June 28: The Census (UK)

On this date in 1801, the first census in Britain was carried out. It showed a population of 8,872,000. Here are some things you might not know about the Census.

The Census at Bethlehem by Bruegel the Elder

1. The word ‘census' comes from the Latin word ‘censere' meaning ‘estimate’. The Romans carried out censuses every five years for the purposes of calculating taxes. It was because of a census that Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem. It was because so many other people were required to do the same thing that there was no room in the inn.
2. The first formal census in England was in 1086 and formed the basis of the Domesday Book. Like the Roman census before it, it was for the purposes of calculating taxes.
3. Since 1801, there has been a census in the UK every 10 years, except in 1941, when it didn't happen because of the Second World War. However, there had been a mini-census in 1939 so everyone could be issued with a National Identity Card. The next one is scheduled to take place in March 2021, unless the Government's research programme, called Beyond 2011, to investigate a range of alternative options, comes up with a better idea.
4. One of the principal reasons for the 1801 census was to ascertain the number of men able to fight in the Napoleonic Wars. A statistician called John Rickman championed the idea of a census every 10 years. He believed that legislation and policy should be informed by an up-to-date knowledge about the population. The information would be useful when planning how much corn needed to be produced, how many people needed to be called up to the military. Rickman was also convinced that another advantage of a census would be the stimulation of the life insurance industry.
5. Up until 1920, a separate act of Parliament had to be passed before every census. After that, they were all authorised by The Census Act of 1920.
6. It is compulsory in the UK to take part in the census. Evading it can result in a fine of £1,000. Even so, it doesn't necessarily over 100% of the population. 94% filled it in in 2001.
7. One reason people might be reluctant to give their information is the fear that the information could be disclosed. It's a criminal offence to disclose personal census data, punishable by a fine and/or up to two years in prison. Everyone who works with the data is security checked and signs an undertaking to protect the privacy of the information.
8. There are often people who don't fill it in for political reasons. In 1911 a group of suffragettes called the Women's Freedom League organised a boycott of it. They encouraged women to go to all-night parties or to stay at friends' houses so they wouldn't be counted. In 1991, up to a million people are thought to have evaded the census because they believed their information would be used to enforce the poll tax.
9. Questions have varied over the years. The first censuses (1801–1831) were basically head-counts with no personal information asked for at all, but questions have been added since, with information sought about languages spoken, the number of rooms in houses, occupation, disability (whether anyone in the household was "Deaf and Dumb, Blind, Lunatic, Imbecile, Feeble-minded"), divorce, car ownership and whether they had central heating. The 2011 census included questions on civil partnerships, and was also the first in which an option of filling it in online was offered.
10. While the census is compulsory there is at least one question which is optional - the question of religion. It's not an offence to leave that question blank or to give a silly answer. Hence a movement began in New Zealand in 2001 encouraging people to state that their religion was "Jedi Knight" (after the quasi-religious order in the Star Wars universe). This idea spread to the UK 0.8% people in the UK declared their religion was Jedi in 2001 - making it the fourth largest reported religion in the country. Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism had fewer declared followers. It was enough to grant the Jedi religion its own census code. The Office for National Statistics revealed the total figure in a press release entitled "390,000 Jedi there are". According to 2011 census the number of Jedi had fallen to 176,632, placing it in seventh place. Perhaps some had converted to "Heavy Metal", a response promoted by the magazine Metal Hammer, given by 6,000 people.

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