Census - identity question ?

[DGRossetti]

census.gov.uk/help/how-to-answer-questions/paper-questions-help/how-would-you-describe-your-national-identity

National identity not listed
If yours isn't listed, select "Other" and write in your national identity in the space provided, such as Cornish, Irish, Polish or Indian. You can give more than one answer if you want to.

You can also use this space to record a community or regional identity.

(contd)

So with the Big Day nearly upon us, how's folks feelings about what to put. I note the "more than one" and "community or regional" and feel inclined to something like:

English, British, European, Italian, London, Birmingham

2011 of course I was just British and European. Funny what a few years can do.

Interesting isn’t it?

I’m European. Always.

European. And I have two passports. One is UK. The other is Irish. There had been some intensive lobbying apparently to get Irish as one of the specific passport options.

No indication if they assign any weighting to the order of answers given (they were probably too tied up in trying to crowbar the self-ID stuff in, I imagine). Because on any given day I may be more London than English, or more Italian than British. But they would be the deck I would usually be playing from.

I'm interested to see if British-Burmese has made the List; this was how a lovely lady wished to be described when I helped her fill in her Census Form in 2011. It was a paper form back then.

It's primarily online this year, so answer how you like, although it's a Census that provides the stats that help form UK domestic policies, not some Tory/Govt Plot, Your personal details aren't publicly released for 100 years and pretty useful for people that are interested in their Family Trees, Ancestry, etc.

How people answer MASSIVELY affects funding decisions for
healthcare
schools
social policy
housing
recreation
and it REALLY matters that people show their
sex
and their ethnic background
so that the government cannot trample on the rights of residents

And again LQ, we agree on something.

Hate
I'm in Local Government mode at this time of year.
The Government starts using the Census data from January next year.
It is ULTRA ULTRA important that it is accurate

• to control housebuilding
• to ensure infrastructure provision
• to guarantee women's health and protection services
• to change school policy
• to improve transport policy

The amount of data sets I use that have as their start point the last census is astounding
and probably quite weird

Ha Ha LQ - this will be my 3rd Census - and despite any questions why I don't want a superv role, I don't, much preferring to meet the myriad of interesting humanity that is here.

Data Sets are not wierd, they're pretty interesting when you get into them, but then I think you already know that.

^The Government starts using the Census data from January next year.
It is ULTRA ULTRA important that it is accurate^

While that is true, I've not really had any faith in censuses since 1991.

DGR
The census has not stood alone for a long time
but its a key "anchor point"

There's always been forms of govt 'mistrust' since the 1841 UK Census. On my 2011 Census Travels I met someone who was working on the Census in 1961. He described how he'd turn up with The Police to enforce Census compliance amongst the unwilling!

Something I'd not do.

Things are a lot better now - the 2001 and 2011 Censuses didn't account for NFA people, now it's much easier to account for more individuals given some Households might not complete the Form because they're worried about opening Pandora's Box.

Category NFA Visitors and other answers covers a lot of angles and prevent any 'knocks on the door' by people like me (without the Police). And also accounts for the many homeless, sofa surfers, NFA and more that live here.

Ironically, although I worked on the 2001 Census, because I was sofa-surfing myself at the time, I couldn't be included in the Census
itself.