tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/census-1170/articlesCensus – The Conversation2023-12-18T13:22:49Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2169762023-12-18T13:22:49Z2023-12-18T13:22:49ZMore vulnerable people live in Philadelphia neighborhoods that are less green and get hotter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565904/original/file-20231214-19-w5rupe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5192%2C3448&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Philadelphia's neighborhoods are green and not so green.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/neighborhoods-in-philadelphia-pennsylvania-news-photo/1465662088">Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ways an urban neighborhood is built and the characteristics of the people who live there are both related to how hot it gets. That is the result of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13041040">our study</a>, published by the Journal of Buildings.</p>
<p>If you have ever noticed that some parts of a city feel significantly hotter than others, you have experienced a phenomenon known as the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/learn-about-heat-islands">urban heat island effect</a>. This effect is most noticeable at night and when comparing rural and suburban surroundings with urban ones.</p>
<h2>How we did our work</h2>
<p>Our interdisciplinary group of researchers studied two Philadelphia census tracts and found a clear link between outdoor temperature and specific urban characteristics. We then asked whether these urban characteristics can be related to the social vulnerability of the residents.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html">Social vulnerability</a> is a concept that goes beyond the residents’ income to include housing conditions and characteristics of the people – such as their age, education, disability and race. Our social vulnerability index data was created using 16 U.S. census variables. </p>
<p>The design elements of cities, from the materials used for streets and sidewalks to the size and placement of buildings, significantly affect urban heat. To gain a deeper understanding of these impacts, we conducted computer simulations of outdoor air temperature and comfort levels in two Philadelphia census tracts with distinct indices for social vulnerability, one in Roxborough and the other in South Philadelphia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C25%2C1030%2C1359&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two photos are inset on a map of Philadelphia. On the top left is a green neighbor with a wide street with parked cars. The lower photo shows brick townhouses set on a narrower street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C25%2C1030%2C1359&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565897/original/file-20231214-25-er8a2k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The two tracts studied included one, top left, with a low vulnerability index and another with a high vulnerability index. The census tract boundaries are shown in red.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The social vulnerability index shows a number from 0 to 1, with higher numbers meaning more vulnerable. Our neighborhood in Roxborough had a number of 0.25. In South Philadelphia, the number was 0.98.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Farzad Hashemi" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566090/original/file-20231215-29-8i1ek9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The social vulnerability of different Philadelphia neighborhoods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using the open-source <a href="https://www.esri.com/en-us/what-is-gis/overview">geographic information system</a>, or GIS, that analyzes maps, along with a microclimate simulation tool, we found that the South Philadelphia neighborhood had more absorbing surfaces such as concrete. Greenery, including trees and grass, was notably lacking in this neighborhood compared with Roxborough. The characteristics contributed to elevated levels of heat and consequently higher reported levels of discomfort in this neighborhood.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-05/documents/reducing_urban_heat_islands_ch_2.pdf">Trees are superheroes</a> for cooling down urban areas. Tree crowns block the Sun’s rays and provide shade. In addition, they <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/evapotranspiration-and-water-cycle">release moisture through evapotranspiration</a> – cooling the surroundings even more. </p>
<p>Our study found that during hot and extremely hot conditions, areas with more trees had up to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) lower outdoor air temperatures compared with less green areas. Therefore, fewer trees and more paved surfaces, associated with the high social vulnerability neighborhood, meant higher heat exposure and less outdoor comfort for residents.</p>
<p>Similar results were found in 2021 by <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041706">researchers at Guangxi University</a> in China who investigated solar radiation reduction using favorable design factors on an urban block in the city of Nanning.</p>
<p>In addition to material surfaces and vegetation, our study delved into other urban characteristics that can affect heat. One such aspect is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1350482704001288">sky view factor</a>, which measures the amount of sky visible from the ground. In areas with more sky exposure, we observed increased heat. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(199907)19:9%3C1011::AID-JOC411%3E3.0.CO;2-U">ratio between the building height and street width</a> also plays a critical role. This ratio determines how much shade is provided by buildings, with taller buildings and narrower streets offering more shade and cooler temperatures. However, the two Philadelphia neighborhoods were influenced by unique street layouts and architectural designs regardless of their socioeconomic status. The census tract we studied in South Philadelphia features low-rise brick townhouses common in the city. In Roxborough, the neighborhood is more suburban, with detached single-family houses with pitched roofs and front lawns.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Our findings from Philadelphia show that urban design, material choices and tree coverage significantly affect how warm or cool an area feels. </p>
<p>This suggests that thoughtful planning and incorporating more greenery can make urban areas more livable and equitable. Architects can help by using lighter-colored materials and green walls and roofs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guangqing Chi receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa D. Iulo receives funding from U.S. Department of Energy. <a href="https://ess.science.energy.gov/urban-ifls/bsec-uifl/">https://ess.science.energy.gov/urban-ifls/bsec-uifl/</a>
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Farzad Hashemi and Ute Poerschke do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An interdisciplinary group of researchers at Penn State ran computer models on two Philadelphia census tracts. The neighborhood with more vulnerable residents was also hotter.Farzad Hashemi, Assistant Professor in Architecture, The University of Texas at San AntonioGuangqing Chi, Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography, Penn StateLisa D. Iulo, Associate Professor of Architecture, Director of the Hamer Center for Community Design, Penn StateUte Poerschke, Professor of Architecture, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105432023-07-27T07:12:17Z2023-07-27T07:12:17ZGender, sexual orientation and ethnic identity: Australians could be asked new questions in the 2026 Census<p>August 2026 may seem like a long way away. Between now and then, there will be at least one federal election, the 2024 Paris Olympics will have been and gone, another Ashes cricket series will have taken place, and the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup will have just finished.</p>
<p>Planning for the August 2026 census is, however, well under way at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).</p>
<p>On Thursday, the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/research/2026-census-topic-review-phase-one-directions">ABS released results from the first round of consultations</a>, and gave an indication of likely directions for the 2026 census. It received 260 submissions in this phase, and some of the proposed changes are quite exciting for better understanding the nation as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century. </p>
<p>While the model <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/about-census/delivering-2021-census/learning-2026">won’t</a> “fundamentally change”, the big decisions for the ABS are whether to add new questions to the survey, whether to take some away, and whether some of the questions need to be adapted.</p>
<p>The ABS flagged there could be changes to topics such as income, ethnic identity, gender and sexual orientation. The ABS is also considering dropping some questions on fertility, owner-managers, motor vehicles and unpaid work.</p>
<h2>Balancing act</h2>
<p>Governments, researchers, the media and community organisations all rely on data from the census, so changes don’t happen lightly.</p>
<p>Dropping a question from the census can have serious impacts on our ability to track changes in outcomes and leave a gap in what we know about our nation.</p>
<p>At the same time though, adding too many questions is risky. If the ABS made the census too long, the burden on the community would be unsustainable, and people may stop completing it. This poses a devilishly difficult tradeoff.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541595914418196480"}"></div></p>
<h2>Potential removals</h2>
<p>The ABS is considering removing the question on income from the census, and instead linking to “administrative data”. What that would mean is a census record would be supplemented with tax and social security data.</p>
<p>Data linkage to the census is done routinely in other countries, and has a certain appeal. Income is one of the questions that has historically had a high <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/guide-census-data/census-methodology/2021/understanding-data-quality#item-non-response-rates">non-response rate</a>, and it takes up a lot of space on the form. Plus, there’s more and more administrative data on income that can be linked to the census, which is increasingly being used in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-8462.12351">research</a>. </p>
<p>But tax and social security data on income isn’t perfect and can miss people. Plus, there’s no guarantee the social licence to keep using linked administrative data will continue as people become more concerned about data privacy on the back of high profile data breaches. It’s an idea worth exploring, but not without risks. </p>
<p>There are four further topics considered for removal: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>number of children ever born</p></li>
<li><p>number of employees (employed by owner-managers)</p></li>
<li><p>number of motor vehicles in the household</p></li>
<li><p>and level of unpaid work on domestic activities.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It isn’t that these topics aren’t interesting, but the ABS thinks there are alternative data sources available. There will undoubtedly be people who see the census as still the best method of collection for these topics, but they’re going to have to make a strong case for their retention.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541883768776040449"}"></div></p>
<h2>What about additions?</h2>
<p>There are 12 new topics the ABS is considering for inclusion.</p>
<p>In a year in which Australia will vote on the Voice to parliament, the ABS continues to consider additional questions on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural identity.</p>
<p>The ABS is also considering adding a topic on ethnic identity, which could be used in addition to many existing questions (like ancestry, language, country of birth) to get a richer picture of Australia’s cultural diversity. </p>
<p>However, the ABS is concerned there are differences in how people interpret the term “ethnicity”. It’s seeking feedback on whether to add an additional question, or whether to replace ancestry with ethnic identity.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1544507112100806657"}"></div></p>
<p>The ABS is also exploring whether and how to ask questions on gender, sexual orientation, and variations of sex characteristics. The census hasn’t included these questions in the past so we are reliant on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13104-020-05383-w">survey data</a> with much smaller samples to know how many LGBTQI+ people there are in the country. </p>
<p>For the first time, in 2021, the ABS made available the option for non-binary when people were asked about their sex. However, the ABS’ review of responses concluded it “<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/analysis-non-binary-sex-responses#key-messages">did not yield meaningful data</a>”.</p>
<p>There’s limited information on sexual orientation in the census, mainly by looking at someone’s relationship status and the sex of their partner. However, that misses those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual (or use a different term) and aren’t in a relationship with someone in their household.</p>
<p>The ABS recognises the importance of such a question, but one of its concerns with this topic is privacy, and answering the question with other member of the household present. Although this is understandable, it’s unclear whether this is a strong enough argument for not including it, and how attitudes on the topic will have continued to shift by 2026.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lgbtiq-people-are-being-ignored-in-the-census-again-not-only-is-this-discriminatory-its-bad-public-policy-165800">LGBTIQ+ people are being ignored in the census again. Not only is this discriminatory, it's bad public policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What you can do</h2>
<p>As the <a href="https://consult.abs.gov.au/census/2026-census-topic-consultation-phase-two/">next phase of consultation is open</a>, people are encouraged to identify whether the potential new topics might be helpful, and what the risks might be in dropping or changing existing topics.</p>
<p>All Australians benefit from having a robust and relevant census. The more Australians able to give their views to the ABS, the better the census will be, and the better the decisions that will flow from the data.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Biddle is a member the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Australian Statistics Advisory Council.</span></em></p>The ABS is exploring whether and how to ask questions on gender, sexual orientation, and variations of sex characteristics.Nicholas Biddle, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2095102023-07-11T15:02:56Z2023-07-11T15:02:56ZGhana’s population is young and rapidly urbanising - policies need to match the data<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536735/original/file-20230711-19-sl30n6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana’s population can be described as rapidly urbanising and young</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Ghana’s population has reached 30.8 million according to the <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/presspage.php?readmorenews=MTQ1MTUyODEyMC43MDc1&Press-Release-on-Provisional-Results">2021 population census</a>. This is a 6.1 million increase from the 24.7 million recorded in 2010. Understanding population trends is important to inform development policies – but Ghana has struggled to design policies aligned to available data. Demographer Donatus Yaw Atiglo unpacks the key issues facing Ghana’s growing population.</em></p>
<h2>What is the age makeup of Ghana’s population?</h2>
<p>It is important to look at the trends in the changing population structure. </p>
<p>Ghana’s population can be described as rapidly urbanising and youthful. Over the past five censuses, we see the structure of the population pyramid change from predominantly children under 15 to young people (aged 15-35 years). </p>
<p>The age composition of Ghana’s <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/presspage.php?readmorenews=MTQ1MTUyODEyMC43MDc1&Press-Release-on-Provisional-Results">31 million</a> people, based on 2021 <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/presspage.php?readmorenews=MTQ1MTUyODEyMC43MDc1&Press-Release-on-Provisional-Results">census data</a>, indicates that about 35% are children (0-14 years), 38% young people (15-35 years), and about 4% are in the older population (65+). </p>
<p>A <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/reportthemelist/Volume%203%20Highlights.pdf">higher concentration</a> (about 60%) of young people are in urban areas. This creates a pool of valuable labour, vibrant social participation as well as sources of creativity and innovation.</p>
<p>Overall, 60% are in the <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/reportthemelist/Volume%203%20Highlights.pdf">working age population</a>. This suggests that there are fewer people in the dependent age groups relative to the working ages.</p>
<p>There is also a growing number of the elderly aged 65 and above, with implications for social security and healthcare. </p>
<p>The factor driving the change in the demographic profile is that women are having fewer children. The total fertility rate, which is the average number of children a woman has by the time she completes childbearing, assuming age-specific rates are held constant, has <a href="https://knoema.com/atlas/Ghana/Fertility-rate">declined </a>from about 6.4 births per woman in 1988 to 3.8 in 2021.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://statsghana.gov.gh/">Ghana Statistical Service</a>, the country’s population will double within 33 years. And by 2050, the population of Ghana will be over 50 million. Population growth implies boundless opportunities for economic and social development. But it also presents significant challenges and barriers to sustainable development, where economic and environmental resources cannot match population growth.</p>
<h2>Which age cohorts present the biggest challenges?</h2>
<p>Population scientists have associated the demographic dividend with growth in the working population relative to children and the elderly. The logic is that a lower dependency ratio – in other words a high number of people of working age versus very young and very old people – carries economic growth potential. Dependent age groups (children under 15 years and old people 65 years and above) have traditionally been considered a burdensome population. </p>
<p>But cashing in on the demographic dividend depends on the quality of human resources and the opportunities for the working population. Without skills and jobs, having a large proportion of young people could be a liability, not an asset. They need education, skills, healthcare and employment. </p>
<p>In Ghana the size of this cohort should be bringing a demographic dividend. But it isn’t because there is a growing proportion that isn’t in education, employment or training. </p>
<p>Another pressure point is growing urbanisation. Three out of five people live in an urban area, up from about <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/reportthemelist/Volume%203%20Highlights.pdf">one out of every two in 2010</a> . This urban expansion has been largely unregulated, leading to a rise in urban poverty as well as overstretched infrastructure and social amenities. Over a quarter of urban residents live in <a href="https://statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/pressrelease/Multidimensional%20Poverty%20Ghana_Report.pdf">multidimensional poverty</a>. </p>
<p>Urban poverty, slum conditions, drug abuse, crime and unwanted pregnancies are all potential consequences of the large proportion of youth not in employment, education or training. </p>
<p>Older people are also a critical group that requires attention. People are living longer, with life expectancy at birth rising from 58 years in 2000 to <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=GH">65 years by 2020</a>. Older people have more health challenges and are therefore an increasing draw on a strained social security and health care systems.</p>
<h2>How aligned are Ghana’s policies towards its population challenges?</h2>
<p>Ghana has development policies on paper relating to health, education and gender. But the current mid- and long-term development policies of the country don’t consider population variables and the challenges they portend. </p>
<p>It behoves governments to consider population variables to identify future opportunities and challenges and guide resource allocation towards meeting the needs of the population. </p>
<p>Ghana failed to attain the main targets of the <a href="https://new-ndpc-static1.s3.amazonaws.com/pubication/Population+Policy_1994.pdf">1994 Population Policy</a>. These included reducing the total fertility rate to 3.0, increasing life expectancy to 70 and increasing the proportion of women with secondary plus education to 80% by 2020. </p>
<p>Ghana also failed to achieve key targets of the <a href="https://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/topics/millennium-development-goals-mdgs">Millennium Development Goals</a>. These included eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, and reducing under-five mortality by two thirds and maternal mortality by three-quarters <a href="https://www2.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/2010phc/MDG%20report%20(24-10-13).pdf">between 1990 and 2015</a>. </p>
<p>But there is the potential to attain some targets of the <a href="https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals/no-poverty?gclid=CjwKCAjw2K6lBhBXEiwA5RjtCQpQou19mHdshMyfj8isK1Vtn7iMvWwk0zgcCcZUb2yDvwUic_-JjxoCYscQAvD_BwE">Sustainable Development Goals</a> <a href="https://ghana.un.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/VNR_2022_Report_c5cXm4Q.pdf">related to equitable access to drinking water services, universal access to electricity by 2030</a>. </p>
<p>Ghana has made significant gains in improving access to healthcare, education, water and sanitation. This has reduced deaths from infectious diseases and improved life expectancy. </p>
<p>But there is more to be done to improve quality of life, attain the sustainable development goals related to poverty, food security, health and environment, and prepare the country for the demographic dividend. For instance, increased secondary school enrolment and completion have not been matched by employment and tertiary education opportunities. </p>
<p>In addition, previous policies have not prepared the country to deal with the double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases.</p>
<h2>What are the key areas to focus on for development?</h2>
<p>Ghana needs to consider the different needs of different population groups. </p>
<p>When it comes to young people, it needs to make significant progress in relevant education and training, with matching employment opportunities. This matters for two reasons: so that fewer educated youth are unemployed or underemployed, and so that they contribute to social security. </p>
<p>The elderly need healthcare as they age. The burden of healthcare on their caregivers must be considered. We need to invest in geriatric care services to ensure quality of life for the ageing population. </p>
<p>All this requires the use of population data and integration of population variables into sustainable development planning to reduce inequalities and improve population well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209510/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>D. Yaw Atiglo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana’s implementation of key population policies has not been consistent.D. Yaw Atiglo, Research Fellow, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059432023-06-06T20:14:32Z2023-06-06T20:14:32ZNature religions are growing in Australia – though witchcraft was illegal in some territories just 10 years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528982/original/file-20230530-39165-6p9ey3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C4920%2C3238&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mallory Johndrow/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nature religions, commonly described as Paganism (or neo-Paganism), are growing in Australia. In <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/guide-census-data/census-dictionary/2021/variables-topic/cultural-diversity/religious-affiliation-relp">the last Census</a>, 33,148 people claimed affiliation with a nature religion: including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/animism">Animism</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/britannia-druids-and-the-surprisingly-modern-origins-of-myths-89979">Druidism</a>, and the many traditions of <a href="https://theconversation.com/wiccan-celebration-of-summer-solstice-is-a-reminder-that-change-as-expressed-in-nature-is-inevitable-184814">Wicca</a>, the most practised Pagan pathway. </p>
<p>Thirty years <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopaganism_in_Australia#:%7E:text=In%20the%201991%20census%20by,religion%20as%20Wicca%20or%20Witchcraft">earlier</a>, just 4,353 Australians put down Paganism as their religion. Affiliation with Christianity has <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia#:%7E:text=The%20number%20of%20people%20affiliated,(18%2D25%20years).">decreased</a> over that 30-year period.</p>
<p>Australian laws against practising witchcraft have only been repealed as recently as this century in some states and territories. In the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-17/northern-territory-to-ditch-their-witchcraft-law/4894086">Northern Territory</a>, it was just 10 years ago: 2013. The laws were repealed in 2005 in Victoria, 2000 in Queensland and 1991 in South Australia. New South Wales was the first state to repeal them, in 1969.</p>
<p>The British Witchcraft Act of 1735, which Australia’s laws stemmed from, was repealed in 1951; the <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Hellish_Nell/ehh-AAAAMAAJ?hl=en">last conviction</a> of a witch was in 1944. </p>
<p>There’s never been a recorded conviction for witchcraft in Australia. But many Pagans <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/POM/article/view/3020">remain cautious</a> about practising their faith openly, due to perceptions of believers as Satan worshippers. So, Australia’s Pagan population may be much higher than the figures show: declaring a religion on the Census is optional. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Delinquent_Elementals/OB6vygEACAAJ?hl=en">Satanic panics</a> of the 1980s in the UK and America didn’t help. Nor does the appropriation of Pagan symbols by <a href="https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-681;jsessionid=D9B3C24DFE6CB5A3C53E18CA53905950?rskey=Fjmi7N&result=448">far-right movements</a>, which has a particularly dark history in Germanic and Scandinavian countries.</p>
<p>But Paganism grew rapidly during the 1990s, with the popularity of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40405642?seq=1">Pagan-friendly</a> movies and television like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115963/">The Craft</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sabrina-the-teenage-witch-is-back-with-a-darker-look-for-our-times-103915">Sabrina The Teenage Witch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-would-have-had-her-work-cut-out-in-2017-73311">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158552/">Charmed</a>. And in the early 2000s, the wild success of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rethinking-harry-potter-twenty-years-on-86761">Harry Potter</a> franchise normalised magic for an entire generation.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W8HMxRf6ng4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Buffy’s practising witch Willow helped popularise Paganism in the 1990s.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Paganism’s emphasis on nature worship resonates in our increasingly climate conscious society. It also offers an alternative to traditional patriarchal church hierarchies, with its predominately female support base: 66% of Pagans in the 2021 Census identified as women. Significantly, Paganism is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/27/dawn-of-the-new-pagans-everybodys-welcome-as-long-as-you-keep-your-clothes-on">inclusive</a> of people from any background or sexual orientation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hello-magic-and-witchcraft-goodbye-enlightenment-105720">Hello magic and witchcraft, goodbye Enlightenment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is Paganism?</h2>
<p>Paganism is an umbrella term for people who follow any number of nature-based spiritual pathways. Pagans share a reverence for, and spiritual connection with, the natural world. But they don’t share one single set of beliefs, practices or sacred texts. </p>
<p>The Latin root word “paganus” <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Paganism_A_Very_Short_Introduction/pjP8Cr28GCIC?hl=en">was used by the Romans</a> to denote civilians (non-soldiers), outsiders and country-dwellers. Later, the term was applied to any non-Christian and inferred the worship of false gods.</p>
