20 per cent of African Caribbean respondents changed their ethnicity in the last Census

18/09/2007 | uk




People may know how to fill in the form but the categories may not reflect how they really see themselves.

Professor Robert Moore, University of Liverpool
Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that 20 per cent of people who selected ‘Black Caribbean’ in the 1991 Census selected a different ethnic category in 2001.

Researchers, who analysed data from UK censuses found that in some ethnic groups larger numbers of people tended to change their identity. White ethnic groups were least likely to change their ethnicity, with less than 1% changing their group since 1991. But people in the ‘Black Caribbean’ group, were more likely to change their ethnic identity, with 20 per cent of respondents changing between censuses.

Professor Robert Moore from the University’s School of Sociology and Social Policy, said: “In some groups it appeared as though ethnic identity was changing; with closer analysis we found that these changes related to changes in the census itself. Some people changed their ethnic identity to a category used in the 2001 census which they felt described their ethnicity more accurately than those used in 1991 for example.”

Speaking to Black Britain about the research, Professor Moore explained that in some instances, a young person might have had their ethnicity chosen for them by the head of the household, who usually fills in the Census form. But when that person moves away from home and completes the form themselves, they may chose to describe their ethnicity differently.

In the 2001 Census, one fifth of respondents who described themselves as ‘Black Caribbean’ in 1991 had changed their ethnicity to white in 2001. Professor Moore told Black Britain that the design of the Census form was partly to blame and some of those who changed their identity had made genuine errors in 1991.

Researchers also found that those who had married or re-married between censuses were more likely to change their ethnic identity than those who had remained married for the ten-year period between censuses. These factors had more influence on changes in ethnic identify than social factors, such as social mobility, employment or education.

Professor Moore told Black Britain that this was more likely in mixed marriages where the husband had selected the category for his wife to describe her ethnicity in 1991 but divorce and separation, which would leave to the wife selecting her own ethnicity category in the 2001 Census might lead to a change in ethnicity.

But according to Professor Moore, the ethnicity categories in the Census are not necessarily a reflection of how people really view their ethnicity and identity:

“To social scientists ethnicity is about identity - how we and those closest to us see ourselves. The Census, however, uses more ‘administrative’ categories of the kind needed to monitor the impact of equality policies. People may know how to fill in the form but the categories may not reflect how they really see themselves.”

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