History Of The Census In The UK.

In the years up to 1800, the harvests were disastrous. Bread imports were being blocked in the war with France. Parliament was worried there was not enough bread to feed the population, but no one knew how many people there were to be fed.

Population estimates based on bread production, taxes, and church registers of burials and baptisms were vague.

There were fears the population might be growing faster than food production, leading to future famine, but it was impossible to know if the population was increasing or not.

The Census Act was made law by royal assent on 31 December 1800, the day before the UK was officially formed by the union of Great Britain and Ireland.

The first four decennial censuses in Great Britain in 1801, 1811, 1821 and 1831 were run by John Rickman. Rickman’s first census in 1801 found the population of England and Wales was 8.9 million, not counting those at sea, in the military, or prisoners. That’s roughly what the population of London was in 2020.

The 1801 Census asked if people worked in one of three types of job: agriculture; a "trade, manufacture or handicraft"; or "other". This caused some confusion as in the 1800s people largely worked as family units, rather than thinking of work as an individual’s job. Some households would list a wife and children as working in agriculture or a trade with the head of household, some would list them as "other".

Over the next few decades, the occupations list was expanded. The census counted retail traders, those employed in manufacturing, labourers, those employing others, and professionals such as bankers "and other educated men".

By 1841, the census revealed that the most popular occupation was "domestic servant" and almost a quarter of a million people worked in cotton manufacture. There were also 571 "fork-makers", 74 "leech bleeders" and five "ice-dealers".

The 1821 Census showed that almost half the population was under 20 years old, compared with around a quarter today. Despite its usefulness, asking how old people were proved surprisingly difficult. Indeed, the answers from girls and women mostly depended on whether they were married.

This newspaper cartoon from 1891 shows a census enumerator and a "lady of uncertain age". Even much later, in 1951, women were asked to be more honest about how old they were.

By the 1850s, the census revealed people in certain jobs were dying younger than others. This was done by joining up the new official deaths register with people’s occupation and age from the census. Disabilities were first recorded in the 1851 Census, which asked if someone was "blind" or "deaf and dumb".

In 1871 and 1881, the census aimed to count those with mental difficulties, although the language used to describe people is offensive by today's standards. It asked if someone was a "lunatic", "imbecile or idiot".

By 1901, the term "idiot" was removed and replaced with "feeble-minded". It was felt the word ‘idiot’ was too derogatory to encourage accurate reporting. Statisticians had already doubted that anyone would describe their child as such.

The early 1900s were characterised by renewed interest in social classes, rapid population growth in cities, and debates over the social roles of women.

The 1921 Census in England and Wales shows the impact of war through a stark difference in the number of males and females in their 20s and 30s.

Unemployment had become an urgent issue after the Wall Street crash in 1929, with particular concern about those in the mining and shipbuilding industries.

The 1931 Census was also the first census to be advertised on radio, following the birth of the BBC in 1922.

A devastating fire destroyed the individual returns for the 1931 Census in England and Wales on Saturday 19 December 1942. However, published statistics for the 1931 Census are available for England and Wales, counties, local authorities, and civil parishes as the statistical tables based on the returns were stored elsewhere.

Today, historic paper copies of census returns are held in deep storage in secure locations. All personal census returns are kept private for 100 years.

The 1941 Census was cancelled because of the Second World War, but in 1939 a census-like operation saw the creation of a National Register.

In September 1939, names, dates of birth and occupations of all civilians in the UK were recorded to issue identity cards. The information was used to help organise rationing from 1940 and understand the nation’s manpower resources.

The very first television adverts for census in 1951 showed the importance of understanding housing issues after the war and how people had been displaced.

1961 – was the first census processed on a computer, the IBM 705 machine. Tables showed more detail on household facilities, such as indoor toilets. Small Area Statistics for England and Wales have now been fully digitised.

Ethnicity was first asked about in the 1991 Census. There had been a proposal to include an ethnic group question ten years earlier, but it was dropped from the 1981 Census following testing. The question has since become more detailed.

"Housewife" had its own tick-box as a primary form of occupation in 1981. A decade later, the option was phrased without reference to gender or marriage as "looking after the home or family".

A question about long-term illness also entered the census in 1991, the first time any attempt had been made to capture disability since 1911.

The 2001 Census also asked a voluntary question about religious affiliation, the first time the subject had had a particular focus since 1851.

Additional detail in 2011 included people’s main language or ability in English and Welsh, and national identity or citizenship. Same-sex civil partnerships were added to the options for "marital status".

The new century also brought changes in how people completed the census. In 2001, a post-back system meant households could send in their completed questionnaires rather than handing them to census field staff.

By 2011, broadband was in around half of British households, and people now had the option of filling in the census online.

The latest census was the first digital-first census. Carried out during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the March 2021 census will provide a crucial snapshot of life in England and Wales, alongside the census taken in Northern Ireland. The census in Scotland was moved to March 2022.

The census has evolved through the decades, providing a snapshot every 10 years. While the census provides the best picture of society at a moment in time, the need is growing for more timely and frequent statistics that enable to understand the UK's population and how it changes on an on-going basis.