<p>But Christian civilisation has continually been fascinated by the art and literature of the ancient Pagan world, especially Greece and Rome. This kept the old deities imaginatively alive, preserving a different set of attitudes to the natural world and the divine.</p>
<p>Paganism draws its traditions <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/_/mi6zzQEACAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiy5_z0t_P-AhUCcmwGHeiyDu0Qre8FegQIAxAZ">from</a> the ceremonial magic of the ancient world, the group organisation of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Freemasonry">Freemasonry</a> and earlier Pagan cultures. Many Pagans believe individuals persecuted for witchcraft throughout European history were adherents of a surviving Pagan religion.</p>
<p>The modern Pagan movement began in Britain during the 1940s. Influenced by <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-romanticism-rebelled-against-cold-hearted-rationality-100242">Romanticism</a> and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/why-did-so-many-victorians-try-to-speak-with-the-dead">Victorian-era spiritualism</a>, these early practitioners perceived contemporary society as a corrupting influence and recognised nature as a repository of ancient wisdom.</p>
<p>They found receptive audiences in the US and Scandinavia – which, in turn, introduced the faith to other countries.</p>
<h2>What do Pagans do and believe?</h2>
<p>The type of Paganism practised today is a <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Handbook_of_Contemporary_Paganism/rwzttsI9-NwC?hl=en">revival or reformation</a> of European and northern African traditions. </p>
<p>Some Australian Pagans also incorporate the practices of First Nations peoples. Each culture has its own conception of Paganism. Northern Europe’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Heathenry">Heathenry</a> is inspired by the pre-Christian religions of Germanic language nations. <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Profane_Egyptologists/M6NMtAEACAAJ?hl=en">Kemetism</a> is a revival of ancient Egyptian religion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Kemetic private altar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:RileyXeon">Riley Williams/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many Pagans are <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Solitary_Pagans/7uujDwAAQBAJ?hl=en">solitary practitioners</a>, though others join covens or similar groupings. Female Pagans tend to gravitate more towards <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Practising_the_Witch_s_Craft/Uc8WwwMFGq8C?hl=en&gbpv=1">group worship</a> than men.</p>
<p>There’s also a thriving online community of Pagans: the hashtag <a href="https://theconversation.com/witchtok-the-rise-of-the-occult-on-social-media-has-eerie-parallels-with-the-16th-century-168322">#WitchTok</a> has exploded in popularity over the last few years. The top <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-63403467">Witch TikTokkers</a> stream rituals and spell tutorials to an audience of millions.</p>
<p>Pagans generally worship multiple gods, or identify god with the universe. Ritual magic is central. Celestial events like <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-moon-bright-is-easter-a-full-moon-how-long-does-a-full-moon-last-your-moon-questions-answered-by-an-astronomer-158061">full moons</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-winter-solstice-matters-around-the-world-4-essential-reads-196344">solstices</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-makes-the-spring-equinox-31962">equinoxes</a> are times of celebration.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Francisco de Goya’s 1798 painting, Witches Sabbath.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A horned nature god, such as Pan, is central across Pagan traditions. “With his goat legs, pointed ears, and lascivious face, Pan most likely inspired early Christian images of Satan,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-why-rosaleen-norton-the-witch-of-kings-cross-was-a-groundbreaking-bohemian-154184">observes classics professor Marguerite Johnson</a>, noting the resemblance.</p>
<p>Diana, a Roman goddess of the hunt, fertility, chastity and the moon, is another primary figure of worship. So is Hecate: a Greek goddess of sorcery now associated with witchcraft and Wicca.</p>
<p>Most Wiccan pathways place equal reverence on a goddess and god pairing, though some place particular emphasis on the former. Some Wiccans exclusively follow the feminine divine.</p>
<p>Shamanism, a religious phenomenon centred on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/shamanism">the shaman</a>, “a person believed to achieve various powers through trance or ecstatic religious experience”, is also undergoing a revival. <a href="https://theconversation.com/shamanism-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-fastest-growing-religion-in-england-and-wales-196438">Shamanism</a> is not yet listed as a separate category in the Census.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-modern-witches-are-enchanting-tiktok-174576">How modern witches are enchanting TikTok</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australian pagans</h2>
<p>Queensland recorded the largest number of Pagans in the last two Census, followed by New South Wales and Victoria. But the biggest population of Pagans <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-30/tasmania-has-one-of-the-biggest-pagan-populations/11224838">per capita</a> is in Tasmania.</p>
<p>Paganism in Australia was preceded by a significant <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Witchcraft_and_Paganism_in_Australia/-OrWAAAAMAAJ?hl=en">occult and esoteric subculture</a>, the first of which – the Freemasons – <a href="https://www.freemasonsvic.net.au/history-and-heritage/">arrived with</a> colonisation. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Ancient_Order_of_Druids#Australia_and_New_Zealand">United Ancient Order of the Druids</a> established its first lodge in 1851, and the first Australian branch of the <a href="https://theosophicalsociety.org.au/">Theosophical Society</a> opened in 1895. </p>
<p>In the 20th century, the mystical <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosicrucians">Rosicrucians</a> established their first study group in Australia (1930). They were followed by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordo_Templi_Orientis">Ordo Templi Orientis</a>, originally modelled on Freemasonry, then made infamous through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley">Aleister Crowley</a>. Under Crowley’s leadership, initiates were no longer Masons, but Magicians.</p>
<p>And then there were the Pagans.</p>
<p>Early adopters like <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-why-rosaleen-norton-the-witch-of-kings-cross-was-a-groundbreaking-bohemian-154184">Rosaleen Norton</a>, known as the “Witch of Kings Cross” or “Thorn”, were influential in introducing Pagan beliefs to a wider audience. </p>
<p>Norton, a self-proclaimed witch, practised trance magic and, later, sex magic in various flats and squats across inner-city Sydney. She was often accused of being a Satanist: she wasn’t, but was famously photographed with an altar beneath a portrait of Pan resembling Satan.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dWwN9PGGqMo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Rosaleen Norton, worshipping Pan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since 1997, Australia’s <a href="https://www.paganawareness.net.au/">Pagan Awareness Network</a> has worked to correct misinformation and educate others about the faith. They have lobbied government to grant religious exemptions, such as the use of ceremonial knives in rituals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-why-rosaleen-norton-the-witch-of-kings-cross-was-a-groundbreaking-bohemian-154184">Friday essay: why Rosaleen Norton, 'the witch of Kings Cross', was a groundbreaking bohemian</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pagandash.org.au/">PAGANdash campaign</a> was started in 2006, to identify fellow Pagan practitioners. It ran in the lead-ups to the 2011 and 2016 Census. The campaign encouraged believers to write Pagan as their prefix on their Census forms, followed by their individual belief (for example, Pagan-Druid). An immediate success, it was soon adopted by UK groups.</p>
<p>The first Census conducted <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/Home/Assuring+Census+Data+Quality">primarily online</a>, in 2016, recorded a substantial decrease in Pagans: 27,194, down from 32,083 in 2011. This may have been due to privacy concerns – though of course, numbers were up again, to 33,148, in 2021.</p>
<p>As recognition of Paganism as a genuine faith continues to grow, more practitioners are expected to begin worshipping openly. In this era of rapid technological advancement, increasingly urbanisation, and declining social cohesion, many people are returning to the “old ways”.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>NOTE: The data in this article has been compiled using the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data">Census data tools</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205943/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan C. Walsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the last Census, 33,148 Australians identified with a nature religion, or Paganism. Who are the Pagans – and what do they do and believe?Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1965992023-01-10T11:51:54Z2023-01-10T11:51:54ZWhy being bilingual can open doors for children with developmental disabilities, not close them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501612/original/file-20221216-14-xribej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Antoni Shkraba / Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When parents learn their child has a developmental disability, they often have questions about what their child may or may not be able to do. </p>
<p>Children with developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, often have challenges and delays in language development. And for some families, one of these questions may be: “Will speaking two languages be detrimental to their development?” </p>
<p>However, studies consistently demonstrate exposure to an additional language, including a minority language, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-second-language-acquisition/article/abs/predicting-language-proficiency-in-bilingual-children/40E27364CCAEB48D4F878EE64C377CF2">does not impact language outcomes negatively</a>. This highlights the importance of giving children the opportunity to become bilingual.</p>
<p>Many parents feel speaking one language would be easier than two. Some may feel <a href="https://pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1044/2016_JSLHR-L-15-0348">bilingualism would be too confusing</a> for a child with a developmental disability. This is a belief which is also sometimes held by teachers and clinicians who may be consulted on their view towards bilingual exposure. </p>
<p>With good intentions, paediatricians, speech–language therapists, teachers or social workers <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00071.x?casa_token=3-Vp9tBfaUYAAAAA:1yG64kISIh9vPRWEnD1VSyE8P9lVl9skv8ZSn8o6AQbL1_A2mEd1mErgXaPm7oxdfz5AoQRcpI7SwB4">may advise parents</a> to avoid using a heritage or minority language in the home, as children will also be exposed to the majority community language.</p>
<p>Research also shows children with disabilities may have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021992416300272?casa_token=b33PrWslSUoAAAAA:BPWMufWoUG8p0W7CB-KqpJKiBCTadDMU_K6tpzjgolramxAtSXjvKj4UrzUvpSsuWD_AAj6XIA">fewer opportunities to access services</a> in a second language.</p>
<p>However, bilingualism is possible for children with developmental disabilities, as our research on children learning both Welsh and English shows. Children who are able to access bilingual provisions may also benefit. In fact, research shows bilingualism may have a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891422219300149?casa_token=Qk0mgmkJTCEAAAAA:kdSYpyVLrCx84jDJbtaU1LRP4MFyUFhc4GSWiWSi_JJCOcj2idcZEjut9jhrgb1BmKk-Nx_vSKM">positive impact on these children’s social interactions and the formation of their identity</a>.</p>
<h2>Bilingualism in Wales</h2>
<p>The most recent census data for England and Wales suggests <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/language/bulletins/welshlanguagewales/census2021#:%7E:text=In%202021%2C%20an%20estimated%20538%2C000,2011%20(562%2C000%2C%2019.0%25)">the number of children able to speak Welsh in Wales has declined by 1.2 percentage points</a> from 19% in 2011 to 17.8% in 2021. The largest decline was in those aged between 5 and 15 years old. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1600061790410493952"}"></div></p>
<p>While these latest figures are unexpected and <a href="https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-response-census-2021-results-welsh-language">disappointing according to the Welsh government</a>, the age group with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers was also children between the ages of 5 and 15. This gives a promising outlook for the future of the Welsh language. </p>
<p>Crucially, converging evidence shows bilingualism does not cause <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/second-language/according-experts/second-languagebilingualism-early-age-emphasis-its-impact-early">additional difficulties or lead to confusion for children learning more than one language</a>.</p>
<p>Parents may have reservations about Welsh-medium education if they do not speak Welsh themselves, for example. Parents of autistic children or children with developmental disabilities may have further reservations still. </p>
<p>Once again though, studies show <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aur.2023?casa_token=1Iib1mcuGscAAAAA%3Akc31b2-oE-T2BP9EEu9meC6mzjiPqAuIxptAVJDAoRoo38-pRgtWMhqzp3E-sCUZ8uW4wA2j3RCazdc">bilingualism does not cause additional difficulties</a> for these groups either. This includes children with more <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699206.2020.1818288">complex and co-occuring conditions.</a></p>
<h2>Why parents should embrace bilingualism</h2>
<p>Regarding children with Down syndrome, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34126402/">we found parents need not have these concerns</a>. Indeed, our research suggests families should embrace bilingualism. We recruited children with Down syndrome alongside typically developing children who were either acquiring only English, or were exposed to both English and Welsh. These children completed a range of specialist tasks to assess their cognitive and language skills.</p>
<p>We found Welsh-English bilingual children with Down syndrome had comparable English skills in important language areas to children with Down syndrome who had only been exposed to English. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the bilingual children were also developing skills in their additional language. Those also acquiring Welsh had similar abilities in that language as younger children without Down syndrome, who were at the same level of development. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl with Down syndrome smiling with painted fingers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503289/original/file-20230105-14-ydlxj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503289/original/file-20230105-14-ydlxj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503289/original/file-20230105-14-ydlxj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503289/original/file-20230105-14-ydlxj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503289/original/file-20230105-14-ydlxj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503289/original/file-20230105-14-ydlxj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503289/original/file-20230105-14-ydlxj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Denis Kuvaev, Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children with Down syndrome should therefore be supported in accessing similar educational provisions as more typically developing children. In the context of Wales, this could mean accessing Welsh-medium schools or being included in second language classes.</p>
<p>In Wales, parents can opt for their children to receive Welsh-medium education, regardless of their home language. Children who receive Welsh education can flourish if they have access to bilingual education.</p>
<p>Research on typically developing bilingual children and adults suggests there may be other <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-being-bilingual-affect-your-brain-it-depends-on-how-you-use-language-146264">benefits to being bilingual</a>. These include better mental skills, creativity and even the possibility of being <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6868000/#:%7E:text=Bilingualism%20is%20one%20form%20of,monolingual%20patients%20through%20cognitive%20reserve.">protected against cognitive decline</a>, such as Alzheimer’s disease. </p>
<p>Being bilingual opens up a range of opportunities such as <a href="https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/article/view/1077">better prospects of gaining employment</a>, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13670050.2020.1799323?casa_token=5tlcOYoZ1C4AAAAA%3AisI1jclMPKZlLwklTkl2z1rNI2LnQg1tmBpLIsgbv--ItUGNFoBtlpuV5VyQSWWEgb8itiX2WKDE">helping to develop social skills</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MMmOLN5zBLY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Research shows some of these benefits, such as enhanced thinking skills, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32157943/">may also extend to autistic children</a>. </p>
<p>Giving children the opportunity to develop abilities in two languages also enables them to be able to choose what language they want to communicate in. It may also make them feel connected to their community. </p>
<p>These findings challenge the view that bilingualism is detrimental to children’s development. In contrast, including children with developmental disabilities in bilingual provisions gives them the chance to blossom alongside their typically developing peers.</p>
<p>As a result, families should feel empowered to reach informed decisions for themselves by considering the potential opportunities being bilingual may provide.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Ward has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council's Doctoral Training Partnership Programme and The Coleg Cymraeg.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eirini Sanoudaki collaborates with the Down’s Syndrome Association, schools and groups involved in supporting individuals with developmental conditions. She receives funding from the ESRC for research on bilingualism in neurodiverse populations.</span></em></p>There are many benefits to being bilingual.Rebecca Ward, Lecturer in Psychology, Swansea UniversityEirini Sanoudaki, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics (Bilingualism), Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1910422022-10-07T12:20:22Z2022-10-07T12:20:22ZCensus data hides racial diversity of US ‘Hispanics’ – to the country’s detriment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488087/original/file-20221004-21-dvyxff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C37%2C8256%2C5425&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Biden Joe Biden speaks at a Hispanic Heritage Month 2022 reception at the White House. Just who counts as 'Hispanic' in the U.S. is an open question.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-biden-joe-biden-speaks-at-a-hispanic-heritage-news-photo/1243624729?phrase=hispanic heritage month&adppopup=true">Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As I opened an email from my local grocery store chain advertising Hispanic Heritage Month – which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year – I was surprised to see it highlighting recipes from four distinct regions: Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. </p>
<p>The advertisement rightly noted that while corn and beans have framed much of what in the United States is considered “Hispanic” foods, Latin America has a much greater diversity of foods. <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/cooking-technology-9781474234689/">Its cuisine</a>, which began long before the Spanish or other colonizers came to the Americas, continues to flourish. </p>
<p>While many of us <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-using-latinx-if-you-really-want-to-be-inclusive-189358">Latine</a> – an alternative term for Latinos or Latinx that I prefer – embrace our European heritage, we also embrace our <a href="http://www.degruyter.com">Indigenous and African heritage</a>. </p>
<p>In recent decades, many Latin American nations have officially recognized their Indigenous and Afro-descendent populations as distinct groups with unique histories, cultures, foods and languages. </p>
<p>Countries across the Americas, including the United States, have <a href="https://www.americasquarterly.org/fulltextarticle/behind-the-numbers-race-and-ethnicity-in-latin-america/">revised their census questions to better understand their populations</a>, enabling them to create more inclusive policies that actually address people’s needs – and to recognize the too-often hidden achievements of these groups.</p>
<h2>Census changes in Latin America</h2>
<p>Some Latin American countries, such as Peru, have counted their Indigenous population for over a century. But with the exception of Brazil and Cuba, Latin American countries generally <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwim9bj5ysb6AhUwkIkEHZpEBgQQFnoECCoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fopenknowledge.worldbank.org%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10986%2F30201%2F129298-7-8-2018-17-30-51-AfrodescendientesenLatinoamerica.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1QUIfPDCb5YXQRcxvrRl0L">excluded race on their national census</a>, allowing economic and social inequalities to flourish undocumented. </p>
<p>The effort to better capture both <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0276562415000177">Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations in Latin America began around the turn of the 21st century</a>.</p>
<p>Uruguay, a small and prosperous South American country, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137001702_10">long portrayed itself as white and European</a> despite being home to <a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807871584/blackness-in-the-white-nation/">Afro-Uruguayans descended from enslaved Africans</a>. In 1996, under pressure from Afro-descendent activists, it added race to its national household survey. That census had census workers identify the respondents’ race and found the country to be 6% Afro-descended and revealed stunning racial disparities in education, income and employment. When in 2006 Uruguayan census-takers began asking residents to state their own racial identity, the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/125852428/Towards-a-Framework-for-Multicultural-Justice-in-Uruguay-Afro-Descendant-Exclusion-and-Collective-Rights-Under-International-Law">Afro-descended population jumped to 10%</a>. This data shift had important implications when Uruguay implemented race-based affirmative action a few years later. </p>
<p>In Mexico, where Indigenous identity had previously been linked only to speakers of one of the country’s 68 Indigenous languages, the census was changed in 2020 to ask if respondents self-identified as Indigenous or belonged to a community that identified as Indigenous. The result was an increase of 7.1 million people to <a href="https://www.alcaldesdemexico.com/notas-principales/poblacion-indigena-en-mexico-la-realidad-en-cifras/">23.2 million who identified as Indigenous</a>. The same change targeting the Afro-Mexican population identified a previously unrecognized <a href="https://aldianews.com/en/culture/heritage-and-history/finally-visible">population of 2.5 million</a>. </p>
<h2>‘Some other race’</h2>
<p>The U.S. added a question about Hispanic descent to the 1970 census long form, and to the short form in 1980. The question asked, “Is this person of Hispanic/Spanish descent?” If the answer was Yes, these were following options: Mexican or Mexican-American or Chicano; Puerto Rican; Cuban; Other Spanish/Hispanic. </p>
<p>In subsequent decades, small changes were made such, as including the word “Latino” and allowing those who choose “other” in the national origin category to write in a response, with suggestions of “Argentinian, Colombian, Dominican, Salvadoran, Spaniard, and so on.” In 2020, the census allowed respondents to identify as “multiracial.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488132/original/file-20221004-26-hb3oh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2020 U.S. census questionnaire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2020_census_questionnaire.jpg">Ɱ via Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The U.S. Census Bureau argues that its categories now adequately capture the heritage of the 62.6 million <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2021/08/improvements-to-2020-census-race-hispanic-origin-question-designs.html">Hispanics that flourish in the U.S.</a> “because all detailed Hispanic origin groups are included in the newly combined code list.” </p>
<p>In fact, however, if your heritage stems from one of the hundreds of Indigenous or Afro-descended groups in Latin America, these identities remain outside of the way the U.S. captures race among the Hispanic populations. That may explain why, <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/2020-united-states-population-more-racially-ethnically-diverse-than-2010.html">according to the Census Bureau</a> “the vast majority (94%) of responses to the race question that are classified as Some Other Race are from people of Hispanic or Latino origin.” </p>
<h2>Overgeneralized and under-recognized</h2>
<p>When the fixed categories of a census erase the diversity of a population, the gross miscalculations that result may harm a country’s ability to appropriately respond to the needs of its people. </p>
<p>For example, the overgeneralizing of U.S. Hispanics hurts the quality of American education and health care when these institutions assume that Latin American heritage communities speak Spanish. In addition to Indigenous languages, Latino Afro-descendant populations may not speak Spanish but rather may speak French or Haitian Creole, Portuguese or an Indigenous language. If they are from the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua, they may speak an English Creole. </p>
<p>These language differences reflect unique cultures and histories that relate to how people engage with doctors, teachers, politicians and much more. </p>
<p>Failing to recognize the diversity of Hispanics also creates frequent election surprises in the U.S. For example, pollsters <a href="https://theconversation.com/so-called-latino-vote-is-32-million-americans-with-diverse-political-opinions-and-national-origins-149515">got the Latino vote all wrong in 2020</a> by lumping together 32 million people with diverse political opinions and national origins as “Latino.” <a href="https://theconversation.com/democrats-cant-count-on-latinos-to-swing-the-midterms-105338">Democrats arguably made the same mistake</a> in 2018. </p>
<p>In overgeneralizing Hispanics, the U.S may also overlook – to its own detriment – the knowledge and experience of a culturally unique people who bring with them alternative understandings of the world, some of which I’ve studied as an anthropologist focused on food security, migration and health in Latin America. These include agricultural practices that can aid <a href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in">American farmers in responding to the global climate crisis</a> and Mesoamerican strategies for health based on <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32848768/">communal care and traditional remedies</a>. </p>
<h2>A growing community with more to offer</h2>
<p>Despite its limitations, U.S. census data clearly shows that the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/09/15/who-is-hispanic/">Hispanic population continues to grow</a>. While the overall U.S. population increased 7% between 2010 and 2020, the Hispanic population expanded by 23%. Today, 1 in every 5 people in the U.S. identifies with Hispanic or Latino heritage.</p>
<p>This growth is particularly notable in the South – in states like Georgia and North Carolina – and in rural areas. The Hispanic population has become a demographic lifeline for parts of small-town America that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-020-09605-8">experienced significant population loss in the late 20th century</a>. </p>
<p>Hispanic communities have also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716211433445">reinvigorated urban neighborhoods</a> as they open small businesses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man and woman dance as men in a traditional Mexican costumes entertain" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488138/original/file-20221004-22-69f9oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who live in Brooklyn, New York, celebrate a birthday in Prospect Park on April 4, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-and-woman-dance-as-men-in-a-traditional-mexican-news-photo/1310826559?phrase=Mexican%20brooklyn&adppopup=true">Roy Rochlin/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rebuilding cities, stabilizing rural counties, expanding local economies – these are among the group contributions made by the community of Americans celebrated each year during Hispanic Heritage Month. </p>
