UK Census Day 2021

Sun 21 March 2021 | by Karen Kowallis | in category England | tags: census

21 March 2021 is Census Day in England (and the rest of the UK)! This will be a great resource for future genealogists! While the US Census is authorized by the Constitution in order to determine taxes and the allocation of the number of representatives for each state, the UK doesn’t have that.1 So what is the purpose of the UK Census?

The first Census in the UK was in 1801 and was taken to determine the number of people in the UK primarily due to concerns of potential food shortages and to determine how many people were eligible to fight in the Napoleonic Wars.2 Although censuses began in 1801, censuses did not begin identifying individuals by name until 1841.3 Current censuses are governed by the Census Act of 1920 which authorized censuses to be taken up to every 5 years,4 although the tradition has been every 10 years, with the exception of no census during WWII. Current censuses are used for statistical purposes in planning for various government and local services.5

Where future genealogists will be happy

If the current rules remain intact, in just over 100 years (likely made public 1 Jan 2122) the 2021 UK Census will be available for viewing. What will that mean to future genealogists?

There are several things on the UK 2021 Census that I think are fantastic for genealogical purposes.

  • The relationship to each person in the household is given to every other member of the household. This means the census directly states if a child is a son/daughter or a step-son/daughter. Censuses currently released for genealogical purposes only state relation to the head of the household.
  • Every member of the household is listed on the census, even those who are away for census day. This means those away at school, away for military service, or just away on work, vacation, or other travel reasons will be recorded with the household where they usually reside.
  • For each individual, the questionnaire asks if you are the person identified on the form or if you are filling it out for someone else. This will help to determine the reliability of the information.
  • The date of birth is given rather than just the age.
  • Multiple questions about ethnicity and national identity.
  • Religion (voluntary). This will help identify which churches to look for other records.
  • Detailed employment information

Where future genealogists will be sad

In my opinion, the census is lacking three major questions (for genealogical purposes).

  • Place of birth
  • The relationship options do not include uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or cousin. In early censuses when the relationship was open-ended, those relationships were sometimes included. Now these options are included as “Relation-Other.”
  • The relationship of a visitor to the head of the household.

Now, I understand that the purpose of the census is not so that genealogists have records, but wouldn’t it be nice if they took that into consideration?

Overview of Questions

The 2021 UK Census has fourteen questions pertaining to the household (address, relationship of each individual, questions about the physical house, etc). There are fifty questions for each member of the household and four questions for each visitor.6 Any household member who does not want to provide information to whomever is filling out the form may request an individual form. The questions pertaining to visitors only ask for their name, date of birth, sex, and address. The questions asked for each individual are summarized below.

  • Personal information (Name, date of birth, sex, marital status, complete address)
  • Residency questions (country of birth, date of arrival, duration of stay, address 1 year prior)
  • National identity, ethnicity, religion (voluntary), main language, English-speaking-ability level, passports held
  • Various health questions
  • Sexual orientation and identity (both voluntary)
  • Apprenticeships, educational qualifications, and past military service
  • Eighteen questions about employment

This is a very thorough census and I am excited for the genealogists of the future who will potentially get to use this very detailed record!

  1. U.S. Const. art, I, § 2, cl. 3. ↩

  2. The History Press, Counting the United Kingdom: The census from 1086 to now, retrieved 15 Mar 2021. ↩

  3. Some enumerators recorded family names as part of their counting process but most of those records were just locally used and no longer exist. ↩

  4. UK Census Act 1920. ↩

  5. Office for National Statistics. About the Census. Last updated 4 Jan 2021. ↩

  6. There are 51 numbers, but one of the questions was intentionally left blank, leaving 50 questions. Census 2021 Paper Questionnaire, accessed 15 March 2021. ↩

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