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uk

Census 2001
On Sunday 29th April 2001 the United
Kingdom carried out a CENSUS
The Census is a count of all the people in the United Kingdom on
one particular day and is normally taken every ten years. It provides
information of what life was like on the day that the information was
collected.

When and why did it start?

The first modern Census was taken in 1801 and there has been one every ten
years since, apart from 1941 when British involvement in the Second World War
stopped it taking place.
In the late eighteenth century, there was
general worry about the rise in population
and a fear that the country would not be able
to feed itself. This was partly brought about
when the Rev. Thomas Malthus published
his essay on the Principle of Population' in
1798. He believed that food production could
not be easily increased and that famine and
disease would become widespread.
Since no one had any accurate information on the number of people living in the
country, the government ordered that a Census take place.

What is in the Census?

The 2001 Census contained around 40 questions. The questions were about:

Accommodation
Age/sex
Ethnic group
Health
Qualifications

Employment
Workplace
Journey to work
Migration
Welsh Language (for people in
Wales)

It is designed to take about 30 minutes to complete and is compulsory by law

(a fine of up to 1000 is the penalty for not filling it in!).

What does it all cost?

The total cost is 220 million this covers the period from 1993 when
planning started through to 2006 when the last of the data will be published.

70,000 people are needed to carry out a census. Most of them are involved in
delivering/collecting the forms and advising people. They are called
enumerators.

The forms for 2001 have all been electronically scanned and then destroyed. It
would cost 3 million just to store the paper records. All the previous census
forms are stored (at great cost) in a secret location.

Publicity is a major cost as people have to be educated about the Census.

A large team of people spend up to 5 years processing the data and

producing reports.

Who uses the Census?

The census is used by the national government and all the local authorities.
It is used by businesses, education and private individuals. They use it for
studying:
Population
Housing
Employment
Health
Social Care
Their ancestors (family tree)

All census data is confidential and remains so for 100 years. You are only
now able to see the 1901 census forms in full detail. All the information is
collected together and the published reports never identify individual people
or households.

Does everyone get counted?

The UK Census aims to count everyone. It is not, however, that easy to do!
[Note: There is a separate census for England & Wales, for Scotland and for
Northern Ireland]

The problems are caused by:

Students living away from home
People who have gone away on holiday
People who are living rough on the streets
People working abroad as soldiers or in embassies, etc
People who are living in the UK illegally
People who are in prison
People who work on ships
Gypsies and new-age travellers
In 1991 the Census counted 98% of the people but missed some old people,
some babies in hospitals, some students, some people who have language
difficulties. They know this because of checks carried out after the Census.
No-one is exempt see if you can recognise the famous people on the next slide.

Where can I find Census data?

Most census data is now published

online so log on to:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/

You can search the website for information on a

particular topic e.g. births, housing, health or
transport

You can search for information on a certain area e.g.

England, a county, a city or literally the ward where you
live. Note: the ward is the smallest area that data is available for.

Using the Census

One excellent way of using the Census is to download copies of the

ready-made population pyramids.
Can you spot the main differences between MILTON KEYNES (a large
New Town north of London) and EASTBOURNE ( a large seaside town
on the south coast) ??

Census statistics
You can download the actual Census statistics, put them into a package such
as an Excel spreadsheet and then produce your own analysis and graphs.
Go to the Neighbourhood Statistics
section of the 2001 Census website.
You can start by simply typing in your
postcode or the name of the area that
you are interested in.

You can then choose the type of data

you require and download the file on
to your computer.

The Census website will also provide

you with simple maps showing the
outline of each area.

Useful websites
If you are working online, these are live links that will take you straight to the actual websites:
ENGLAND AND WALES
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/
SCOTLAND
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/grosweb/grosweb.nsf/pages/home
NORTHERN IRELAND
http://www.nisra.gov.uk/census/start.html
UNITED STATES (An excellent source of data on the US and many other countries)
http://www.census.gov/
BRAZIL (Their latest census data from 2000)

http://www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/populacao/censo2000/default.shtm
KENYA (A fascinating copy of a Kenyan Census form used in 1989)
http://www.ipums.umn.edu/international/enumforms/ken1989.enumformtext.shtml