As many countries gear themselves up for the next round of Censuses in 2020 (and as Product Manager for World Demographics) I thought it would be good to share a brief history of the UK Census and why it still remains relevant over 200 years since the first.
There have been twenty-one censuses carried out in the UK since the first in 1801. The Second World War meant that there was no census in 1941 making the subsequent count of the population in 1951 highly important. At his point, the population of Britain had risen beyond 50 million for the first time. As post-war slum clearance began, questions about outside bathrooms (!) and household amenities were introduced in an effort to improve the health of the nation.
1991 saw another social milestone - the introduction of a question about ethnicity. For the first time, researchers could understand the demographic patterns in our population using another dimension and local government gained huge insights into their local populations.
And by 2011 the population of England and Wales had risen from 9 million in 1801 when records began, to 56 million – a full record of changing population characteristics captured across 200 years of hugely dynamic social change.
However, in a time of unprecedented social change, massive flows of data, and technologies that can process them on the fly, are censuses still relevant?
Yes! Right now, censuses remain the only large-scale surveys that can provide a comprehensive estimate of populations and their characteristics. This is obviously central to Central and Local Government planning, where huge amounts of funding are allocated.
In the commercial world, keeping that data up-to-date is key, and Pitney Bowes' Estimates and Projections demographic products help keep these rich assets relevant in the periods between censuses. Combining these demographic products with data drawn from our other extensive portfolios enables our customers to make, for example, informed location planning decisions at local levels, or produce customer insight analysis. Geodemographic systems, such as our PSYTE HD product, are built on the unique, rich, social detail found in the census, enhanced with additional information, and enable users, both in the commercial and public sector, to target and communicate with customers more effectively and efficiently.
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Andy Peloe
Senior Product Manager - World Demographics
Pitney Bowes
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