<p>The better we understand the nuances of this large population, the better we will understand who we are as a nation – and benefit more fully from our diversity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ramona L. Pérez receives funding from the Tinker Foundation, National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Agriculture. She is affiliated with the American Anthropological Association, where she currently serves as president. </span></em></p>Countries across the Americas are tweaking their census to better understand their population, allowing them to create more responsive policies. The US still has a ways to go.Ramona L. Pérez, Professor of Anthropology, San Diego State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1892962022-10-02T11:38:25Z2022-10-02T11:38:25ZIndigenous food sovereignty requires better and more accurate data collection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486001/original/file-20220921-8022-utllly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C38%2C6470%2C4281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the face of governmental efforts to dismantle Indigenous agricultural economies, Indigenous communities have made important strides toward food sovereignty.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indigenous communities are increasingly investing in agriculture to sustain their <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/thousands-years-indigenous-tribes-have-been-planting-future">cultures and economies</a>. Indigenous Peoples have a long history with agriculture — a history that wasn’t always recognized. </p>
<p>For much of the 20th century, scholars claimed that Indigenous farmers in <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/publications/undrip-implementation-comparative-approaches-indigenous-voices-canzus/">Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States (CANZUS)</a> were marginal food producers who employed unsustainable farming practices, like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/slash-and-burn-agriculture">slashing and burning</a>, that led to environmental declines and their ultimate downfall. </p>
<p>These scholars argued that the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Conditions-of-Agricultural-Growth-The-Economics-of-Agrarian-Change/Boserup/p/book/9781853831591">“primitiveness” of Indigenous agriculture was reflected in the technologies they used</a>. They posited that tools used by Indigenous Peoples, like the digging stick, were rudimentary compared to the more advanced plow cultivation used by European farmers. </p>
<p>We now know those claims are incorrect; Indigenous Peoples throughout CANZUS have long engaged in <a href="https://manitobamuseum.ca/archives/34785">sophisticated forms of agriculture</a>. By some estimates, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3098/ah.2011.85.4.460">Indigenous farmers out-produced European wheat farmers in the 17th and 18th centuries</a> by a margin of three to five times per acre. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2020-0004">Indigenous communities’ increasing desire to engage in large-scale commercial agriculture</a>, there is still a lack of data about Indigenous engagement in the agriculture sector in CANZUS. This data is crucial to informing policies that set out to support Indigenous engagement and diversity in the agriculture sector.</p>
<h2>Indigenous food sovereignty</h2>
<p>Through the erasure of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21401526-dark-emu">Indigenous agricultural histories</a>, premised on the notion of <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indigenous-title-and-the-doctrine-of-discovery"><em>terra nullius</em></a>, CANZUS governments justified their appropriation of Indigenous lands and the territorial dispossession of Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Latin for <a href="https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/terra-nullius">“land belonging to no one”</a>, <em>terra nullius</em> was a legal term used in the <a href="https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/">Doctrine of Discovery</a> to refer to land that was not occupied by the settlers or used according to their law and culture. Such land was considered “vacant” and available for colonization.</p>
<p>Yet in the face of <a href="https://apihtawikosisan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/FNAgriculture.pdf">governmental efforts to dismantle Indigenous agricultural economies</a>, Indigenous Peoples have remained resilient and are making important strides toward <a href="https://www.indigenousfoodsystems.org/food-sovereignty">food sovereignty</a> through the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.596237">revitalization of Indigenous food systems</a> and cultural traditions.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1568760059756421120"}"></div></p>
<p>Beyond <a href="https://www.producer.com/news/traditional-farming-seen-as-way-to-health/">food sovereignty</a>, by reclaiming their agricultural roots, Indigenous Peoples are also alleviating <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6136161/first-nations-food-insecurity-study/">food insecurity</a> and <a href="https://cooperativesfirst.com/blog/2017/08/11/2017811first-nations-agricultural-production/">contributing to economic development</a> in their communities. As supporters of the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>, it’s important that CANZUS governments prioritize and support these Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives. </p>
<h2>National databases are lacking</h2>
<p>Although Indigenous Peoples have been participating in the agriculture sector since precolonial times, it hasn’t been until recently that contemporary agriculture has become a policy focus for Indigenous community development and well-being.</p>
<p>However, little knowledge exists about contemporary Indigenous agriculture in CANZUS because of the lack of comprehensive databases at the national level. National scale data collection tools that are currently available are still fairly new or non-existent. </p>
<p><strong>1. Canada</strong></p>
<p>In Canada, the Census of Agriculture does not allow farm and ranch producers to self-identify as Indigenous. However, data from the <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/census-agriculture">Census of Agriculture</a> and the <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm">Census of Population</a> provide some information about Indigenous engagement in agricultural activities. </p>
<p>Data from both censuses is linked using information which is common to both questionnaires such as name, sex, birth date and address of the operators. This information is used to create the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/95-633-X">Agriculture-Population linkage</a> database, which provides useful <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/96-325-x/2019001/article/00001-eng.htm">information about Indigenous engagement in agriculture in Canada</a>.</p>
<p><strong>2. Australia</strong></p>
<p>Australia does not maintain a national scale database on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (collectively referred to as Indigenous) production in the agriculture sector. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Agriculture Census also <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-agriculture-sector-sorely-needs-more-insights-from-first-nations-people-heres-how-we-get-there-173154">doesn’t allow farm and ranch producers to self-identify as Indigenous</a>, which creates a significant data gap about Indigenous agricultural operations in Australia. </p>
<p>Despite this, there is still <a href="https://daff.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/1027073/0">information available about the people employed in the industry</a>, including those who identify as Indigenous, through the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Census of Population and Housing.</p>
<p><strong>3. New Zealand</strong></p>
<p>In New Zealand, information about Māori farms (the Māori are the Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/11/aotearoa-or-new-zealand-has-the-moment-come-to-change-the-countrys-name">Aotearoa in the Māori language</a>), are compiled using the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/participate-survey/business-survey/agricultural-census">Agricultural Production Survey</a>. </p>
<p>Māori farms are identified by <a href="https://datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz/item/nz.govt.stats/b9bba050-a4bf-472e-a35d-abc9ecf56c68">matching the survey to three sources of data</a>: Māori enterprises from the <a href="https://datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz/item/nz.govt.stats/3d3c2360-72e6-4d3a-9fb1-e4286ce30150">Māori authorities</a>, self-identified Māori businesses from the <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/help-with-surveys/list-of-stats-nz-surveys/about-the-business-operations-survey/business-operations-survey-2022-survey-form/">business operations survey</a> and a database held by Statistics New Zealand’s partner <a href="https://poutama.co.nz/">Poutama Trust</a>. The matching process <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Reports/Tatauranga-Umanga-Maori-2016-Statistics-on-Maori-businesses/tatauranga-umanga-maori-2016.pdf">yields information about Māori engagement in agriculture</a>, such as the number of agricultural operations, livestock and horticulture crops Māori farm operations have.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A set of hands harvest an ear of corn from a stalk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486184/original/file-20220922-32941-3ncg2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486184/original/file-20220922-32941-3ncg2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486184/original/file-20220922-32941-3ncg2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486184/original/file-20220922-32941-3ncg2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486184/original/file-20220922-32941-3ncg2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486184/original/file-20220922-32941-3ncg2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486184/original/file-20220922-32941-3ncg2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food sovereignty allows Indigenous Peoples to control the mechanisms and policies of their own food production and distribution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>4. United States</strong></p>
<p>In the U.S., a national scale data collection effort was <a href="https://agcensus.library.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2002-History.pdf">piloted in 2002</a> in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota to collect information about agricultural activity on American Indian reservations. Starting with the 2007 Census of Agriculture, this pilot project was expanded to include reservations across the U.S. </p>
<p>The Census of Agriculture in the U.S. allows farm and ranch producers to self-report agricultural activity on American Indian reservations. If producers don’t respond to the mailed report, census employees — <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Online_Resources/American_Indian_Reservations/AMINDIAN.pdf">many who are tribal members that can bridge language or cultural barriers</a> — follow up with them in person to help them completing their forms. The process yields an overview of agricultural activity on reservations in the U.S.</p>
<h2>Better data is needed</h2>
<p>The lack of baseline data on the scale and scope of Indigenous involvement in the agriculture sector continues to be an obstacle to effective engagement of Indigenous communities within the sector. This gap in data prevents governments and agri-food organizations from knowing what kinds of supports should be provided to reinvigorate Indigenous agricultural economies.</p>
<p>In order to better support the involvement of Indigenous Peoples in agriculture, more accurate data is needed. Being able to collect such data is crucial for developing a framework for Indigenous Peoples and communities that are interested in starting or expanding their engagement with the agriculture sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189296/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A lack of data prevents governments and agri-food organizations from knowing what kinds of supports should be provided to reinvigorate Indigenous agricultural economies.Omid Mirzaei, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of ReginaDavid Natcher, Professor, College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of SaskatchewanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1858932022-07-06T01:56:44Z2022-07-06T01:56:44ZMore rented, more mortgaged, less owned: what the census tells us about housing<p>On the surface, the latest census tells us home ownership has changed little over the past five years. Between the 2016 census and this census in 2021, the share of Australians owning their homes remained steady at about <a href="https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS">66%</a>.</p>
<p>The proportion renting also changed little, climbing from 30% to 30.6%.</p>
<p>But a closer look reveals bigger long-term changes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-of-us-are-retiring-with-mortgage-debts-the-implications-are-huge-115134">More of us are retiring with mortgage debts. The implications are huge</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While the proportion owning has slipped only two percentage points from 68% to 66% between 1996 and 2021, the proportion owning outright (without a mortgage) has plummeted from 42% to 31%.</p>
<p>The proportion mortgaged is nine percentage points higher. The proportion renting is four percentage points higher.</p>
<p>Most of the shift occurred between 2001 and 2006, which were the early years of the sustained home price boom.</p>
<p>As prices climbed, more Australians rented, and owner occupiers took on larger mortgages that took longer to pay off. </p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="W6UmH" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/W6UmH/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<h2>It’s the under 40s for whom things have changed the most</h2>
<p>In younger age groups, the proportion owning a home has dived.</p>
<p>Between 1996 and 2021, the share of owners in households headed by 25-34 year olds sank from 50% to 43%. </p>
<p>This is part of a long-term decline that began in 1981.</p>
<p>Home ownership rates have also dived among Australians aged 35-44 and 45-54 too, but at a slower pace than for Australians aged 25-34. </p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="CpqBh" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/CpqBh/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>A <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2157/The_Conversation_Australia_-_Peter_Martin_-_Customised_2021_CENSUS_Media__data_%281%29.xlsx?1656983212">customised data report</a> prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows home ownership rates among Australians aged 65+ ticked up from 78.4% to 79.4% between 2016 and 2021 after sliding in the previous two censuses.</p>
<p>The downward trend in home ownership among the young and the upward trend in mortgaged rather than outright ownership show no signs of reversing, despite significant spending on first homebuyer subsidies and guarantees. </p>
<h2>It depends on where you live</h2>
<p>The changes have not been uniform throughout the country.</p>
<p>In South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania the proportion of households renting has barely changed since 1996. In the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory it has slipped. </p>
<p>But in Victoria the proportion of households renting has jumped 3%, in NSW it has jumped 4%, and in Queensland 3%.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="gayvi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/gayvi/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>The proportion of households owning outright unmortgaged has fallen 10-12% in Queensland, Victoria and NSW, 8% in South Australia and Western Australia, 6% in Tasmania, 3% in the ACT, and is unchanged in the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>Back in 1996, Victoria had the highest share of outright ownership at 44%. It is now below 32%, less than Tasmania (37%) and South Australia (33%).</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="4KyNW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/4KyNW/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<h2>A shift towards apartments</h2>
<p>The proportion of households occupying freestanding houses fell from 82% to 72% between 1996 and 2021.</p>
<p>The proportion housed in apartments climbed from 8% to 14%</p>
<p>The shift has been more evident among owners than renters, suggesting buyers have to make greater sacrifices to obtain a home than they used to.</p>
<h2>A shift towards agents</h2>
<p>Not only are more of us renting (up from 28% in 2006 to 31% in 2021) but more of us are doing it through real estate agents. </p>
<p>Whereas in 2006 half of all rental properties were rented through agents, by 2021 it was two-thirds. Over the same 15 years, the share of rental homes rented from a state or territory housing authority slid from 15% to 10%. </p>
<p>The share of rental housing provided by the community sector changed little.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="Pfq0s" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Pfq0s/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<h2>Much unknown</h2>
<p>The census mainly provides population-wide snapshots, rather than tracing people through time.</p>
<p>This makes it hard to tell the extent to which people are moving out of home ownership and then back into it (and sometimes out of it again), along the lines suggested by <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-edges-of-home-ownership-are-becoming-porous-its-no-longer-a-one-way-street-119995">my own research</a> using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-longer-a-one-way-street-home-ownership-is-becoming-porous-119995">No longer a one-way street, home ownership is becoming porous</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Nor does it provide much insight into whether the growing numbers of Australians having to rent will eventually own (mortgaged) homes.</p>
<p>Research by myself and colleagues in Britain and United States points to a “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03085147.2021.2003086">catch-up</a>” in which Americans and Australians denied home ownership when young attain it later in life.</p>
<p>One thing the census puts beyond doubt is that more of us are renting and more of us are mortgaged rather than owning outright compared with 20 years ago.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Ong ViforJ is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (project FT200100422). She also receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.</span></em></p>The share of homes owner-occupied has slipped only two percentage points since 1996, but the proportion owned outright has slid from 42% to 31%.Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855752022-06-28T19:54:42Z2022-06-28T19:54:42ZCensus data shows we’re more culturally diverse than ever. Our institutions must reflect this<p>Initial data from the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS">2021 census</a> released this week shows Australia continues to become more culturally diverse. </p>
<p>Almost half of us have at least one parent born overseas (48.2%), and almost a quarter of us (24.8%) speak a language other than English at home. </p>
<p>Just over a quarter of us (27.6%) report being born overseas, and of those, India has risen to become the second-most common overseas country of birth after England.</p>
<p>The growing number of first-generation migrants means Australians’ ancestry will change significantly over the next decade. Australia will continue to change and look different, and we must ensure our institutions and policies reflect this.</p>
<p>That work, by governments and policymakers, should begin now so they can gain trust and maximise the belonging of these communities. Research shows <a href="https://www.ssi.org.au/images/Signature_Foundations_Report_withlink.pdf">feelings of belonging</a> lead to better socioeconomic outcomes. </p>
<p>It’s likely there would have been substantially more immigration were it not for the COVID pandemic and subsequent restrictions and lockdowns. Some <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/australias-migrant-population-grows-despite-border-closures">84%</a> of the one million new migrants arrived before the virus did.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541595914418196480"}"></div></p>
<h2>Australia’s future</h2>
<p>Three bits of data stuck out to me from this initial census data release:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>India surpassed New Zealand and China in becoming the second-most common overseas country of birth</p></li>
<li><p>the number of people born in Nepal grew by 123.7% compared to 2016, the second largest increase in country of birth</p></li>
<li><p>the number of people who are either born overseas or have a parent born overseas is greater than half (51.5%).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These data show the changing face of Australia and our global links.</p>
<p>They also reveal suburban clusters in the major cities where ethnic groups have a critical mass, median incomes are higher than the state and national average, and tertiary education rates are on the rise (examples include <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/SAL11640">Girraween</a> and Castle Hill in NSW). </p>
<p>Such figures show social class is an important factor when looking at data on migrant populations. In areas with a higher percentage of working class migrants and resettled refugees, such as those mentioned towards the end of this article as more impacted by COVID, household incomes are lower and hence they require more consideration for future planning needs.</p>
<p>The top five sources of ancestry haven’t changed since the last census: English (33%), Australian (29.9%), Irish (9.5%), Scottish (8.6%) and Chinese (5.5%).</p>
<p>But given the big changes in country of birth data, Australians’ ancestry will look very different over the next decade.</p>
<p>This will have policy and planning implications across schooling, housing and local government services.</p>
<p>It will translate into the need for our diversity to be reflected in all aspects of society, including professions, media, decision-making roles and government.</p>
<iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/10479772/embed" title="Interactive or visual content" class="flourish-embed-iframe" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%;height:600px;" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<div style="width:100%!;margin-top:4px!important;text-align:right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/10479772/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/10479772" target="_top"><img alt="Made with Flourish" src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg"> </a></div>
<p>These data also show Australia is as multicultural, if not more, than countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.</p>
<p>Data from the 2016 census in Canada, which is known to be multicultural, shows <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/census-2016-immigration-1.4368970">21.9%</a> of people there are immigrants, with the largest share being from South Asia.</p>
<p>2018 data shows <a href="https://diversityuk.org/diversity-in-the-uk/">14%</a> of the UK population was from a minority ethnic background. In the city of London, this figure was <a href="https://diversityuk.org/diversity-in-the-uk/">40% in 2018</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/new-census-data-shows-the-nation-is-diversifying-even-faster-than-predicted/">2020 data</a>, nearly four in ten Americans identify with an ethnic group other than white.</p>
<h2>COVID disproportionately affected migrant communities</h2>
<p>Australia would have received <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-missing-500-000-migrants-but-we-dont-need-visa-changes-to-lure-them-back-182322">more migrants</a> were it not for the COVID pandemic, which shut borders from early 2020.</p>
<p>We would have had more tourists, and more people arriving on work and student visas. Census data shows the pandemic led to an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/28/australias-millennial-generation-is-overtaking-baby-boomers-new-census-data-shows?CMP=soc_567&fbclid=IwAR1mKDX4AXdWP57drxJLv2PymFAFod4__1wuwV_PHkZNhLUXMrILGBJLKgk">80% decrease</a> in the number of overseas visitors. This affected the economy, particularly in sectors such as tourism, hospitality and higher education.</p>
<p>We also received less relatives of overseas-born Australians, for example on family-sponsored visas. This can have impacts on childcare, care of elderly relatives and mental health.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2021-australian-census-in-8-charts-185950">The 2021 Australian census in 8 charts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some areas with a high percentage of migrants were heavily affected by COVID and pandemic restrictions. </p>
<p>Census data reveals, for example, 71.6% of people in the Western Sydney suburb of Merrylands have both parents born overseas. And in the nearby local government area of Liverpool, 65.5% of people have both parents born overseas.</p>
<p>Western Sydney was an area <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-26/nsw-delta-lockdown-one-year-on/101183272">disproportionately affected</a> by COVID infections and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/2021/oct/12/delta-deaths-expose-australias-great-disadvantage-divide">deaths</a> over the last two years. It was also subject to strict COVID restrictions and a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58021718">heavy police</a> and even <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-military-language-and-presence-might-not-be-the-best-approach-to-covid-and-public-health-166019">military presence</a>.</p>
<p>In Flemington, Melbourne, the site of a <a href="https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/our-impact/news/public-housing-tower-lockdown/">public housing tower lockdown in 2020</a>, 47.1% of people have both parents born overseas. Somalia and Ethiopia feature in the top five countries of birth. </p>
<p>In Dandenong, south-east of Melbourne, 75.4% of people have both parents born overseas. The area has also suffered disproportionately <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/25/disease-of-disadvantage-melbournes-lower-socioeconomic-areas-suffer-most-covid-deaths-amid-omicron">more COVID deaths</a>.</p>
<p>We don’t yet know the full extent of COVID impacts on these areas though. Further census data is due to be released in October featuring employment and work commute data for these areas which will be important to look at for COVID impacts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sukhmani Khorana has received funding from the Australia Research Council, the Australia-India Council, and conducts contracted research for migrant and refugee-focused organisations in Western Sydney.</span></em></p>More than half of us are either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas.Sukhmani Khorana, Senior Research Fellow, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1856922022-06-28T05:05:11Z2022-06-28T05:05:11ZAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has increased, but the census lacks detail in other facets of Indigenous lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471280/original/file-20220628-19-ex91d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C160%2C8256%2C5252&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Limitations in census reporting includes how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caregivers are reported on and considered.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/boy-playing-with-metal-baby-bath-with-grandparents-royalty-free-image/1030629824?adppopup=true">GettyImages</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The census counted 812,728 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on census night, making up 3.2% of the total people counted. That’s up from 649,171 in the 2016 census, an increase of over 25%.</p>
<p>Many have estimated the population prior to the arrival of the British was between <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=i4XRec9r-rMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=indigenous+australia+for+dummies&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI77Xny43ZAhWLbrwKHXtmBCEQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=indigenous%20australia%20for%20dummies&f=false">750,000 and 1 million</a>. So the exciting news is in only 234 years we are nearing pre-colonial numbers.</p>
