanks, Riven... I think!

Someguy, am tempted by your approach but might tweak it, assuming a different persona every time. Next form, I'll be a British Chinese 6' 5" Man Who Has Sex With Men, aged 72 and living in Camarthen.

[SomeGuy]

I tend to tick something completely random.

[TheDMshouldbeRivened]

ouch

[edam]

why did they ask your height? Was it some sort of gag about 'higher' purchase?

[moondog]

lol at height question

[bookbird]

This bugs me too. Recent trip to a hospital outpatients dept had me speechless after the receptionist asked if I was Scottish. She said it's something they have to ask. I really can't see the need for this, I can see the need for ethnicity question sometimes, but nationality only? Cazy! I'm wondering if the SNP administration are identifying candidates for repatriation should they win an independence referendum

[Nancy66]

My mum remembers the old hire purchase forms you used to have to fill out when you bought something in a shop and they always asked your height....

[edam]

I see the argument about monitoring uptake of services, but then you end up in ludicrous situations where mountain rescue (who are all volunteers) get turned down for lottery funding because they haven't reached out to ethnic minority communities... as if it would be a good thing to persuade Black or brown people to go walking up mountains without proper equipment or maps or letting anyone know where they are going.

And I'm still not sure why ethnicity is relevant to having your house repaired, which was the OP's point.

WRT sexual orientation, I once had to deal with a health authority who were putting condoms in bird boxes in lay-bys to encourage lorry drivers to use protection. They were termed MWHSWM (men who have sex with men) because they didn't see themselves as gay, more any port in a storm, as it were.

[lal123]

But unless they monitor uptake of services how can they make sure that the service is available to all and those who need it can use it?

Knowing an individuals sexual orientation/race etc etc is unlikely to be important for the care of that individual - however knowing whether or not people of particular race/sexual orientation are accesssing services can have an impact on how those services are delivered.

Being more cynical - they do it because they have to by law

[Sullwah]

Sunnlight - I think you definately have lived in Brighton for too long

The last time I was asked this was when I went to the drop-in doctor service for my conjunctivitis.

Why is my ethicity, sexual orientation or age relevant to this?

The local health suthority just needs to make the service available and those that need it can use it.

[sunnydelight]

If you are a service provider, sexual orientation may be a factor in making decisions about service delivery (or did I just live in Brighton for too long ).

[moondog]

What irritates me in work is being asked my 'sexual orientation'.
FFS, as if that makes any bloody difference whatsoever.

[vinblanc]

They ask these questions to make sure they are surveying a representative sample of consumers, and to perhaps do some anonymous breakouts of the service standards and satisfaction levels of smaller groups.

It is relevent to them.

[oldnewmummy]

We live in Singapore where EVERY form and person wants to know your race. We put "human" on the form at the dentist and the receptionist looked rather bemused.

We have an adopted (mixed race) DS and the rude busy bodies here ALWAYS ask his race. We've taken to going into a very long (made-up) answer "He's 17.6% Indian, 3.4% Serbo-Croat, 2.1% Irish, 13.9% Malay, 6.9% Spanish etc". They look a bit confused but rarely work out we're taking the piss out of their rudeness.

[savoycabbage]

This used to annoy me too, especially as my family is a mixed race one and I felt like it was nosy.

Now I live in Australia I can sort of see the point of them. There re lots and lots of immigrants here - myself included and yet there are only white Australians at all of the four playgroups I go to. There is no way that is representative of our community. One of them is at my dd's school. 5 out of 18 of the children in her class are not white to giev you an idea of the ethnic mix yet every person at the playgroup for younger siblings is white Australian except for me (white english) and my dd. I would LOVE to know why - and it is the same everywhere I go. Tumble tots, swimming. tennis.

[sunnydelight]

I've designed questionnaires for LAs where they always want this kind of information tacked on the end (regardless of what it is about). They are trying to monitor whether their service users are representative of the local community and if they are being vigilent if they see that's not so they can ask themselves why not (accessability, availability of interpreters for people who don't speak Engligh etc.). Yes it seems intrusive but it should be for a valid purpose

[edam]

I understand the stated reasons for organisations to collect this information. But feels as if we've ended up as obsessed by race as the Nazis, although from a different direction. My Godmother, who is of the generation that fought Hitler (and Franco) finds it all very strange indeed.

Sometimes seems we are asked/told about race so often it's treated as THE most important thing about us.

Am sometimes tempted to answer: "I have no ruddy idea, my mother is adopted, so put that in your tick box and smoke it."

[oldraver]

I always refuse to answer. The only time I have answered was when pregnant as I know some conditions affect some ethnicities.