It’s five years from the next census in the UK, but the Office of National Statistics (ONS) is already planning for the great day of reckoning.

Census 2001

Census 2001 saw the inclusion of a question about religion for the very first time in a census in England and Wales. People were asked “What is your religion?” Although this was a voluntary question (most census questions are compulsory), ONS say that around 92% of people responded to it. Of course, not everyone understood the question in the same way. For some people it was a question about their public religious affiliation. For others it was a question about their inner beliefs or even about their “cultural” religion - in other words, about the religious community they were born into. What it didn’t do was to give an accurate picture of the numbers of people actively engaged in religious life and practice.

In the run-up to the 2001 Census the faith communities and the Office of National Statistics had prolonged discussions about the religious question. Initially, the government was not keen to ask about people’s religious membership. Once persuaded that this was a good question to ask, the government had to take legislation through parliament to make it legal to ask the question. And then there were heated exchanges about which religions would be given their own tick boxes (”check boxes” for my US readers) and which religions would end up as “Other, please write in”.

In the end there were tick boxes for Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs. And there was a tick box for “no religion”. Jains, Zoroastrians and Baha’is were relegated to the “Other, please write in” category.

Census 2011

So what about 2011?

Yesterday I took part in a meeting of faith representatives with Office of National Statistics officials to discuss the religious question for the next census.

The wording of the question has changed. We are now going to be asked, “What is your religion or belief?” I don’t know what you think, but it seems to me to be a potentially confusing question for people as they complete the census form. If I ask you what your religion is, you may well think in terms of your public membership of a particular religion. But if I ask you what your belief is, you are more likely to think that I am asking you about your inner beliefs rather than your public affiliation.

I think what’s happened is this. The phrase “religion or belief” is taken from human rights and equalities language. Here in the UK, “belief” is increasingly being used in public policy discussions to refer to non-religious beliefs, such as Humanism. That means that government officials and those of us who work in human rights and other public policy areas are very likely to understand the question “What is your religion or belief?” as meaning “What is your religion or your non-religious belief. But most people wouldn’t understand it in that way at all. They are much more likely to see it as a question about their inner beliefs.

But never fear, all is made clear when we come to the first tick box under the question (which will still be voluntary, by the way):

What is your religion or belief?
• This question is voluntary.

☐ No religion (including Humanist, Atheist or Agnostic)

Now I am really confused. Does “no religion (including Humanist…)” mean that “Humanist, Atheist or Agnostic” are regarded as religions or quasi-religions? Or does it mean that this is the box to tick if you are a Humanist, Atheist or Agnostic amongst other things? Well, yes, I’m sure it’s the latter.

Those who aren’t Humanists, Atheists, Agnostics, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims or Sikhs are “Any other religion or belief” and are invited to write in the name of their religion or belief. So Pagans, Jains, Zoroastrians and Baha’is are still “Any other”. It seems clear that no one is going to get a separate tick box unless their numbers rise to at least half a million.

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