<p>Whenever there is an increase in the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, there is always speculation as to why.</p>
<p>Of course <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/publication/35064">the politics of identity</a> is always at play. There will be the usual commentary that targets the way people look in those old arguments that refer to skin colour as the measure of <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2016/03/15/bronwyn-carlson-who-counts-aboriginal-today">who counts as Aboriginal</a> and the idea that lighter skin signifies less Indigenous or no Indigenous identity at all. </p>
<p>These worn out tropes never take into consideration that colonial policies and practices such as those that led to the Stolen Generations directly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/21/john-pilger-indigenous-australian-families">targeted people</a> with mixed heritage. These targeted people suffered unimaginable violence in the nation’s mission to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/caught-up-in-a-scientific-racism-designed-to-breed-out-the-black-20080214-gds108.html">breed the colour</a> out of us.</p>
<p>But unfortunately, given the lack of information in the census about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lives, we can’t be sure if overall health among Indigenous people is improving and why lifespans seem to be improving. And the census has failed to investigate other ways Indigenous people may choose to identify, and how we live as families.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lgbtiq-people-are-being-ignored-in-the-census-again-not-only-is-this-discriminatory-its-bad-public-policy-165800">LGBTIQ+ people are being ignored in the census again. Not only is this discriminatory, it's bad public policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Limitations in the census findings</h2>
<p>The 2021 census, like previous years, leaves me wanting more information and a more complex read of our lives. As my colleague Wiradjuri Indigenous Studies professor Sandy O’Sullivan has pointed out repeatedly, the census survey is often a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/5/3/67">reductive examination</a> of our lives and lacks a more detailed exploration of who we are.</p>
<p>There is generally no focus on race, gender and sexuality as it pertains to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Nor are there any questions in the survey around what constitutes a family or a household or parenting from our perspectives. </p>
<p>In terms of families, the census shows there are many changes to the 6 million families counted. The census speaks of parents as being either female or male. What of same sex, queer and trans parents? Such a focus can have significant impact on families seeking services. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1421017995686473729"}"></div></p>
<p>The census also records a reduction of people over the age of 55 years looking after “other people’s children”. However Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-parental caregivers such as grandparents would likely see children they care for as being “theirs”, as this is the way Indigenous family systems work. There are thought to be <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-05/grandparents-informal-kinship-carers-fall-through-support-gaps/100593478">a significant number of</a> Indigenous kids living in informal kinship care. Therefore these numbers will not be accurate for Indigenous people.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1422421172923207683"}"></div></p>
<p>The census provides details such as there are now more than 47,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who identify as being over the age of 65 years old. This up from 31,000 in 2016. That is great news, but without knowing any more about those who are living longer, we don’t know the circumstances that have led to this improvement.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541574057560514560"}"></div></p>
<p>The census tells us how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people own a house or are paying rent, but it does not speak to the rising number of Indigenous people who are <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/indigenous-people-focus-housing-homelessness/contents/at-a-glance">homeless</a> or unable to afford rising rent prices. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541346374977191937"}"></div></p>
<p>Dr David Gruen, an Australian statistician has said,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Census collects vitally important information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that will help governments and local organisations plan for health, education and community services into the future</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But do the questions asked in the census survey reflect our population and what is important to many of us? And if not then what does that mean for service provision for our communities?</p>
<p>If the census is the means by which Australia understands its population then it is fair to say it falls short on several fronts, especially with regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. </p>
<p>It’s time we demanded a more nuanced picture of ourselves. If the results of the census are to inform planning for health, education and community services as Dr Gruen suggests, then we need to do a better job of collecting data that reflects our population and the reality of the lives we lead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The census includes an increase in the number of people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, but it lacks details about other ways they may identity and how they live.Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1854882022-06-28T01:50:13Z2022-06-28T01:50:13ZYet again, the census shows women are doing more housework. Now is the time to invest in interventions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470187/original/file-20220622-15-5wmsss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C30%2C6720%2C4436&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Census numbers have been released, showing women typically do <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/community-profiles/2021/AUS/download/GCP_AUS.xlsx">many more hours of unpaid housework</a> per week compared to men.</p>
<iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/10479192/embed" title="Interactive or visual content" class="flourish-embed-iframe" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%;height:600px;" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<div style="width:100%!;margin-top:4px!important;text-align:right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/10479192/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/10479192" target="_top"><img alt="Made with Flourish" src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg"> </a></div>
<p>It’s not a new development. In <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/2016+Census+National">2016</a>, the “typical” Australian man spent less than five hours a week on domestic work, while the “typical” Australian woman spent between five and 14 hours a week on domestic work. Before that, the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/c0e6e1069c8d24e9ca257306000d5b04!OpenDocument">2006 census</a> showed, again, that more of the domestic workload is shouldered by women.</p>
<p>So, in the 15 years since the Australian Census <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/census-to-count-unpaid-work-20060226-ge1ty0.html">started collecting</a> unpaid housework time, women are shown to do more than men. Every. Single. Time.</p>
<p>What is unique about these latest census numbers is Australians filled out their surveys during one of the greatest disruptors to work and home life – the COVID pandemic.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/planning-stress-and-worry-put-the-mental-load-on-mothers-will-2022-be-the-year-they-share-the-burden-172599">Planning, stress and worry put the mental load on mothers – will 2022 be the year they share the burden?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470186/original/file-20220622-13-9gh2n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the 15 years since the Australian Census started collecting unpaid housework time in 2006, women are shown to do more than men.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pandemic pressures</h2>
<p>We have a breadth of <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=EHPbrxgAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">research</a> showing the pandemic disrupted women’s – especially mothers’ – work and family lives, in catastrophic ways. </p>
<p>Economic closures knocked women out of employment at <a href="https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/the-policy-lab/projects/projects/worsening">higher rates to men</a>, forcing them to rely more heavily on their savings and stimulus payments to make ends meet. All this while managing intensified housework, childcare and homeschooling.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/59/1/1/286878/Research-Note-School-Reopenings-During-the-COVID">transition</a> to remote and hybrid learning meant mothers, not fathers, reduced their workloads to meet these newfound demands. </p>
<p>Fathers picked up the slack in the home – doing <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-forced-australian-fathers-to-do-more-at-home-but-at-the-same-cost-mothers-have-long-endured-154834">more housework</a> at the start of the pandemic and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X21990737">holding it</a> over time.</p>
<p>Yet, as my colleagues Brendan Churchill and Lyn Craig <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gwao.12497">show</a>, fathers increased their housework but so did mothers, meaning the gender gap in that time remained. </p>
<p>So, while men should be applauded for doing more during the unique strains of the pandemic, we <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gwao.12727">show</a> mothers were the true heroes of the pandemic, stepping into added labour at the expense of their health and well-being.</p>
<p>Quite simply, the pandemic placed unparalleled pressures on Australian families. So it is perhaps no surprise our surveys are showing <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-juggle-is-real-parents-want-greater-flexibility-in-return-to-office-20220325-p5a820.html">Australians are burnt out</a>.</p>
<p>(As discussed in <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-give-mum-chocolates-for-mothers-day-take-on-more-housework-share-the-mental-load-and-advocate-for-equality-instead-182330">previous articles</a>, the chore divide in same-sex relationships is generally found to be more equal. But some critiques suggests even then, equality may suffer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/upshot/same-sex-couples-divide-chores-much-more-evenly-until-they-become-parents.html">once kids are involved</a>.)</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469967/original/file-20220621-23-bv1i02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In general, fathers increased their housework during the pandemic – but so did mothers, meaning the gender gap remained.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-forced-australian-fathers-to-do-more-at-home-but-at-the-same-cost-mothers-have-long-endured-154834">COVID forced Australian fathers to do more at home, but at the same cost mothers have long endured</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Time for action</h2>
<p>So, where to now? </p>
<p>We pay upwards of <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyReleaseDate/1B9C46E8DBFC05FFCA25847D0080F9A2?OpenDocument">$640 million dollars</a> every five years to document Australia through the census. </p>
<p>And, in each of these surveys we find the same result – women are doing more housework than men. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://theconversation.com/sorry-men-theres-no-such-thing-as-dirt-blindness-you-just-need-to-do-more-housework-100883">parallels decades of research</a> showing women do more housework, even when they are employed full-time, earn more money and especially <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00479.x">once kids hit</a> the scene.</p>
<p>Men have increased their <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-21635-5_2">housework</a> and <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/aifs-conference/fathers-and-work">childcare contributions</a> over time and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00113921211012737?journalCode=csia&fbclid=IwAR0Vgrre91fTarMY_EFLmDl1iJk7hPms6p3FhfM0E0y52Bbe9bZqmJ7Gs1A">younger men want</a> to be more present, active and attentive in the home.</p>
<p>Simply put: men want to step into greater care giving and women are suffering from “doing it all”.</p>
<p>We have documented these trends for decades – enough. Now it is time for action.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469968/original/file-20220621-19-qr3c2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The pandemic intensified housework, childcare and homeschooling demands on women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/flexible-work-arrangements-help-women-but-only-if-they-are-also-offered-to-men-155882">Flexible work arrangements help women, but only if they are also offered to men</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Creating a fair future</h2>
<p>These are the critical questions we are asking through <a href="https://www.unimelb.edu.au/futureofwork">The Future of Work Lab</a> at the University of Melbourne – how do we create a future that is fair to everyone, including women and mothers? </p>
<p>A few key projects illuminate some of the next steps towards clear interventions. The first is to provide Australian families with a comprehensive safety net to support their care-giving lives.</p>
<p>All of us will be, at some point, called upon to care for a loved one, friend, family member or colleague. At these moments, work becomes difficult and housework demands soar. </p>
<p>So, providing <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-were-serious-about-supporting-working-families-here-are-three-policies-we-need-to-enact-now-105490">care-giving resources</a> beyond just paid time off is critical. This underscores the need for </p>
<ul>
<li>universal free high-quality childcare</li>
<li>paid caregiver leave, and/or </li>
<li>better and longer term cash payments for caregivers.</li>
</ul>
<p>Second, we need comprehensive policies that allow <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/flexible-families-workplace-equality">men to step</a> into care-giving roles without fear of retribution and penalty at work.</p>
<p>Australians work more <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=AVE_HRS#">annual hours</a>, on average, than their Canadian and United Kingdom counterparts, working hours more similar to the overwork culture of the United States. And, only <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/28/only-one-in-20-fathers-take-primary-parental-leave-in-australia">one in 20 Australian fathers</a> take paid parental leave following childbirth, an abysmal rate relative to other high-income countries. </p>
<p>We can do better. </p>
<p>The pandemic created the space for many men to step into larger care-giving roles with great pleasure and showed workplaces that flexible work is feasible.</p>
<p>Next, the Australian workplace must become more supportive of men’s right to care.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469969/original/file-20220621-11-q6rxsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian workplaces must become more supportive of men’s right to care.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unpaid domestic work and the mental load</h2>
<p>Finally, we must redress the challenges of unpaid domestic work and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/planning-stress-and-worry-put-the-mental-load-on-mothers-will-2022-be-the-year-they-share-the-burden-172599">mental load</a> on women’s physical, mental and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13668803.2021.2002813">economic health and well-being</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps tech holds some solutions. </p>
<p>The demand is clearly there with some super impressive women building out concrete tech solutions to reduce the mental load and unpaid domestic work - like <a href="https://getmelo.app/">Melo’s mental load app</a> or <a href="https://www.yohana.com/">Yohana’s virtual concierges</a>. </p>
<p>Others are using old tech solutions – like <a href="https://www.fairplaylife.com/the-cards">Eve Rodsky’s Fair Play</a> cards – to help couples equalise the often unseen, and undervalued household chores. We are working on a research project to understand the impact of these different resources on families’ unpaid domestic loads and lives more broadly. </p>
<p>The census is valuable in showing us we remain unchanged. </p>
<p>But, now, is a time to invest in intervention and innovation to make us better versions of ourselves into the future.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-give-mum-chocolates-for-mothers-day-take-on-more-housework-share-the-mental-load-and-advocate-for-equality-instead-182330">Don't give mum chocolates for Mother's Day. Take on more housework, share the mental load and advocate for equality instead</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Ruppanner receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is working on a research project with Melo to understand how to share the mental load. </span></em></p>We must redress the challenges of unpaid domestic work and the mental load on women’s physical, mental and economic health and well-being.Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1856972022-06-27T19:50:31Z2022-06-27T19:50:31Z‘No religion’ is Australia’s second-largest religious group – and it’s having a profound effect on our laws<p>The latest census results are out and the number of Australians who selected “no religion” has risen again to 38.9%, up from 30.1% in 2016.</p>
<p>This makes them the second-largest “religious group” after Christians, who make up 43.9% of the population, down from 52.1% in 2016. </p>
<p>Australia is often described as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-australia-a-secular-country-it-depends-what-you-mean-38222">secular country</a> and this ongoing movement from religion to “no religion” is one way this manifests. </p>
<p>The numbers are interesting but, as a legal academic, I am more interested in what they mean in practice and how this ongoing shift in Australia’s religious demographics plays out in our laws.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-needs-a-religious-discrimination-act-105132">Why Australia needs a Religious Discrimination Act</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Marriage equality, euthanasia and abortion</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most obvious example is marriage equality. </p>
<p>I began teaching law and religion at the University of Western Australia just over a decade ago. At the time, we were teaching students about the arguments for and against same-sex marriage. However, this was a purely theoretical concept. </p>
<p>True, the campaign for same-sex marriage was advanced even then. But repeated refusals at the time by political leaders such as John Howard, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd to even <em>consider</em> legalising same sex marriage made it seem like marriage equality was still decades away. At the time of the 2016 census, marriage equality was still theoretical. </p>
<p>How quickly things change. </p>
<p>In the five years between the 2016 census and 2021 census, Australia saw a monumental shift in what might broadly be considered moral laws. </p>
<p>In December 2017 the definition of marriage was officially changed to being the union of two persons voluntarily entered into for life, regardless of gender. </p>
<p>But marriage equality is just the tip of the iceberg. Euthanasia and abortion laws have also been reformed in the five years between the censuses. </p>
<p>Victoria, WA and Tasmania all passed laws to <a href="https://theconversation.com/voluntary-assisted-dying-will-soon-be-legal-in-all-states-heres-whats-just-happened-in-nsw-and-what-it-means-for-you-183355">legalise euthanasia</a>. Queensland and New South Wales have also passed <a href="https://theconversation.com/voluntary-assisted-dying-is-one-step-closer-in-nsw-now-the-negotiation-starts-172600">similar laws</a> since the 2021 census. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-no-longer-a-crime-in-australia-so-why-is-it-still-so-hard-to-access-182413">Abortion has been decriminalised</a> in all states, with South Australia, NSW, the Northern Territory and Queensland all making reforms to their laws. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-if-you-want-access-to-voluntary-assisted-dying-but-your-nursing-home-wont-let-you-183364">What happens if you want access to voluntary assisted dying but your nursing home won't let you?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An ongoing debate about freedom of religion</h2>
<p>Given this legal shift away from what are sometimes referred to as “traditional moral laws”, it may seem strange that, concurrently, there has also been an ongoing debate about freedom of religion. </p>
<p>The debate has been the fiercest, and most painful, in relation to discrimination by religious schools.</p>
<p>On one hand, some religious schools claim they need to be able to maintain their unique faith identity, especially where this is out of step with mainstream beliefs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-are-more-millennial-multilingual-and-less-religious-what-the-census-reveals-185845">Australians are more millennial, multilingual and less religious: what the census reveals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On the other, LGBTQ+ groups in particular argue discrimination is harmful and no longer acceptable in modern Australia. </p>
<p>It is tempting to argue that, given the number of Australians who don’t have a religion, religious belief should give way to the secular.</p>
<p>However, it is important to remember that a large portion of the population still identify with a religion. </p>
<p>It is also important to note that Australia’s religious diversity is increasing. </p>
<p>As I noted back in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/religion-and-the-census-australias-unique-relationship-to-faith-/10095652">2017</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the battle for supremacy between the “nones” and Christianity, we must also be conscious of minority faiths which in 2016 made up 8.2% of the Australian population. For small and emerging faith groups, whose beliefs and practices may not be well understood in Australia, there is always a real risk of policy decisions affecting their religious beliefs and practices unintentionally or as the result of misunderstanding. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is therefore more important than ever to have a robust and respectful debate about freedom of religion and the place of religion in secular Australia.</p>
<p>Part of the answer may lie in a balanced <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-needs-a-religious-discrimination-act-105132">Religious Discrimination Act</a>. It will also lie in respectful conversations about law reform. This must include those of minority faiths, those of the majority Christian faith, and those of no faith. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/abortion-is-no-longer-a-crime-in-australia-so-why-is-it-still-so-hard-to-access-182413">Abortion is no longer a crime in Australia. So why is it still so hard to access?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renae Barker is the Advocate for the Anglican Diocese of Bunbury and member of the Anglican General Synod. These are both voluntary positions. </span></em></p>An ongoing shift in Australia’s religious demographics is playing out in our laws. Perhaps the most obvious example is marriage equality.Renae Barker, Senior Lecturer, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1852952022-06-26T19:58:08Z2022-06-26T19:58:08ZShould the census ask about race? It’s not a simple question and may reinforce ‘racial’ thinking<p>Unlike census questionnaires in the US, New Zealand and Canada, the Australian Census doesn’t include questions about “race” or “ethnicity” and asks instead about “ancestry”.</p>
<p>That may be about to change, with new Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-16/federal-government-to-measure-ethnicity-data-multiculturalism/101158038">saying</a> he wants a new approach to “ethnicity” data in the next census in 2026.</p>
<p>Without this data, Giles <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-16/federal-government-to-measure-ethnicity-data-multiculturalism/101158038">said</a>, Australia faces a “fundamental barrier to understanding the issues that face multicultural Australians.”</p>
<p>But is it ethical to classify the population by what is effectively race?</p>
<p>A large body of research on Malaysia, for example – including by anthropologist <a href="https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/other-malays-nationalism-and-cosmopolitanism-in-the-modern-malay-world/">Joel Kahn</a> and historian <a href="https://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/taming-the-wild">Sandra Manickam</a> – shows systems aimed at classifying populations this way do not reflect naturally existing categories, but rather, create them. </p>
<p>Over time, these categories harden, so such systems function as “race-making instruments,” as political scientist <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Schematic-State-Transnationalism-Politics-Census/dp/1107578787">Debra Thompson</a> has put it.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1537318969551384576"}"></div></p>
<h2>How does Australia currently handle this issue?</h2>
<p>The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which runs the Australian Census, classifies answers on “ancestry” using a tool called the Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups. It’s essentially a spreadsheet of categories into which ancestry answers are aggregated. </p>
<p>This spreadsheet consists of 278 “cultural and ethnic groups”, like “Malay”. There are also 28 “narrow groups,” like “Maritime Southeast Asian” and nine “broad groups,” like “Southeast Asian.”</p>
<p>Used in conjunction with the person’s birthplace, language spoken at home, religion, and parents’ birthplace, the ABS uses this special spreadsheet to make its best guess about Australians’ ethnicity.</p>
<p>There’s some room for nuance. It includes two self-identified and unranked answers, allowing people to show that although they were born in Malaysia, for example, they might be a member of a minority group that is, say, “Southern Asian,” or “Chinese Asian,” as the spreadsheet terms them. </p>
<p>It also allows people to identify as members of groups spread across national borders, like Kurds or Bengalis. </p>
<p>Because the answers aren’t ranked or weighted, the question doesn’t squeeze respondents into a single box. It prompts them to decide which two sources of identity are most salient to them, instead of including every single “diverse” ancestor they can possibly think of. </p>
<p>In other words, as the process described above shows, Australians are already categorised by ethnicity and race by the state, albeit without direct public acknowledgement.</p>
<h2>So what’s the problem?</h2>
<p>So, what problem is this change trying to solve? Several, it seems.</p>
<p>One is that important national data sets, including for example, the National Notifiable Diseases database, don’t ask people their ethnicity or race.</p>
<p>Nor does this database employ other proxy indicators such as language/s spoken at home or elsewhere, or country of birth. </p>
<p>As sociologist <a href="https://andrewjakubowicz.com/2020/06/22/dark-data-hole-leaves-multicultural-australia-in-danger-in-second-wave-pandemic/">Andrew Jakubowicz</a> has argued, this omission leaves researchers unable to confirm their impression that recent migrants from South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, have been more susceptible to contracting COVID at work than other Australians.</p>
<p>So why not roll out the ABS’ existing methodology, which it already updates from time to time, across all government agencies and beyond? </p>
<p>Perhaps it is because Australians are less “legible” to the state and multicultural advocates than we used to be.</p>
<h2>Times have changed</h2>
<p>Australia’s multicultural system was created in the 1970s and 80s. Implicit within it was the assumption migrant minority groups would be few, discrete and distinct. Each would have a clear set of “representative” or advocacy associations and leaders for government to consult with. </p>
<p>Yet the volume and composition of migration flows has increased and diversified. The number of identity groups – ethnic, religious, cultural – has proliferated. </p>
<p>Layers of nested identities, and overlaps and intersections between categories, have also multiplied. Hybrid identities are common.</p>
<p>Australians are increasingly interacting and negotiating cultural differences without official intervention, assistance, or representation.</p>
