Agh, I wrote a lengthy post, hit send, only to find out I was logged out. Second time that's happened.
Ok I'll be more concise this time.
Changes in the new Census. They pledged that after the census 2001, they'd make an overhaul in the way data was collected with regards to ethnicity/national identity. In reality, not much has changed.
1. Ethnicity, they still capture the exact same ethnic-groupings as in the 2001 census (White British, White Irish, White Other, Mixed White/Black Caribbean, Mixed White/Black African, Mixed White/Asian, Mixed Other, Black Caribbean, Black African, Black Other etc.). The only difference is now they've moved Chinese into the Asian group. This may seem obvious. But historically in the uk, the Asian group was reserved for those of South Asian (Desi) origin. So things are more racially correct. However, the census still doesn't capture individual ethnicities, for instance if someone is Nigerian, Somali or a Black Zimbabwean, they're all down as Black African. If you're filipino, then you check Asian Other or Other (I'm not sure if you can write your ethnicity in there). If you're Gujarati, or Punjabi, Indian Tamil, or Indian Bengali, you still check Asian Indian (doesn't tell you much about people that hail from the worlds 2nd most populous country, and the UK's largest ethnic minority).
2. Country of Birth, is the same as 2001 census. This is the only way they can really determine ethnic minority communities. Work out the immigrant population, and try to extrapolate/guess how large the ethnic minority community is (i.e. those immigrants + those born in the uk)
3. National Identity, this was actually first in the 2001 census (see statistics.gov.uk if you doubt it). So again, nothing much new here.
I think this census will be a gross underenumeration for those living in London, and other heavily immigrant areas, or areas with large student populations. In addition anyone who is a tenant, whereby their landlord is the one elected to complete the form. Many landlords will be unsure whether to include their tenants on the questionnaire. My brother (British) and his Eastern european girlfriend won't be counted on this year's census, as their landlord completed the census without including their names. He could get his name put on my parent's census form (which would be inaccurate as they live in different boroughs, so government resources would be allocated incorrectly), but it's unlikely his girlfriend would be counted on any other census form as her other residency is not in this country.
The census is great, but it's not perfect.