<p>If a new generation of multicultural leaders can’t figure out how many of us are not white – because we might have been born in Australia or speak English at home, but our grandparents are Asian, for example – then how do they make claims on our behalf? How do they create constituencies out of us and compete for our loyalties?</p>
<p>If we have not arrived recently and do not require “settlement services” or visa assistance, are there other services or forms of advocacy we might need? </p>
<p>Are there new identity groups that could be built? For example “Asian Australian” – a loose category now under construction that might eventually hold Australia’s second and third generation East Asian “looking” migrants? </p>
<p>(Australians have trouble understanding South Asians as “Asians”).</p>
<p>Redesigning our approach to ethnicity data collection, however, will open up critical and complicated questions like:</p>
<ul>
<li>what is an ethnic group? </li>
<li>what is a culture? </li>
<li>what “races” should we group them into? </li>
<li>where are the boundaries between these concepts, and what identity labels belong in each of them? </li>
<li>where are the boundaries between one identity label and another? Should religious or political minorities like “Sikhs” or “Hong Kongers” be able to claim “ethnicity” status, or simply religious or no status at all? </li>
<li>should “Ahmadis” be grouped with “Muslims?” </li>
<li>which groups are European? Which are Asian? Which are white?</li>
<li>what benefits or disadvantages will flow from the answers to these questions? Who will adjudicate?</li>
</ul>
<p>Such questions have no fixed or universal answers because all the categories involved are fluid, dynamic, contested, and fundamentally political.</p>
<p>These are not questions of data science or demography, but of politics, ethics and context.</p>
<p>Universal schemes aimed at classifying populations by “race” or “ethnicity” can reinforce racial thinking and perpetuate racialising practices.</p>
<p>They can force us into a game of competing for better positions within a racial hierarchy, rather than creating broader solidarities that go beyond race. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/while-rich-countries-experience-a-post-covid-boom-the-poor-are-getting-poorer-heres-how-australia-can-help-160604">While rich countries experience a post-COVID boom, the poor are getting poorer. Here's how Australia can help</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amrita Malhi has received an Innovation Connections grant from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources to test the assumptions embedded within a tool designed for collecting data on ethnic and cultural diversity.</span></em></p>Universal schemes aimed at classifying populations by ‘race’ or ‘ethnicity’ can force us into a game of competing for better positions within a racial hierarchy.Amrita Malhi, Visiting Fellow, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1807052022-04-17T06:35:24Z2022-04-17T06:35:24ZAtheism in Kenya: why accurate numbers are hard to come by<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457445/original/file-20220411-14283-v7yxwh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pupils in a school in Nairobi, Kenya, pray before a meal.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The accuracy of statistics on religious affiliations in sub-Saharan Africa is questionable. This makes it difficult to assess religious trends. </p>
<p>The issue has come to the fore recently in Kenya with the release of statistics around religious affiliation. In particular, the fact that the census showed that <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2020-02-21-more-than-half-a-million-kenyans-dont-believe-in-god-census/">1.6% of Kenyans</a> identified themselves as atheists, agnostics or as following no religion in particular. In the parlance of the census, they were classified as ‘nones’.</p>
<p>But is this number accurate? I think it’s doubtful. There are two major reasons why.</p>
<p>The first is that religious statistics are highly politicised because they’re associated with ethnicity and politics. Across the continent, there has generally been a tendency by politicians to co-opt religious leadership for their campaigns. </p>
<p><a href="https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/africans-trust-religious-leaders-more-than-politicians-poll-says/12683">According to some surveys</a>, people generally trust religious leaders more than politicians. It, therefore, makes sense for politicians to enlist these leaders. </p>
<p>Anthropologists Yonatan N Gez, Nadia Beider and Helga Dickow point to a number of examples in their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00020397211052567">study</a> on this issue. In Chad, for instance, due to the protracted civil war between 1965 and 1979, the 2009 census was withheld due to implications for the demographic balance of Muslims and Christians. And in Nigeria, Muslim leaders threatened to boycott the national census if the category of ‘religion’ was included in the questionnaire. </p>
<p>The academics warn that these examples show that census reports in Africa should not be taken at face value when it comes to religious affiliation.</p>
<p>The second reason that the accuracy of statistics on religious affiliation is flawed has to do with the way census questionnaires are designed, particularly around the category of ‘nones’. The use of the category varies widely. In some countries, it is used to encapsulate a range of groups that are not affiliated with religion. In others, it’s left out completely. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00020397211052567">A study</a> of 105 census reports in Africa found that only 64 employed the category of ‘nones’. </p>
<p>These problems explain why census data could be showing a stable and very low percentage of African ‘nones’. This runs counter to the global trend of <a href="https://colinmathers.com/2020/09/30/global-trends-in-religiosity-and-atheism-1980-to-2020/">declining religiosity</a>.</p>
<p>The difficulties in correctly projecting ‘religious nones’ on the continent has further been highlighted by the three anthropologists in their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00020397211052567">study</a>. They say estimates of this category vary greatly, depending on the design of each piece of research. This includes the sampling methods used and how questions are framed. </p>
<p>For example, a 2012 Gallup poll pegged ‘religious nones’ in sub-Saharan Africa at 7%, the highest estimate. In the middle are the most extensive data sources on the topic, the Pew Research Center (2010) and Afrobarometer (2018). Both put ‘religious nones’ at 3.2%. At the bottom is the World Christian Encyclopedia’s estimate of just under 1%.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/atheist-group-in-kenya-tests-boundaries-of-religious-tolerance-59847">Atheist group in Kenya tests boundaries of religious tolerance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And now, the latest census figures (2019) suggest that 1.6% of Kenyans are ‘nones’. The ‘nones’ as measured in Kenya include a range of groups such as atheists, agnostics and humanists, pointing to a broad scope and lack of precision. The website of the <a href="https://atheistsinkenya.org/">Atheists in Kenya Society</a> also includes a range of groups with different orientations but united by non-belief. </p>
<h2>Trends in religious following</h2>
<p>Data shows a global decline in religiosity. A <a href="https://colinmathers.com/2020/09/30/global-trends-in-religiosity-and-atheism-1980-to-2020">comparative study</a> of 1980 to 2020 indicated the following global trends:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>‘practising religion’ group stayed below the 40% mark,</p></li>
<li><p>‘non-religious’ group fell from around 16% in 1980 to around 13% in 2020, </p></li>
<li><p>‘non-practising’ group rose from 24% in 1980 to almost 34% in 2020,</p></li>
<li><p>‘atheists’ pretty much stayed on course around 21% during the period. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of the ‘practising religion’ group remained at around 81-82% over this period. The ‘non-practising religion’ group stayed around 15%, while the trend for ‘atheists’ oscillated between 4% and close to 2%. </p>
<p>It is against this backdrop that the Kenyan census data stands out. </p>
<p>The difficulty with most surveys, including the state-run census, is that the questions are not clearly defined – or key factors that distinguish different cohorts are ignored, sometimes deliberately to skew the outcomes. The religion question is considered unambiguous and definitive. However, religious pluralism is <a href="https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02521822/document">commonplace</a> in much of sub-Saharan Africa. </p>
<h2>The morality question</h2>
<p>Religious affiliations are typically believed to influence individual behaviour. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/20/the-global-god-divide/">Global trends</a> reveal that in countries with a lower GDP, there is a higher likelihood of people associating belief in God with morality. Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are countries with lower GDP per capita and have shown greater affinity with belief in God to have good moral values. </p>
<p>In the West, younger populations tend to show less concern for belief in God in order to have good values. In Nigeria, and presumably in Kenya too, no such age difference is visible in claiming that belief in God is essential for having good values. </p>
<p>There seems to be a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/20/the-global-god-divide/">small difference</a> between how Protestants and Catholics fare in this equation. In Kenya, more Protestants than Catholics claim that God plays an important role. The sentiment is similar in South Africa, too – Protestants 98%, Catholics 97% and people from traditional religions 92%.</p>
<p>Given these statistics, atheists in Kenya have their work cut out in gaining larger support from society to freely co-exist. However, lumping them in the broader category of ‘nones’ makes them less visible as a distinct group. </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Atheists face an uphill struggle in Kenya.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://atheistsinkenya.org/about/">Atheists in Kenya Society</a> has battled state authorities over registration. Their application was initially declined in January 2016 before being approved the following month. In April of the same year, the country’s attorney general suspended the society’s registration. Two years later, after an appeal filed at Kenya’s high court, registration was reinstated. </p>
<p>The society, however, has a long way to go to convince the rest of Kenya to embrace a secular life. If Kenyan atheists want to <a href="https://religionnews.com/2022/02/07/after-moving-out-of-their-comfort-zone-atheists-in-kenya-gain-visibility/">lobby</a> for a secular mode of life and have <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/news/2001439105/atheists-ask-magoha-to-ban-mandatory-prayer-days-in-schools">prayers</a> removed from schools, then they need to convince the larger society as to why atheism matters in the country. They also need to address the underlying assumptions of freedom in a secular society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180705/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>P. Pratap Kumar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Statistics on religious affiliation in Africa are often questionable - partly because of religion’s link to ethnicity and politics.P. Pratap Kumar, Emeritus Professor, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, University of KwaZulu-NatalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1796122022-03-25T12:19:33Z2022-03-25T12:19:33Z2020 census miscounted Americans – 4 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453610/original/file-20220322-17-1ukv0eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C0%2C5157%2C3448&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Census takers went door to door in 2020, as in past years, seeking to make the count as accurate as possible.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/2020CensusDoorKnockers/0075ed39582247b5a577b989138e5fa7/photo">AP Photo/John Raoux</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>_The census conducted in the U.S. every 10 years is meant to count everyone. But it doesn’t actually count everyone.</p>
<p><em>After every census, the U.S. Census Bureau reports how well it did at counting every person in the country. In 2020, as in past years, the census <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-census-bureau-report-finds-racial-gap-in-2020-population-count">didn’t get a completely accurate count</a>, according to the bureau’s own reporting. The official census number reported more non-Hispanic whites and people of Asian backgrounds in the U.S. than there actually were. And it reported too few Blacks, Hispanics and <a href="https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/special-reports/2022/02/21/census-historically-undercounted-indigenous-population-wisconsin/6570741001">Native Americans</a> who live on reservations.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BHtyLUQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Aggie Yellow Horse</a>, a sociologist and demographer at Arizona State University, to explain why, and how, the census misses people, and how it’s possible to assess who wasn’t counted.</em>_</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person wearing a mask and a face shield writes on a clipboard while talking with a person in a car" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Census workers found their time and ability to connect with people limited by the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CensusMontanaHouseSeat/3c04be6e29914360bc2b1e2b11609eab/photo">AP Photo/Matthew Brown</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Who gets missed in the census?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2019/demo/2020-brief.html">people most commonly missed</a> are those with low income, people who rent or don’t have homes at all, people who live in rural areas and people who don’t speak or read English well. Often, these are people of color – Black Americans; Indigenous peoples; or people of Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander backgrounds.</p>
<p>Because of their living situations, these people can be hard for census takers to track down in the first place. And they may be more reluctant to participate because of concerns <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/plan/final-analysis/2020-report-cbams-study-survey.html">about confidentiality, fear of repercussions and distrust of government</a>.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the U.S. Census Bureau tries to count everyone, aiming <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/02/census-bureau-reaches-native-hawaiians-and-pacific-islanders-through-music.html">targeted public relations campaigns</a> at specific communities to encourage members to participate. In addition, Census Bureau employees knock on doors in person across the country, trying to <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-census-nonresponse-followup-completion-rates.html">follow up with those who did not respond to mailings, announcements and events</a>. </p>
<p>However, the pandemic made that process more difficult for the 2020 census, both by making people uncomfortable with in-person visits and by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/census-supreme-court-ruling.html">shortening the timeline for collecting the data</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Who got missed?</h2>
<p>The official estimates show that the 2020 census was really very accurate, capturing 99.8% of the nation’s residents overall. But the census <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/2020-census-estimates-of-undercount-and-overcount.html">missed counting</a> 3.3% of Black Americans, 5.6% of American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations and 5% of people of Hispanic or Latino origin. This could mean missing about 1.4 million Black Americans; 49,000 American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations; and 3.3 million people of Hispanic or Latino origin.</p>
<p>This performance is much worse than in the previous two censuses, when smaller proportions of those populations were missed.</p>
<p>The 2020 census also counted 1.64% more non-Hispanic whites than there actually are in the country. For example, college students could have been counted twice – at their college residence and at their parents’ home.</p>
<p><iframe id="Gz3oo" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Gz3oo/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>3. How can they count the people who were missed?</h2>
<p>It can be puzzling to understand how the Census Bureau can know how many people it missed. Efforts for measuring census accuracy <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/04/02/sample-surveys-and-the-1940-census/">started in 1940</a>. Census officials use two methods.</p>
<p>First, the Census Bureau uses <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/coverage-measurement/da.html">demographic analysis</a> to create an estimate of the population. That means the bureau calculates how many people might be added to the population counts, through birth registrations and immigration records, and how many people might be removed from them, through death record or emigration reports. Comparing that estimate with the actual count can reveal an <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/demo/popest/2020-demographic-analysis-tables.html">overall scale</a> of how many people the census missed.</p>
<p>As a second measure, the Census Bureau runs what it calls a “<a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2021/post-enumeration-survey.html">post-enumeration survey</a>,” taken after the initial census data is collected. The survey is conducted independent of the census and <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/plan/memo-series/2020-memo-2022_06.html">randomly sent to a small group of households</a> from census blocks in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The results of that survey are compared with the census results for those households and can reveal how many people were missed, or if some people were counted twice or counted in the wrong place.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man gestures at a screen showing two maps of political districts in South Carolina" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Population figures formally reported by the Census Bureau for the purposes of reapportionment cannot be corrected, according to a 1999 Supreme Court ruling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Redistricting-SouthCarolina/3a5b086838a441f396539a20a71ec024/photo">AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Can the Census Bureau fix its data?</h2>
<p>The Census Bureau has determined that its 2020 data is not accurate and has measured the amount of that inaccuracy. But in 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/525/326">the bureau cannot adjust the numbers</a> it sent to Congress and the states for the purpose of allocating seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and, therefore, Electoral College votes. That’s because federal law <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/13/141">bars the use of statistical sampling</a> in apportionment decisions and requires those changes to be made only on the basis of how many people were actually counted. That means political representation in Congress may not accurately reflect the constituencies the representatives serve.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/525/326">the numbers can be adjusted when used to divide up federal funding</a> for <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/01/1069610946/2020-census-correction-challenge-results-count-question-resolution">essential services in communities</a> around the nation. More than <a href="https://www.census.gov/about/what.html">US$675 billion a year is provided to tribal, state and local governments</a> proportionally according to their population numbers.</p>
<p>However, that adjustment happens only if tribal, state or local officials ask for it. The Census Bureau’s <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2021/2020-census-count-question-resolution.html">Count Question Resolution program</a> can correct 2020 census data until June 2023. After the 2010 census, the program received requests from 1,180 governments, of out about 39,000 nationwide. As a result, <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42092.pdf">about 2,700 people were newly added</a> to the census count, and about <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/01/1069610946/2020-census-correction-challenge-results-count-question-resolution">48,000 household addresses were corrected</a>.</p>
<p>This approach can lessen the harm done to communities where the census count missed people. But it doesn’t prevent the Census Bureau from missing them – or others – in the next census.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aggie Yellow Horse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the Census Bureau’s count of the population is inaccurate, it affects representation and government spending. Correcting errors isn’t always allowed.Aggie Yellow Horse, Assistant Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777812022-03-08T14:49:18Z2022-03-08T14:49:18ZNigeria’s 2022 census is overdue but preparation is in doubt<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449550/original/file-20220302-15-e96v70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigeria last conducted a census in 2006.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/year-old-anthony-odili-gives-his-finger-print-after-census-news-photo/57144951?adppopup=true">Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>As Nigeria’s <a href="https://nationalpopulation.gov.ng/">National Population Commission</a> prepares for a national census scheduled <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/01/npc-ready-to-conduct-first-digital-population-census-in-nigeria-npc-boss/">for May 2022</a> – the first since 2006 – The Conversation Africa’s Wale Fatade asked demographer and social statistician Akanni Akinyemi what a census entails and how ready the country is for the exercise.</em> </p>
<h2>What is a census and why is it important for a country?</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=2082#:%7E:text=A%20population%20census%20is%20the,delimited%20part%20of%20a%20country.">population census</a> is the process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analysing, publishing and disseminating demographic characteristics of a country at a specified time.</p>
<p>It is best conducted every 10 years to reflect the population dynamics. It should be able to show changes in fertility, mortality, migration and the labour force. The socioeconomic situation must be captured and it should give the age and sex structure of the population. </p>
<p>Census data should provide reliable information on the population size at national, sub-national and lower administrative levels. </p>
<p>This is critical information for planning social, economic and infrastructural development, budgeting and monitoring government performance. </p>
<p>A major strength of a population census is the ability to provide information at the lower administrative levels. For instance, health indicators are best monitored at these levels. Interventions during outbreaks of disease require reliable estimates of local populations. </p>
<p>Census information is also the bedrock of other surveys. The <a href="https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR359/FR359.pdf">Demographic and Health Surveys</a>, <a href="http://ghdx.healthdata.org/record/nigeria-performance-monitoring-and-accountability-2020-survey-round-4-2017">Performance Monitoring for Action</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/sites/unicef.org.nigeria/files/2018-09/Nigeria-MICS-2016-17.pdf">Multiple Indicator Cluster surveys</a>, <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/methodology/survey/survey-display-576.cfm">Malaria Indicator Surveys</a> and many others derive their sampling from the census. </p>
<h2>How is a census normally conducted?</h2>
<p>There are three parts: pre-census planning, census, and post-enumeration surveys. Before the census, the public is made aware, geographical enumeration areas are demarcated and maps are procured. The logistics of conducting a census in Nigeria are enormous. The census activities can only begin after the presidential assent and a dedicated budget line. The 2022 budget <a href="https://www.dataphyte.com/latest-reports/governance/nigeria-gears-for-2022-population-and-housing-census-approves-n177-billion-budget/">approved</a> N177.33 billion (about US$425 million) for this year’s census. </p>
<p>Ideally, a census questionnaire and method is developed and validated. Census questionnaires do change from time to time. For example, the 2006 census collected information on age, sex, occupation, literacy and employment. It also asked about housing, access to water, electricity and other household amenities. It did not collect information on fertility, mortality, migration and disability. Nothing was asked about religion and ethnicity. </p>
<p>The post-enumeration survey is a critical aspect of quality assurance and control. However, there are other issues around the political and legal framework as provided in the constitution. This is to ensure its acceptability, eventual publication and official gazette. The figures then become official. </p>
<h2>How did Nigeria conduct its past censuses?</h2>
<p>The census has always been <a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerias-census-has-always-been-tricky-why-this-must-change-150391">problematic in Nigeria</a>. The 1962, 1963 and 1973 censuses were <a href="https://nationalpopulation.gov.ng/about-us/history-of-population-censuses-in-nigeria/">bedevilled with controversies</a>. They were mostly about deliberate manipulation of census figures at sub-national levels. The 1973 census <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/17/archives/nigerian-census-figures-stir-a-dispute-along-ethnic-lines.html">provoked debate</a> along ethnic lines. In 2006, the Lagos State government <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/nigeria-lagos-idUKL0674057420070206">rejected the figures</a> and ran a <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2007/02/population-nigeria-we-want-recount/">parallel</a> census. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.prb.org/resources/objections-surface-over-nigerian-census-results/">2006 census</a> was the last one, so Nigeria is overdue for another. The political interference was enormous and hampered the scientific processes. Important information was not collected on fertility, mortality, migration and disability. </p>
<p>In 2006 there was too much political interest in the composition of the population commission board, with 38 members. These people are not professionals in population or statistics but appointed mostly for political reasons. This put a lot of stress on the census activities. The 2006 census was unable to fulfil one of its critical mandates: providing data below local government levels.</p>
<p>Comparing the 2006 Nigeria census with other African countries like <a href="https://www.iaos-isi.org/images/IAOS2017-19/2016Conference/P1B/Awatif_Musa_paper.pdf">Sudan’s 2008 census</a> shows that political challenges should not be an impediment. The planning, conduct, analysis and quality assurance was adequate.</p>
<h2>Census figures are usually disputed in Nigeria. Why, and what should be done?</h2>
<p>The way resources are shared in Nigeria’s political system puts unnecessary pressure on the census. It encourages competitive manoeuvring and manipulative tendencies at all levels. The 2006 post-enumeration survey was poorly planned and poorly implemented. Census data were not released to researchers for further analysis and scrutiny. This makes it difficult to use the 2006 census as a basis for the 2022 one. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://nationalpopulation.gov.ng/">census coordinating commission</a> is responsible for quality and credibility of the process at all stages. Unfortunately, the composition of the commission’s hierarchy is more about political gains than scientific merit. Ideally, an efficient statistical system should ensure there are other credible sources of data to validate or complement census data. However, there is a lack of commitment to ensuring the quality of other sources of data. </p>
<p>The commission should have a technical working group of experts sourced from professional demographers in academia and industry. </p>
<p>Processing and publishing of census information should adhere strictly to a timeline. The timely release of census data for research and academic purposes should be guaranteed. </p>
<h2>How ready is Nigeria for the census this year?</h2>
<p>The national census is a colossal, expensive and labour-intensive statistical operation that requires extensive planning. The success of a census depends on several factors. These include technical expertise, independence from political interference, excellent geo-referenced maps, huge human and financial resources and good timing. </p>
<p>Although some of the pre-census activities like the enumeration area demarcation have been well implemented, it is unrealistic to assume that everything will be ready. Recruitment and payment of staff were critical issues in the 2006 census. </p>
<p>Year 2023 is an election year with many political activities and this might affect the census slated for 2022. Nigeria’s security challenges and the economy are factors to be considered too. Then there’s the unpredictable dimension of COVID-19. </p>
<p>The level of public and professional awareness of the census is also very low. The Population Commission’s <a href="https://nationalpopulation.gov.ng/">website</a> has no information on milestones and preparedness. Census is a huge scientific responsibility that requires a high level of preparedness, transparency and quality assurance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Akanni Ibukun Akinyemi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Census is a huge scientific responsibility that requires a high level of preparedness, transparency and quality assurance.Akanni Ibukun Akinyemi, Professor, Obafemi Awolowo UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1762972022-02-04T09:18:41Z2022-02-04T09:18:41ZSouth Africa undertakes its most important census since the end of apartheid<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444345/original/file-20220203-17-uirxhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Deputy Minister in the Presidency Thembi Siweya, left, visits homeless people at Johannnesburg's Park Station on 'Census Night', 2 February. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Statistics South Africa has embarked on its once-a-decade process to count all people in the country - including non-citizens. <a href="http://census.statssa.gov.za/">Census 2022</a> is arguably the most important in the country since the first post-apartheid census <a href="https://apps.statssa.gov.za/census01/Census96/HTML/default.htm">in 1996</a></p>
<p>That census was the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994 that all South Africans were counted. Under apartheid, fictitious “homelands” excluded millions of people from the count. Excluding them allowed the apartheid government to deny their rights, and responsibility for meeting their needs - by not counting them, the apartheid government ensured that they did not count, for anything.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/homelands">Homelands or Bantustans</a> were ten mainly rural, underdeveloped areas where black South Africans were required to live and have nominal “self-rule” and “independence”, along ethnic group lines, separate from whites. They had their own censuses.</p>
<p>The 1996 census was a vital tool to inform every government department, economic entity, and every citizen, about the state of the nation, the depth of need, and the location of needs to be met. While it is a legal obligation for everyone to complete a census form, the 1996 census saw a real willingness to participate and to get counted – from a newly liberated population, still basking in the post-apartheid moment. </p>
<p>Fast-forward past the last census of <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P03014/P030142011.pdf">2011</a> to the present. In the period since then, the country has witnessed <a href="https://pari.org.za/betrayal-promise-report/">state capture</a>, a former president (briefly) <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57797007">in prison</a>, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africans-are-revolting-against-inept-local-government-why-it-matters-155483">collapse in the provision of basic services</a> such as water, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-lies-behind-social-unrest-in-south-africa-and-what-might-be-done-about-it-166130">rising violence</a> and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/9/4/south-africa-migrant-attacks-why-cant-we-live-with-peace">hostility to “foreigners”</a>. </p>
<p>The country also has appalling rates of <a href="https://theconversation.com/change-what-south-african-men-think-of-women-to-combat-their-violent-behaviour-167921">gender-based violence</a>, and is reeling from a global pandemic coming on top of the disease burden already afflicting South Africans. COVID-19 <a href="https://sacoronavirus.co.za/">took many lives</a> and <a href="https://cramsurvey.org/reports/">wrecked many more livelihoods</a>. After two years of pandemic, lockdowns and curfews, accompanied by and amplifying cynicism about the <a href="https://www.ijr.org.za/2022/01/27/south-africans-losing-faith-in-public-institutions-representatives-study/">institutions of government and political parties</a>, South Africa is in a bad space. </p>
<p>The recent local elections saw the <a href="https://results.elections.org.za/home/LGEPublicReports/1091/Voter%20Turnout/National.pdf">lowest ever turnout</a>, with only the Northern Cape province seeing over half its voters actually cast a ballot. Stories of massive corruption in <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-11-17-blooming-impunity-update-on-ppe-irregular-expenditure-and-graft/">procuring personal protective equipment</a> and unnecessary “deep cleaning” of public buildings cemented the view of both politicians and public servants as self-interested to the point of lacking all empathy for citizens. </p>
<p>With frequent power cuts further sapping the will, South Africans have reached a remarkably low point when it comes to faith in government or politics.</p>
<h2>Census and accountability</h2>
<p>In this context, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) launched Census 2022, and has asked all people in the country to <a href="http://census.statssa.gov.za/">“get counted”</a>. Cynicism about politicians and public officials should not blind South Africans to the power of data, and the pooled facts of all the lives being lived in South Africa right now, and the story they will tell of the past decade. </p>
<p>The census is a tool for accountability: it is the ultimate judgement on how all governments have performed, from cities to provinces to national, and thus also on all parties involved in governance. The census will be a reckoning for what has gone before, as well as critical for all planning in society going forward. </p>
<p>The census will inform economics, social policy, health care and investment. It is a tool to understand what has happened to South Africans in the last 11 years since Census 2011, and a critical planning tool as we look to the future.</p>
<p>This is not the time to withhold participation, as people did in the recent elections: this is time to make sure we get counted, so that all are given a deeply accurate portrait of life in South Africa today. The picture may or may not be pretty: but it will be powerful, and inescapable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444341/original/file-20220203-27-t0p900.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444341/original/file-20220203-27-t0p900.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444341/original/file-20220203-27-t0p900.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444341/original/file-20220203-27-t0p900.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444341/original/file-20220203-27-t0p900.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444341/original/file-20220203-27-t0p900.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444341/original/file-20220203-27-t0p900.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Data to be collected across multiple domains during Census 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stats SA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the challenges of the last few years – which included repeated funding cuts as well as <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/economy/2020-02-18-stats-sas-council-set-to-quit-over-funding-crisis/">the impact of the pandemic</a> - Stats SA has moved relentlessly to prepare for the census. </p>
<p>To deal with both a reluctance to participate and the effect of COVID-19, everyone can choose how to complete the census – online, on a phone, or in person. Stats SA has done what it can to make it comfortable for everyone to participate.</p>
<h2>Every count matters</h2>
<p>The cynicism about government and politics is warranted – as the <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/judicial-commission-enquiry-state-capture-report-part-1-4-jan-2022-0000">reports of the Zondo Commission</a> into state capture are making clear. </p>
<p>But Stats SA is not a government department – it forms part of the state machinery, just as the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng-09.pdf">Chapter 9 institutions</a>, which protect the country’s democracy, do. State capture did not extend to Stats SA, which is an autonomous entity, led by an entirely independent Statistician-General, advised by an independent Statistics Council.</p>
<p>It is staunchly independent of outside influence, be it from government, political parties or others. Census 2022 will be the most defining judgement of how government has managed South Africa since 2011. Stats SA is the custodian of the data, protected by law – not government.</p>
<p>The census will count everyone in South Africa. This includes citizens, visitors and migrants, people living without shelter, in institutions, and so on. Counting undocumented migrants will provide a better idea of how many “foreigners” are actually in South Africa, rather than relying on speculation and political rhetoric.</p>
<p>The census will focus everyone on the core challenges the country faces, where they are, and who is most affected. </p>
<p>By <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=783">law</a>, the raw data cannot be shared with other government departments (or anyone else), as directed by the National Statistics Act. Stats SA protects the data, processes and analyses it, and and shares results in a way that no individual can possibly be identified or located. </p>
<p>All people should “get counted” so that their voices are heard, their needs identified, and South Africa can plan for a better future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176297/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Everatt is Chair of the South African Statistics Council.</span></em></p>The census will focus everyone in on the core challenges the country faces, where they are, and who is most affected.David Everatt, Professor of Urban Governance, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1728502021-12-01T13:36:14Z2021-12-01T13:36:14ZHow the US census led to the first data processing company 125 years ago – and kick-started America’s computing industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434761/original/file-20211130-27-1uk0tsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C2394%2C2307&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This electromechanical machine, used in the 1890 U.S. census, was the first automated data processing system.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/6414584">Niall Kennedy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. Constitution requires that a population count be conducted at the beginning of every decade. </p>
<p>This census has always been charged with political significance, and continues to be. That’s clear from <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/census-challenges/index.html">the controversies in the run-up to the 2020 census</a>. </p>
<p>But it’s less widely known how important the census has been in developing the U.S. computer industry, a story that I tell in my book, “<a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/republic-numbers">Republic of Numbers: Unexpected Stories of Mathematical Americans through History</a>.” That history includes the founding of the first automated data processing company, the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/herman-holleriths-tabulating-machine-2504989/">Tabulating Machine Company</a>, 125 years ago on December 3, 1896.</p>
<h2>Population growth</h2>
<p>The only use of the census clearly specified in the Constitution is to allocate seats in the House of Representatives. More populous states get more seats. </p>
<p>A minimalist interpretation of the census mission would require reporting only the overall population of each state. But the census has never confined itself to this.</p>
<p>A complicating factor emerged right at the beginning, with the Constitution’s distinction between “free persons” and “<a href="http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=163">three-fifths of all other persons</a>.” This was the Founding Fathers’ infamous mealy-mouthed compromise between those states with a large number of enslaved persons and those states where relatively few lived. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/index_of_questions/1790_1.html">The first census</a>, in 1790, also made nonconstitutionally mandated distinctions by age and sex. In subsequent decades, many other personal attributes were probed as well: occupational status, marital status, educational status, place of birth and so on.</p>
<p>As the country grew, each census required greater effort than the last, not merely to collect the data but also to compile it into usable form. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24987147?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">The processing of the 1880 census</a> was not completed until 1888. </p>
<p>It had become a mind-numbingly boring, error-prone, clerical exercise of a magnitude rarely seen. </p>
<p>Since the population was evidently continuing to grow at a rapid pace, those with sufficient imagination could foresee that processing the 1890 census would be gruesome indeed without some change in procedure. </p>
<p><iframe id="1Onyi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/1Onyi/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A new invention</h2>
<p>John Shaw Billings, a physician assigned to assist the Census Office with compiling health statistics, had closely observed the immense tabulation efforts required to deal with the raw data of 1880. He expressed his concerns to a young mechanical engineer assisting with the census, Herman Hollerith, a recent graduate of the Columbia School of Mines. </p>
<p>On Sept. 23, 1884, the U.S. Patent Office recorded a submission from the 24-year-old Hollerith, titled “<a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=00395782&IDKey=73D9506C5930%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D0395782.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F0395782%2526RS%3DPN%2F0395782">Art of Compiling Statistics</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="an old black and white photograph showing a man seated at a wooden desk-like machine looking at a bank of indicator dials" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434755/original/file-20211130-19-16o80z7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Hollerith electric tabulating machine in use in 1902.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.census.gov/history/img/1902_Hollerith_electric_tabulating_machine.jpg">United States Census Bureau</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By progressively improving the ideas of this initial submission, Hollerith would decisively win an 1889 competition to improve the processing of the 1890 census. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.census.gov/history/www/innovations/technology/the_hollerith_tabulator.html">technological solutions</a> devised by Hollerith involved a suite of mechanical and electrical devices. The first crucial innovation was to translate data on handwritten census tally sheets to patterns of holes punched in cards. As Hollerith phrased it, in the 1889 revision of his patent application,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“A hole is thus punched corresponding to person, then a hole according as person is a male or female, another recording whether native or foreign born, another either white or colored, &c.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This process required developing special machinery to ensure that holes could be punched with accuracy and efficiency. </p>
<p>Hollerith then devised a machine to “read” the card, by probing the card with pins, so that only where there was a hole would the pin pass through the card to make an electrical connection, resulting in advance of the appropriate counter. </p>
<p>For example, if a card for a white male farmer passed through the machine, a counter for each of these categories would be increased by one. The card was made sturdy enough to allow passage through the card reading machine multiple times, for counting different categories or checking results.</p>
<p>The count proceeded so rapidly that the <a href="https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=MGZqAAAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA1">state-by-state numbers needed for congressional apportionment</a> were certified before the end of November 1890. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292233/original/file-20190912-190021-1a7j7d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This ‘mechanical punch card sorter’ was used for the 1950 census.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.census.gov/library/photos/machinists_technicians_5.html">U.S. Census Bureau</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rise of the punched card</h2>
<p>After his census success, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/computer-a-history-of-the-information-machine/oclc/1110437971?referer=br&ht=edition">Hollerith went into business selling this technology</a>. The company he founded, the Tabulating Machine Company, would, after he retired, become International Business Machines - IBM. IBM led the way in perfecting card technology for recording and tabulating large sets of data for a variety of purposes. </p>
<p>By the 1930s, many businesses were using cards for record-keeping procedures, such as payroll and inventory. Some data-intensive scientists, especially astronomers, were also finding the cards convenient. IBM had by then standardized an 80-column card and had developed keypunch machines that would change little for decades. </p>
<p>Card processing became one leg of the mighty computer industry that blossomed after World War II, and IBM for a time would be the third-largest corporation in the world. Card processing served as a scaffolding for vastly more rapid and space-efficient purely electronic computers that now dominate, with little evidence remaining of the old regime. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1676&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292229/original/file-20190912-190061-1af81fk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1676&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A blue IBM punch card.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue-punch-card-front.png">Gwern/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those who have grown up knowing computers only as easily portable devices, to be communicated with by the touch of a finger or even by voice, may be unfamiliar with the room-size computers of the 1950s and ’60s, where the primary means of loading data and instructions was by creating a deck of cards at a keypunch machine, and then feeding that deck into a card reader. This persisted as the default procedure for many computers well into the 1980s. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/grace-hopper-navy-admiral-and-computer-pioneer/oclc/19516564&referer=brief_results">As computer pioneer Grace Murray Hopper recalled</a> about her early career, “Back in those days, everybody was using punched cards, and they thought they’d use punched cards forever.”</p>
<p>Hopper had been an important member of the team that created the first commercially viable general-purpose computer, the Universal Automatic Computer, or UNIVAC, one of the card-reading behemoths. Appropriately enough, the first UNIVAC delivered, in 1951, was to the U.S. Census Bureau, still hungry to improve its data processing capabilities.</p>
<p>No, computer users would not use punched cards forever, but they used them through the Apollo Moon-landing program and the height of the Cold War. Hollerith would likely have recognized the direct descendants of his 1890s census machinery almost 100 years later. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on October 15, 2019.</em></p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lindsay Roberts does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the country grew, each census required greater effort than the last. That problem led to the invention of the punched card – and the birth of an industry.David Lindsay Roberts, Adjunct Professor of Mathematics, Prince George's Community CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1658002021-08-10T01:44:35Z2021-08-10T01:44:35ZLGBTIQ+ people are being ignored in the census again. Not only is this discriminatory, it’s bad public policy<p>“Do you know how many LGBTIQ+ folks live in Australia? It turns out no one does, and we’re not about to find out in the upcoming census.” </p>
<p>Courtney Act, an Australian drag queen and television personality, <a href="https://m.facebook.com/EqualityAustralia/videos/187949036711096/?refsrc=deprecated&locale2=ne_NP&_rdr">made this point</a> on Facebook last week as part of Equality Australia’s push to have LGBTIQ+ people counted in the census. </p>
<p>Once again, the census is failing to accurately collect data on sex, sexual orientation and gender diversity.</p>
<p>The census ticks around every five years to provide a snapshot of who we are and how we are changing. It is not just about collecting statistics about where we live, who we live with, our work, lives, income and health, but it also provides crucial insights to inform the vital services that Australians need. </p>
<p>We cannot effectively support all of Australia if we do not count all of Australia (and it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-count-lgbti-communities-in-the-next-census-heres-why-124769">not the first time we’ve argued this too</a>). </p>
<p>Currently, we do not understand how many people identify as LGBTIQ+, where they are, or anything about their socioeconomic status, health, relationships and more. </p>
<p>It is a matter of serious concern, particularly given LGBTIQ+ folk often face <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/lgbtihealth/pages/549/attachments/original/1620871703/2021_Snapshot_of_Mental_Health2.pdf?1620871703">higher suicide and mental health concerns</a> and worrying rates of <a href="https://www.dvrcv.org.au/sites/default/files/Family-violence-in-an-LGBTIQ-context-Kate-OHalloran.pdf">domestic violence</a>. LGBTIQ+ people also have unique needs when it comes to the provision of services, from health to housing and beyond. </p>
<p>As Amnesty International <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.au/lgbtqia-australians-have-been-left-out-of-the-2021-census/">notes</a>, the census’s lack of appropriate questions capturing LGBTIQ+ communities and experiences “will result in a service gap that constitutes discrimination of the LGBTQIA+ community”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1422747933343113220"}"></div></p>
<h2>So, what was supposed to be asked?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/0d17ec78-cb05-40e1-81bf-990299e32d4d/upload_pdf/OPD%20219%20gender.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22senate%20orders%22">a submission to the Senate in 2019</a>, questions around sexuality and gender identity were proposed for inclusion in the 2021 census. These were developed in consultation with LGBTIQ+ communities, and can generally be seen as best practice. </p>
<p>Then the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) walked away from them. Why?</p>
<p>The ABS voted against these new questions due to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/03/abs-said-census-questions-on-gender-and-sexual-orientation-risked-public-backlash">perceived public backlash</a> - particularly after some of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-09/abs-website-inaccessible-on-census-night/7711652">technical difficulties of the 2016 #censusfail</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1424545411394523136"}"></div></p>
<p>The decision came after assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar <a href="https://qnews.com.au/minister-under-fire-after-lgbtiq-census-questions-dropped/">expressed “a preference”</a> about not including the questions in testing, David Kalisch, the former Australian statistician, said in 2019. </p>
<p>This is despite the fact that in qualitative testing of census questions, those on gender and sexuality “<a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/0d17ec78-cb05-40e1-81bf-990299e32d4d/upload_pdf/OPD%20219%20gender.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22senate%20orders%22">performed well</a>” with both target and non-target populations. These draft questions were also recommended by multiple federal departments. </p>
<p>And, in 2019 Senate submission documents, the ABS itself noted there are “no other suitable alternative data sources” to collect such crucial information. It also identified data on LGBTIQ+ communities as “<a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/0d17ec78-cb05-40e1-81bf-990299e32d4d/upload_pdf/OPD%20219%20gender.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22senate%20orders%22">of current national importance</a>”.</p>
<p>It’s also despite the fact that the majority of Australians voted for marriage equality, and Australia has generally taken more progressive steps towards gender and sexuality inclusion in the last few years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/census-2021-is-almost-here-whats-changed-since-censusfail-whats-at-stake-in-this-pandemic-survey-164784">Census 2021 is almost here — what's changed since #censusfail? What's at stake in this pandemic survey?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s being asked instead?</h2>
<p>Nothing in this year’s census asks specifically about sexuality. The question on gender identity and sex has also conflates the concepts — <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-difference-between-sex-and-gender-and-why-both-matter-in-health-research-162746#:%7E:text=The%20term%20sex%20is%20generally,men%20and%20gender%2Ddiverse%20people.">despite international efforts to address the issue</a>.</p>
<p>Although some of the questions on cohabitation and families make it possible to garner some data on people in same-sex relationships, only those who are couples and who live together are counted. </p>
<p>The question about sex/gender limits choices to male/female/non-binary sex. It obscures data on transgender and intersex folk and does not recognise differences in gender identity (how a person sees themselves or the social/cultural aspects of identity) and sex (a person’s anatomy or biological sex characteristics). </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1421017995686473729"}"></div></p>
<p>Further, question 37 erases the experience of some trans people entirely. It asks, “for each female, how many babies has she ever given birth to?”. This blatantly ignores the fact that many transmen (often those who have transitioned from female to male) <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/social/medicare-figures-show-dozens-of-australian-men-are-now-giving-birth-every-year-c-389349">can and have given birth</a>.</p>
<p>While the census has included questions around other identity categories, including race, ethnic ancestry, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people living with a disability, LGBTIQ+ remains overlooked — and without good reason.</p>
<h2>How does Australia compare globally?</h2>
<p>There’s a major gap globally in the inclusion of these data on national census questionnaires.</p>
<p>Much was made of the hasty withdrawal of questions relating to gender and sexuality in the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-americans-won-t-be-counted-2020-u-s-census-n739911">2020 US census</a>, a move that was highly scrutinised in the political pressure cooker of the Trump administration. </p>
<p>In a country where federal marriage equality was achieved in 2015, millions of LGBTIQ+ Americans will now have to wait until 2030 (at least) to contribute their experiences to the US census. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"847185547403689984"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/18/census-to-ask-about-sexual-orientation-for-the-first-time">In the UK</a>, voluntary questions on sexual orientation and gender identity will be asked this year in England and Wales, and in Scotland in 2022. </p>
<p>Yet, in general, a <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/dbbb7a05-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/dbbb7a05-en">2019 report</a> noted only a few nationally representative surveys contained questions on LGBTIQ+ identity in the OECD, and none (at that stage) included them in the census. </p>
<h2>Why the census has failed us</h2>
<p>Determining whom and what is counted has always been part of census history — a history that has not always been neutral or fair. In fact, the census has often ignored or marginalised various communities for socio-political reasons. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/earlycensus/history">while population counts began with colonisation around 1788</a> and the first census (as we know it, of people in dwellings) occurred in 1828, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/E31B62F372FC7BCECA2581320029DC01#:%7E:text=On%20Saturday%2027%20May%2C%20Australia,beginning%20with%20the%201971%20Census.">only fully included in the census in 1971</a>, almost two centuries later.</p>
<p>Longstanding structural racism and discrimination help explain the census’s historic incomplete data collection on First Nations people. Does the same hold true for the modern census’s approach to LGBTIQ+ communities? </p>
<p>Perhaps. Given there was strong evidence, arguments and testing around new questions on gender and sexuality in the census, it seems the ABS’s willful ignorance towards LGBTIQ+ people can only be justified by political conservatism and discrimination. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-talk-about-gay-reparations-and-how-they-can-rectify-past-persecutions-of-lgbtq-people-162086">It's time to talk about gay reparations and how they can rectify past persecutions of LGBTQ people</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Although LGBTIQ+ people have more reason than most to be wary of the quantitative collection of sensitive data, it still desperately needs to be collected. </p>
<p>Inclusion of targeted questions on gender and sexuality also requires greater assurances around data integrity — a particular concern of older members of the LGBTIQ+ community who lived through the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/pride/agenda/article/2016/08/12/definitive-timeline-lgbt-rights-australia">criminalisation of homosexuality</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/witch-hunts-and-surveillance-the-hidden-lives-of-queer-people-in-the-military-76156">lesbian witch hunts, surveillance</a> and <a href="https://qnews.com.au/australian-lgbtiq-history-timeline-the-20th-century/">other related trauma</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, not only is the lack of recognition <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/it-s-time-we-counted-census-makes-lgbtiq-people-invisible-20210805-p58fzx.html">distressing for many LGBTIQ+ people, it is also bad public policy</a>. Australia needs reliable, informed data on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. Without it, the census is too risk-averse to even be accurate. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This story has been updated to correct that the next US census is in 2030, not 2025.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165800/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite the ABS itself saying that collecting data on LGBTIQ+ communities is of ‘national importance’, these questions have been left off the census again — for no good reason.Elise Stephenson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith UniversityJack Hayes, Researcher, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1647842021-07-27T19:55:10Z2021-07-27T19:55:10ZCensus 2021 is almost here — what’s changed since #censusfail? What’s at stake in this pandemic survey?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413072/original/file-20210726-23-1ftg1zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Crosling/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian households will begin receiving instructions on how to fill out the 2021 census from early August. </p>
<p>The Census of Population and Housing is held every five years in Australia — and counts every person and household in Australia. But this is the <a href="https://www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/statistics/statistics-population-and-census-reports">first time</a> the count will be held during a global pandemic amid <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-22/covid-19-lockdown-acts-of-kindness/100307768">lockdowns</a> and rising health and economic impacts of COVID-19.</p>
<p>Census data are crucial to what we know <a href="https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument">about Australia</a>: who lives here, and how and where people live. Data from census informs vital services and infrastructure including, education, healthcare, transport, and welfare.</p>
<h2>Census 2021</h2>
<p>August 10 is the official census date, but things will be done a little differently in 2021. This year, Australia’s <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/household-and-family-projections-australia/latest-release#what-if-">10 million households</a> will receive census login information or hard copy forms in the mail from next week.</p>
<p>The Australian Bureau of Statistics is encouraging people to complete the census as soon as they receive their instructions, if they know where they’ll be on August 10. In previous years you had to fill in your form on census night.</p>
<h2>The 2016 ‘fail’</h2>
<p>Australia’s last census was associated with great controversy stemming from the “<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyReleaseDate/EC8D47BE72A97E7ECA257E9A00131583?OpenDocument">digital-first</a>” strategy (where the majority of Australians would do the census online for the first time) and bureau plans to <a href="https://theconversation.com/census-2016-should-you-be-concerned-about-your-privacy-63206">keep names and addresses</a> for up to four years, to boost anonymous links with other data.</p>
<p>This was accompanied by federal politicians saying they would <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-09/scott-ludlam-wont-put-name-on-census-form/7703380">refuse</a> to put their names on the census, citing privacy concerns, and a campaign <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/drawing-a-dck-on-the-census-doesnt-make-you-cool-it-makes-you-a-dck/news-story/5bf4b008437a07ab152144e1e7c69386">to deface</a> census forms.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A screen shot of a blocked census form in 2016." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413087/original/file-20210726-17-e2nf3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413087/original/file-20210726-17-e2nf3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413087/original/file-20210726-17-e2nf3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413087/original/file-20210726-17-e2nf3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413087/original/file-20210726-17-e2nf3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413087/original/file-20210726-17-e2nf3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413087/original/file-20210726-17-e2nf3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The #censusfail in 2016 was a huge embarrassment for the federal government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joel Carrett/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then came #censusfail. </p>
<p>Distributed denial of service attacks on census night saw the online questionnaire platform shut down and remain offline for nearly <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/a41f4f25-a08e-49a7-9b5f-d2c8af94f5c5/upload_pdf/Review%20of%20the%202016%20eCensus%20-%20final%20report.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22publications/tabledpapers/a41f4f25-a08e-49a7-9b5f-d2c8af94f5c5%22">two days</a>. </p>
<p>While data quality <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/home/Independent+Assurance+Panel/%24File/CIAP+Report+on+the+quality+of+2016+Census+data.pdf">was not</a> compromised, it was nevertheless a huge embarrassment for the bureau and the Turnbull government.</p>
<h2>What’s changed in terms of set-up?</h2>
<p>Lessons have since been <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/a41f4f25-a08e-49a7-9b5f-d2c8af94f5c5/upload_pdf/Review%20of%20the%202016%20eCensus%20-%20final%20report.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22publications/tabledpapers/a41f4f25-a08e-49a7-9b5f-d2c8af94f5c5%22">learned</a> and these are seen in preparations for Census 2021.</p>
<p>The new window to complete the census, rather than a one-night burst, will help ease online bottlenecks and external threats. It will also reduce pressure on the many Australians in lockdown, juggling paid work and home schooling.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Commuters crowd into Town Hall station in Sydney." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413093/original/file-20210726-15-4y5mz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413093/original/file-20210726-15-4y5mz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413093/original/file-20210726-15-4y5mz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413093/original/file-20210726-15-4y5mz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413093/original/file-20210726-15-4y5mz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413093/original/file-20210726-15-4y5mz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413093/original/file-20210726-15-4y5mz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2021 Census will collect information about more than 25 million Australians.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Rae/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Neighbourhoods won’t be graced by an army of census workers, this time, either. The bureau is expecting <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2021-census-ready-operate-covid-safe-way">the overwhelming majority</a> of people to complete the census online, with reminders sent out by mail.</p>
<p>So the digital-first strategy that caused such a stir in 2016 was an important trial run for the contactless conditions necessary during a pandemic. Some other <a href="https://rtc-cea.cepal.org/sites/default/files/document/files/UNFPA_Census_COVID19_digital.pdf">countries</a> have <a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/news-and-events/">postponed</a> their national census programs (like Scotland) and even risked <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/03/2020-census-extended-due-to-low-participation-covid-19-woes.html">COVID-19 exposure</a> by going ahead regardless (like Indonesia). But Australia’s preparations will enable a vital undertaking to continue safely.</p>
<h2>What’s changed in terms of the questions?</h2>
<p>According to the bureau, this year will include the “first significant changes to the information collected in the census since 2006”. (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2016/aug/11/lesson-of-censusfail-continued-funding-cuts-mean-agencies-cant-do-their-job">Funding cuts</a> since the 2001 have previously prohibited questionnaire refreshes.)</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/census-2016-reveals-australia-is-becoming-much-more-diverse-but-can-we-trust-the-data-79835">Census 2016 reveals Australia is becoming much more diverse – but can we trust the data?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>2021 will see new questions about long-term health conditions and defence force service. Sex beyond the binary of male/female will be also collected for the first time for all. These new additions to census have been made possible by the removal of the household internet connection question.</p>
<p>Improvements have also been made to better capture language and ancestry of First Nations Australians.</p>
<p>Census questions still have some way to go to better reflect contemporary Australia. But any changes to the census need to be understood by all.</p>
<p>Sexual orientation and <a href="https://www.australianpopulationstudies.org/index.php/aps/article/view/80">gender identity</a>, living in <a href="https://www.australianpopulationstudies.org/index.php/aps/article/view/75">more than one place</a>, and <a href="https://www.australianpopulationstudies.org/index.php/aps/article/view/82">ethnicity</a> are among improvements identified by demographers and social researchers for Census 2026, for example.</p>
<h2>What will we get out of Census 2021?</h2>
<p>The census has the power to say much about a nation and how populations are changing. While there will be no specific questions on COVID-19, the data will provide valuable insights into the impacts of the coronavirus on Australians. With the 2016 data now five years old, more up-to-date information is needed to make plans for the future.</p>
<p>With so many people in Australia in lockdown, the census will gauge the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 in a way no other data undertaking has been able to achieve yet. Individuals, communities and economic activities affected by COVID-19 will be reflected.</p>
<p>Census 2021 is no ordinary population survey – it will lay the foundation for Australia’s post-pandemic future by informing the nation’s social and economic recovery, including measuring the success of the vaccination rollout through improved population data. It’s more important than ever that we get this census right.</p>
<p>Results from Census 2021 will become available from <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/research/2021-census-topics-and-data-release-plan">June next year</a>.</p>
<h2>The future of the census</h2>
<p>A number of countries, such as <a href="https://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_088800.pdf">The Netherlands</a>, have moved away from traditional census taking. Instead opting for data compilation performed using routine government data collected through administrative interactions. Like Medicare and Centrelink data being compiled by government for your <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-world-awash-with-data-is-the-census-still-relevant-70642">census submission</a>. </p>
<p>The Australian Statistician David Gruen, has foreshadowed <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/2021-census-could-be-australia-s-last-five-yearly-population-snapshot-20201207-p56l6n">such a possibility</a> for Australia. The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51468919">United Kingdom</a> is also thinking about it. This approach is a concern as it excludes individuals and communities from a vital participatory undertaking, and the data quality suffers as people can no longer self-report information.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-world-awash-with-data-is-the-census-still-relevant-70642">In a world awash with data, is the census still relevant?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In its current form, census data is accessible, and contributed to, by all. Australia’s census data enable everyone from researchers, to policymakers, to ordinary individuals the power to hold <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-has-victoria-struggled-more-than-nsw-with-covid-to-a-demographer-theyre-not-that-different-161996">government to account</a>.
It belongs to all of us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164784/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Allen worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) between 2006 and 2007. Liz has no ongoing employment or financial links with the ABS. Liz is a user of ABS data for research purposes.</span></em></p>Census 2021 is no ordinary population survey – it will lay the foundation for Australia’s post-pandemic future.Liz Allen, Demographer, ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1646542021-07-22T14:55:58Z2021-07-22T14:55:58ZGhana upgraded its census to make it more inclusive: but old tensions still surfaced<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411917/original/file-20210719-23-1if086.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana's population has expanded its data categories </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Delali Adogla-Bessa</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ghana has just carried out its latest population and housing census. This is an exercise organised every ten years.</p>
<p>For the first time a digital data capture and transfer system was used.</p>
<p>The use of the digital innovations offered important advantages. For example, it facilitated real-time data quality monitoring and reduced data processing time. </p>
<p>In addition, integrating GPS-based information on respondents’ location added new spatial data layers. The new system allows for spatial analysis of the population’s access to basic necessities such as water. This is helping the census meet its commitment to analysing the living conditions of the population. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/biometric-identification-technologies-and-the-ghanaian-data-revolution/D57C74137A1D0C3342C772C450779ADB">a research paper</a> published last year I examined the digital transformation of the Ghanaian population data system. So far, the focus on these developments has largely centred on costs and implementation. </p>
<p>But there are social and political aspects too which have been largely ignored. For example, the aim of this year’s digital census was to give “<a href="https://statsghana.gov.gh/2021phc/abt_2021_phc.html">everyone in the country a voice</a>”. Changes were introduced to meet this goal. Examples include the fact that new census categories cover disability status. This suggests a new form of inclusiveness. And, with the use of ICT, new focal areas included access to basic infrastructure.</p>
<p>At the same time, the recent population census offers a window into the contested terrain of population statistics. These rely on sorting individual variation into categories. Categories are technical means for making the population countable. But they are much more than that too. They produce dividing lines along which people identify themselves – personally and collectively. They thereby play a central role in delineating the population and representing it as a nation.</p>
<p>Ghana is a relatively young democracy. And nation-building remains unfinished. It’s therefore no surprise that census categories have been subject to contestation. The recent population and housing census is no different. This is clear from the fact that it has stirred up intense emotions about citizenship and belonging. </p>
<h2>Strengthening the statistical system</h2>
<p>Historically, Ghana’s population data system has relied heavily on census taking. Some countries, such as the Netherlands or Denmark, rely on their civil registration systems to produce population statistics. But historically in Ghana there hasn’t been sufficient investment in these capabilities. Population estimates thus required periodic surveys and projections.</p>
<p>The foundations for establishing a comprehensive national statistical system in Ghana can be traced back to the <a href="https://constitutionnet.org/sites/default/files/constitution_of_the_third_republic_of_ghana.pdf">1979 constitution</a> and the <a href="https://www2.statsghana.gov.gh/About_us.html">1985 statistical service law</a>. These established the Ghana Statistical Service as an independent statistical body. In 2019, a review of the <a href="https://statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/storage/img/STATISTICAL%20SERVICE%20ACT,%202019%20(ACT%201003).pdf">Statistical Service Act (Act 1003)</a> gave the service additional powers. </p>
<p>The 2020/2021 population and housing census has benefited from this institutional strengthening in several ways. For example, the country’s address system has been used to monitor data quality by checking against the existing housing register.</p>
<h2>The evolution</h2>
<p>Throughout Ghana’s post-independence history, census taking did more than simply meet the data needs of various political and development programmes. It has also contributed to the construction of the population in which individuals recognised themselves. In this way, it played a crucial role in moulding how Ghana sees itself. </p>
<p>For example, census historian <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/comparative-studies-in-society-and-history/article/hail-the-census-night-trust-and-political-imagination-in-the-1960-population-census-of-ghana/DC7F160E640A2517C3004D1D93BB9815">Gerardo Serra writes</a>, Ghana’s first post-independence census of 1960 was mobilised as a departure from colonialism and to represent the first steps into the modern era. </p>
<p>In the colonial era censuses focused less on the living conditions of the population than on establishing control over the colony. </p>
<p>After independence, Ghana’s censuses reflected growing concerns of population growth, with a focus on fertility and citizenship. Census categories were incrementally added that were supposed to be sensitive to the nation’s economic structure. For example, following the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4187650?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">1983 structural adjustment programmes</a>, the 1984 census was tailored to meet the data needs of international organisations, including the World Bank. </p>
<p>At the same time, the emerging decentralisation of governance called for increased localisation of data analysis and reporting.</p>
<p>When Ghana returned to democratic rule in 1992, census taking emphasised national development. Issues that became the focus included planning for water, transport, health and educational infrastructures.</p>
<h2>Disagreements</h2>
<p>Changes in the Ghanaian census’ focus and method have historically been accompanied by disagreements about the categories being used. New categories, such as boundaries of local authorities, community names, or professional distinctions were added and brought to the fore.</p>
<p>This census is no different. Public discussions and <a href="https://dailyguidenetwork.com/fulani-community-protests-census-exclusion/">local boycotts</a> of the enumeration in 2021 centred on concerns about misrepresentation. </p>
<p>For instance, in Ghana’s Upper East region, concerns were raised about alleged discrimination in the <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/chief-and-people-of-kandiga-boycott-census/">listing of localities</a>. In the Volta region, the focal area of contestation was the alleged failure to <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/1083656/your-2021-population-census-instrument-is-ethnocen.html">list subgroups</a> of the Ewe ethnicity.</p>
<p>The census also triggered public commentary about who counted as Ghanaian. Some <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/1087911/fulani-community-must-be-recognized-in-population.html">alleged</a> that certain groups listed in the survey represented foreigners. Examples include dismissing residents of the borderlands as Togolese, while Fulani and Hausa populations were repeatedly labelled as immigrants. </p>
<p>And while the government framed the census as a means of enhancing development in the country, some residents said they <a href="https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ho-census-officers-school-reluctant-residents.html">wouldn’t participate</a> because development had eluded their communities.</p>
<p>These debates politicised the census, reframing it as a moment of cementing the national identity, while also re-articulating the official narrative of data’s developmental potential. </p>
<p>Important innovations have accompanied the 2020/2021 population and housing census along with the promise of better data for development. However, these contestations around identity and belonging are concerns technology cannot fix.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alena Thiel receives funding from the German Research Foundation's Individual Grant Scheme. </span></em></p>Ghana’s latest population census offers a window into the contested terrain of population statistics.Alena Thiel, postdoctoral researcher, PI "How Democracies Know: Identification Technologies and Quantitative Analyses of Development in Ghana", Martin Luther University Halle-WittenbergLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1583432021-05-03T13:57:16Z2021-05-03T13:57:16ZCensus 2021: Canadians are talking about race. But the census hasn’t caught up.<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396394/original/file-20210421-19-x9f194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C0%2C6272%2C4181&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This May, people across Canada will be asked to fill out the 2021 census.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This May, Canadians will again be asked if they identify as a member of a set list of minority groups when filling out the <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statistical-programs/instrument/3901_Q2_V6">long-form census</a>. That data is used to measure the portion of Canada’s population that are designated as visible minorities, a concept and term increasingly out of step with the times.</p>
<p>The pandemic has laid bare <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00215-4">racial inequalities</a>, and racial justice activist groups, like <a href="https://www.blacklivesmatter.ca/">Black Lives Matter</a>, have put anti-Black racism high on the public agenda. Systemic racism, rather than visible minority status, is at the centre of debate. While Canadians are now talking more explicitly about race, the census has yet to catch up. </p>
<p>“We’re going to have to ask ourselves, what do we want to do with that category now?” says Michael Haan, a demographer and member of <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/about/relevant/aceis">a committee</a> that advises Statistics Canada on ethnocultural diversity. According to him, the committee has had many internal debates about terminology. </p>
<h2>Indirectly asking questions</h2>
<p>Canada’s <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/anti-racism-engagement/anti-racism-strategy.html">anti-racism strategy</a>, which draws on decades’ worth of research, states that race is a social construct. There is no basis for classifying people according to race, but racial bias and discrimination have very real effects. </p>
<p>The question is: How do we get relevant data from the census and other surveys on the impact of systemic racism?</p>
<p>Statistics Canada tries to gather this information without directly asking about race. Race-based data is needed, says Jean-Pierre Corbeil, a diversity specialist at Statistics Canada. But he wonders whether that actually requires referring to race on the census.</p>
<p>Historically, the government has been reluctant to ask directly about race, which has led to a lack of disaggregated data. After the Second World War, the census used indirect methods of estimating the non-white, non-Indigenous population through racial proxies like language or ethnocultural origin.</p>
<p>That changed in 1996, says political scientist Debra Thompson, when Statistics Canada began asking Canadians whether they identified as a visible minority. The term, Thompson notes, makes it seem “that things are not about race when of course they absolutely are.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YnGOR_W7Ca0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Statistics Canada advertisement explaining the 2021 census.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Identifying as a visible minority</h2>
<p>The question on visible minorities was added to the census because of the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-5.401/">Employment Equity Act</a>. In order to measure how the white versus the non-white population fares in the labour market as required by this law, the government needed to know who is a visible minority.</p>
<p>For the purposes of the Employment Equity Act, says Haan, the question works. But he acknowledges the drawbacks: “Is it a perfect facsimile of race or racialization? No, it’s not.”</p>
<p>Many criticized, and still criticize the government’s approach. The <a href="https://undocs.org/en/CERD/C/CAN/CO/21-23">United Nations</a> has repeatedly pointed out that the term “visible minority” lumps together diverse communities and threatens to erase differences among them. Corbeil says Statistics Canada is well aware of the criticism.</p>
<h2>Not easily done</h2>
<p>However, changing the terminology is politically sensitive. Moving away from it would likely require changing the Employment Equity Act, says Fo Niemi, head of Montreal-based <a href="http://www.crarr.org/">Center for Research-Action on Race Relations</a>.</p>
<p>Instead, Statistics Canada is trying to <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/transparency-accountability/disaggregated-data">respond to the demand</a> for more race-disaggregated data through special crowdsourced surveys and increasing sample sizes of marginalized people to allow for enhanced analysis. </p>
<p>For example, with support from <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/federal-anti-racism-secretariat.html">the federal Anti-Racism Secretariat</a>, it has produced a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200225/dq200225b-eng.htm">socio-economic analysis</a> on the Black population.</p>
<p>During the pandemic, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00079-eng.htm">census data</a> has also been combined with other statistics to show that mortality rates are higher in neighbourhoods where <a href="https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/epi/2020/06/covid-19-epi-diversity.pdf?la=en">visible minorities</a> live.</p>
<p>“What people want is really to have information on Black Canadians, to have information on South Asians or Latin American Canadians,” says Corbeil. But those categories are controversial too. White, South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean or Japanese are options non-Indigenous Canadians can choose from on the census. “Other” is also an option, but many feel unrepresented by the list. </p>
<h2>Expand or shorten the list?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/dict/pop111-eng.cfm">population groups</a>, as Statistics Canada calls them, have remained largely unchanged since 1996. The agency uses the list, which was developed through an inter-departmental process in the 1980s — according to Thompson, how the groups were chosen is “a bit of a mystery.”</p>
<p>They are now part of Canada’s <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2020051-eng.pdf?st=Y0TeYIKr">national statistical standards</a> and are widely used by the federal government, including in the monthly labour force survey, which began recording visible minority status as of <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200807/dq200807a-eng.htm">July 2020</a>. </p>
<p>Statistics Canada has considered changing the list. One alternative was to expand it, but that risked making the answers too similar to the <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/ref/98-20-0001/982000012020002-eng.cfm">separate ethnocultural origin question</a>. Another was to shorten the list and provide broader categories. Statistics Canada even tested this approach in a 2019 trial run of the census. Respondents had to choose their “descent” from seven options: North American; Latin American; European; North African; African, Afro-Caribbean or African-Canadian; Middle Eastern or West Asian; and Other Asian. </p>
<p>But according to Corbeil, the problem there was that Statistics Canada couldn’t identify who was Black because Black Canadians are highly diverse and come from all over the world. That’s important, because the agency’s consultations indicate that “many people want to identify as Black Canadians,” says Corbeil. Because the test was inconclusive, the options have not been changed for the 2021 census.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-word-how-to-confront-150-years-of-racial-stereotypes-dont-call-me-resilient-153790">What's in a word? How to confront 150 years of racial stereotypes: Don't Call Me Resilient</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Changing the census isn’t so simple</h2>
<p>Dr. Andrew Pinto, a public health and preventive medicine specialist and family physician, is a researcher with <a href="https://upstreamlab.org/2020/04/15/data-on-race-covid19/">The Upstream Lab</a>, which has studied the collection of racial data by health-care providers, says that if patients understand that disclosing their race will be used to address systemic racism, they are willing to provide the information.</p>
<p>For now, Statistics Canada is reluctant to refer directly to race anywhere on the census. The agency is cautious and for good reasons, says Haan. In order to compare data over time, the questions and the answers need to stay the same. “The census is the gold standard,” he says, “so any modification is carefully considered.”</p>
<p>Thompson also cautions that simply having the data won’t solve the problem of systemic racism.</p>
<p>“Yes, we need disaggregated racial data. [But] we also need governments that are brave enough to create targeted policies.”</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published on May 3, 2021. The earlier story said Canadians will be asked if they identify as a visible minority. The long-form census doesn’t use the term “visible minority,” but Statistics Canada still uses the term in its analysis of census data in accordance with the Employment Equity Act.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryony Lau does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the conversation about race and diversity becomes more common, why haven’t we updated our census to reflect that?Bryony Lau, Dalla Lana Fellow, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1573802021-03-18T17:06:51Z2021-03-18T17:06:51ZCensus 2021: why are some people completing it online and others have paper forms?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390405/original/file-20210318-15-3fxlni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C4500%2C2997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-february-2021-leaflet-official-1923868949">Ink Drop/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, everyone should have received either a letter with a 16-digit code or a paper form for the <a href="https://census.gov.uk/">2021 census</a>. There are lots of great reasons why we should respond to the census, aside from it being a legal requirement. Among other things, it’s a good way to help provide an accurate snapshot of your community, which means people will <a href="https://census.gov.uk/about-the-census/why-you-should-take-part">get the services they need at a local level</a>. </p>
<p>The census is a fascinating dataset that’s vital to many areas of research and government decision making. It provides us with a count of the population, but also a wide range of demographic data like age, gender, family relationships, socio-economic information, ethno-cultural background, health, and some voluntary questions, including religious identity and sexuality. </p>
<p>This is the first census that most people will be asked to complete online. However, some have received paper forms through the post, while others have just received a letter asking them to fill in the census online. Though the mechanics of the census may appear complex, the reasons why are actually quite straightforward. </p>
<h2>Online or by post?</h2>
<p>So who gets a letter, who gets a form and why? The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/">Office for National Statistics (ONS)</a> (which is coordinating the census) has tried to determine who gets what by assessing which households are likely to find it impossible or more difficult to respond to the census online. These households (<a href="https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/EAP113-Maximising-Response-Strategy-Overview.docx">around 10% of all households</a>) have been sent a paper form. Everyone else has received a letter with a code, asking them to complete the form online (however, it’s important to note that if you received a form, you can still respond online and if you got a letter, you can request a paper form if you want).</p>
<p>There are a number of good reasons for filling out your form online - it saves the ONS time and money when collating the results and means we can get more accurate data.</p>
<p>You might be thinking: “What about my Aunt Muriel who received a letter? She doesn’t use the internet. Why hasn’t she got a form?” This is because the ONS doesn’t know who’s able and willing to submit the form online - they can only model this based on the data they have.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person filling out 2021 online sensus form on a tablet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390410/original/file-20210318-23-16wr7me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390410/original/file-20210318-23-16wr7me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390410/original/file-20210318-23-16wr7me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390410/original/file-20210318-23-16wr7me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390410/original/file-20210318-23-16wr7me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390410/original/file-20210318-23-16wr7me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390410/original/file-20210318-23-16wr7me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If someone you know needs a form but is having problems getting one, you can request one on their behalf.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/2021-united-kingdom-census-questionnaire-seen-1931938847">mundissima/Shutterstcok</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As statistician George Box <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/news/all-models-are-wrong-some-are-useful/">said</a>: “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” When we use information about a group of people to make judgements about the individuals in that group, we call this an ecological fallacy. While the ONS has modelled who will (and who will not) respond online, even if this puts 95% of people in the right group, there will be some errors due to cases that contradict the model.</p>
<p>For those who the ONS has deemed unable or unwilling to complete the census form online, there will be some who don’t fit this criteria and vice versa. This is why the ONS has included a code on the forms. If you know someone who needs a form but is having problems requesting one, you can request one on their behalf.</p>
<h2>The hard to count index</h2>
<p>How did the ONS model this information? The ONS typically creates a <a href="https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/EAP102-Hard-to-Count-index-for-the-2021-Census.docx">“hard to count”</a> index to measure who might not respond to the census (also used for the 2001 and 2011 censuses). However, the 2021 census is different as this is the first time it’s been run “online first”, which means the ONS also had to include the <a href="http://bit.ly/3twxBUr">digitally excluded</a> into its index. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/census-2021-why-its-important-to-take-part-and-what-happens-to-your-information-156684">Census 2021: why it's important to take part and what happens to your information</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The key data used to drive this was <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-2016/downloads">internet access data from Ofcom</a> for both fixed lines and mobile internet connectivity, looking at availability, usage and download speeds. This was combined with information on who has already interacted with government websites (such as via the DVLA and HMRC). </p>
<p>This data was used to create an area-based model, with each area assessed as either being able to complete the census online, or needing paper forms. This was tested and refined together with many other aspects of the census in the ONS’s big rehearsal for the census in 2019.</p>
<h2>When can I fill it out?</h2>
<p>The online census form is quick and easy to fill out. It takes about ten minutes per household plus ten minutes for each person. If you’ve ever renewed your passport or driving license online, you’ll find filling in the census very similar. You can fill out the survey (online or by post) as soon as you receive your code, there’s no need to wait until March 21. If anything does change before then, you can always update your information. </p>
<p>Filling in the census is a legal requirement and you can be fined up to £1,000 if you don’t complete it. This is because the data needs to be as complete as possible for it to be useful. </p>
<p>There are many more details on the ONS website, particularly in their <a href="https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/about-the-authority/committees/methodological-assurance-review-panel-census/papers/">papers documenting the methods used to run the census</a>, the “hard to count” and “maximising response” papers. Whether you opt for an online for or a paper one, make sure you fill in the census. After all, this is our best chance at understanding ourselves as a population.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157380/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Bearman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the deadline looms, it’s important to understand how best to fill out the survey – and why.Nick Bearman, Lecturer in Geospatial Analysis, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1573372021-03-18T14:29:59Z2021-03-18T14:29:59ZCensus 2021 will reveal how a year of lockdowns and furlough has transformed the UK<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390136/original/file-20210317-23-1239by8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C5%2C3956%2C2982&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 2021 census will help show the changes wrought by a year of COVID-19.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-traditional-housing-estate-england-1044441571">K303/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people may feel unsure as to whether the English, Welsh and Northern Irish census of 2021 should be going ahead, given that it’s occurring during a pandemic when many aspects of our lives are far from normal. The census has actually <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53444651">been postponed by a year</a> in Scotland due to these concerns. </p>
<p>Census timing has appeared unfortunate before. The 2001 census took place during the peak of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/21/foot-and-mouth-20-years-on-what-an-animal-virus-epidemic-taught-uk-science">foot and mouth disease</a> outbreak, amid concerns that census officials might spread the disease between farms. </p>
<p>Because most people will fill in their 2021 census form <a href="https://census.gov.uk/help/get-an-access-code-or-paper-census">online</a>, disease transmission is less of a concern this year. But there’s another criticism levelled at censuses: that they only ever deliver a snapshot of a population at a specific time, no matter how unusual or temporary the circumstances within a household may be.</p>
<p>There are worries that the 2021 census will capture a particularly distorted snapshot of a country transformed by the pandemic. It’ll capture young adults temporarily ensconced in parents’ homes, thousands of mainland Europeans who had planned to leave but are temporarily trapped in the UK by lockdown rules, and millions of furloughed workers counted as employed despite the real possibility that they’re soon to lose their jobs. </p>
<p>However, there’s a <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/censusdesign/operationalplanningresponsetothecoronaviruscovid19forcensus2021englandandwales">strong argument</a> in favour of holding the census now – precisely because so much has changed. The 2021 census won’t just capture a unique time in our history; it’s also the best way to show which areas and demographics have been newly disadvantaged by the pandemic, helping direct public funds and services to where they’re needed the most.</p>
<h2>Why hold a census?</h2>
<p>Without the census, held every ten years in the UK, local government would know very little about the composition of the population it currently serves. Officials wouldn’t know which areas were falling behind others, which homes were lying empty, or which families were living in cramped and unsafe conditions.</p>
<p>Census data like these underpin the fair allocation of public finances, revealing the areas and even the postcodes most in need of support. Plus, the census saves the taxpayer money: even the crudest estimate of the value of the census shows that running one every ten years saves <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census/2011censusbenefits/2011censusbenefitsevaluationreport">£500 million annually</a> in administrative costs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/census-2021-why-its-important-to-take-part-and-what-happens-to-your-information-156684">Census 2021: why it's important to take part and what happens to your information</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Previous censuses have been instrumental in improving lives across the country. As Britain built back from 1950s austerity, an extra <a href="https://data.gov.uk/dataset/396b3c7f-0afd-4a10-b40e-8e4af3a8c616/1966-census-10-census-personal-data-for-england-wales">1966 census</a> was squeezed between those taken in 1961 and 1971 to help guide the urgent investments of the government of the day. </p>
<p>Censuses also expose hidden inequalities. <a href="https://census.ukdataservice.ac.uk/use-data/censuses/forms.aspx">The 2001 census</a> was the last to ask which floor of a block of flats families lived on, revealing that most children living <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/sep/25/communities.politics">above the fifth floor</a> in England weren’t white. That fact meant a great deal more after the 2017 Grenfell tragedy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A census 2021 form currounded by models of people, houses, and a magnifying glass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390134/original/file-20210317-17-qspydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390134/original/file-20210317-17-qspydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390134/original/file-20210317-17-qspydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390134/original/file-20210317-17-qspydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390134/original/file-20210317-17-qspydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390134/original/file-20210317-17-qspydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390134/original/file-20210317-17-qspydb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Census 2021 comes at a unique time for the UK – which is what makes it so important.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-february-2021-leaflet-official-1923868256">Ink Drop/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Census 2021</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/censusdesign/operationalplanningresponsetothecoronaviruscovid19forcensus2021englandandwales">2021 census</a> is not an ambitious census. The number of rooms (other than bedrooms) in a home is <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8531/">no longer asked</a>, as it has been since 1911 (when questions about being deaf and dumb, blind, a lunatic, or an imbecile were dropped). That means we’ll no longer know how overcrowded the worst-housed tenth of the population of England and Wales are when compared to the best-off tenth – who had <a href="http://www.dannydorling.org/books/peakinequality/figures/figure-372.html">five times as many</a> rooms per person in 2011.</p>
<p>The 2021 census will only ask one new question: whether someone has ever served in the UK armed forces. This could be useful in understanding the links between <a href="https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/docs/default-source/campaigns-policy-and-research/litrev_uk_vets_homelessness.pdf?sfvrsn=110aad9f_2">ex-service people and homelessness</a>. The only other change is that sexual orientation and gender identity have been assigned more categories.</p>
<p>But this census will nonetheless bestow much-needed clarity on a society buffeted by the pandemic. Uncertainty about how many people are <a href="https://ukandeu.ac.uk/labour-force-survey-the-mystery-of-the-shrinking-migrant-workforce/">actually living in the UK right now</a> – let alone where exactly they live – is higher this year than it has been for many decades. It’s thought that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/08/million-people-left-britain-pandemic-exodus-brexit">over a million people</a> left the country in 2020 who would not normally have left, but we don’t know how many really did and if they left for good. This has serious implications for the allocation of funding across regions.</p>
<p>More importantly still, the 2021 census will provide a clearer picture of the inequalities that have come to light since the beginning of the pandemic. The <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cocooning-elderly-suffer-mental-health-decline-in-pandemic-8fhbvckl8">isolation of the elderly</a>, the suffering in <a href="https://www.shu.ac.uk/news/all-articles/latest-news/covid-impact-on-industrial-towns">old industrial wards</a>, and the disproportionate impact of <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/892376/COVID_stakeholder_engagement_synthesis_beyond_the_data.pdf">COVID-19 on BAME communities</a> will all be better illustrated and contextualised by this census. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-is-hitting-bame-communities-hard-on-every-front-136327">Coronavirus is hitting BAME communities hard on every front</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In February 2020, just weeks before the start of the pandemic, the BBC ran a story suggesting that the 2021 census <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51468919">could be the last census</a>. In hindsight, that seems ludicrous: now more than ever, we need the census to tell us even the most basic of facts about our society. Perhaps the pandemic will bring us to our senses when it comes to the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13210080">value of a census</a>. </p>
<p>I’d argue we go even further, adding an extra <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/14/gvfgf">census in 2026</a> which will adequately reflect the damage done by the pandemic, and how equitable the UK’s recovery will look a half-decade hence. The pandemic has forced people online, making a largely online census, held <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/14/danny-dorling-emergency-census-2026-true-state-uk">every five years</a>, far more feasible and less expensive. Perhaps we should even start to ask <a href="http://www.dannydorling.org/wp-content/files/dannydorling_publication_id1651.pdf">household income</a> in our censuses, as they do in the US, to further enrich our data on inequality across the country.</p>
<p>Official statistics like the census are not just for governments but for all of us. Crucially, census data helps us to assess the performance of government. As the UK looks to “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/build-back-better-our-plan-for-growth">build back better</a>” after the pandemic, we’ll be able to look to the 2021 census to judge whether new policies tackle inequalities in the regions that need the most help.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danny Dorling does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Because of the pandemic, we know less about the shape and size of our society than we have for decades.Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1566842021-03-15T10:49:59Z2021-03-15T10:49:59ZCensus 2021: why it’s important to take part and what happens to your information<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389300/original/file-20210312-21-1ojwkso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Letters are dropping through doors asking people in England, Northern Ireland and Wales to fill out the <a href="https://census.gov.uk">2021 census</a> ahead of census day on March 21 (Scotland has <a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022">delayed its census until 2022</a> because of the pandemic). </p>
<p>At it simplest, the census is a count of the population, recording how the numbers of people and their attributes vary from one neighbourhood to another across the UK. But how much of your information is visible to the people using the information to make decisions? Here are some key questions answered. </p>
<p><strong>What sort of information does the census ask for?</strong></p>
<p>It is primarily a mix of demographic information. For example: how old people are, their gender and family relationships; socio-economic information, such as the size of the property, main job and educational qualifications; ethno-cultural background; health; and some voluntary questions, including religious identity and sexuality. </p>
<p><strong>What is the information I give to the census used for?</strong></p>
<p>It is used to understand how the characteristics of the UK population vary across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is important to predict the demands on and to inform the financing of public services, such as schools and healthcare, to support decision-making in business and commerce, and to map the social geography of the UK. There are some good examples of how census data are used on the <a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/using-census-data">Scottish census website</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Why is it important to fill out the census?</strong></p>
<p>It is a legal requirement to fill out the census. You can be fined up to £1,000 for not doing so. The reason for this “stick” is that the data need to be as reliable as possible and that requires as many people as possible to take part.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A letter and leaflet providing information on the 2021 census." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389297/original/file-20210312-21-13oj9fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389297/original/file-20210312-21-13oj9fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389297/original/file-20210312-21-13oj9fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389297/original/file-20210312-21-13oj9fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389297/original/file-20210312-21-13oj9fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389297/original/file-20210312-21-13oj9fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389297/original/file-20210312-21-13oj9fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Census information is dropping through doors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If particular social groups are under-counted then that will lead to an inaccurate picture of the UK’s population. This could have an adverse, knock-on consequence on targeting support for local services where it is most needed. For example, imagine a particular group of people are concentrated in one part of the country where they are reluctant to provide information to the census. Imagine those people have school-aged children. The risk is that their schools will not receive the funding they would have had if the number of children who live locally had been accurately counted. </p>
<p><strong>Who runs the census?</strong></p>
<p>The Office for National Statistics in England and Wales, National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics Agency. These are national organisations that collect and publish statistics about the economy, population and society of the UK. As non-ministerial departments/agencies they operate with independence from governments. This is to protect them from political interference. They are, however, accountable to the UK’s various parliaments, which provide scrutiny and oversight.</p>
<p><strong>Who has access to my data and how much do they know about me?</strong></p>
<p>Only carefully selected and approved staff at the ONS or its sister agencies in Scotland and Northern Ireland can see your personal census information when you submit it. It cannot be used by the government in this raw form. The government only gets access once the data are published after being anonymised. At this point, you cannot be identified.</p>
<p>Census tables typically merge your data with that provided by others who live in the same neighbourhood or region as you. That means those tables do not reveal information about individuals but about the populations of geographical areas. Your census record is kept secure for 100 years and only then can it be seen by future generations.</p>
<p><strong>Can my data be sold or passed on to third parties or other countries?</strong></p>
<p>Your personal information cannot be sold to third parties. When the census tables are published they are made freely available to a number of sources. You can access recent census data <a href="http://infuse.ukdataservice.ac.uk/">here</a> and <a href="https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011">here</a>, for example. But, remember, these do not disclose personal information. You can’t be identified via that data. Note how <a href="https://datashine.org.uk/">these maps of census data</a> are shaded by neighbourhoods, not by individuals.</p>
<p><strong>How do I know the information I give to the census won’t be used to discriminate against me or deny me a public service in the future?</strong></p>
<p>The confidentiality of your data is legally protected. Laws in place that cover protection of your data include the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/contents/enacted">Data Protection Act 2018</a>, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/10-11/41/contents">Census Act 1920</a>, and the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/18/contents">Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007</a>. You can find out more from the <a href="https://census.gov.uk/your-data-and-security/what-we-do-with-your-information">census website</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Will the information I give to the census affect my immigration status?</strong></p>
<p>No. Your personal information cannot be seen or used by anyone making decisions about your residency applications or immigration status.</p>
<p><strong>If I’m living in an informal situation that I haven’t disclosed to the authorities. Can my census information be used against me?</strong></p>
<p>No</p>
<p><strong>How does census data get stored?</strong></p>
<p>We asked the ONS about this. They said, “The safety of your information is our top priority,” and added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The ONS has robust security implemented across our services and systems to protect census data that are consistent with government policy and good industry practice. Answers on the online questionnaire are protected during entry and passed into ONS systems through a secure transfer mechanism. Your information is stored in ONS managed systems in highly protected areas with limited access and sophisticated monitoring to detect suspicious activity.</p>
<p>Linking and matching of the data is performed within a specific and highly protected area, by staff who have been security vetted and their activity overseen by management and monitored. We are constantly reviewing and renewing our security protections to safeguard census in our systems.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156684/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Harris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Who can see your information and why is it important to take part?Richard Harris, Professor of Quantitative Social Geography, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.