Census Of England Research Articles

Ethnic minority and migrant pay gaps over the life-cycle

Abstract It is well-known that ethnic minority and migrant workers have lower average pay than the White UK-born workforce. However, we know much less about how these gaps vary over the life-cycle because of data limitations. We use new data that combine a 1999–2018 panel from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) with individual characteristics from the 2011 Census in England and Wales. We investigate pay gaps on labour market entry and differences in pay growth. We find that differences in entry pay gaps are more important than differences in pay growth. The entry pay gaps are large, though vary across groups. The pay penalties on labour market entry can, to a considerable degree, be explained by over-representation in lower-paying firms and, within firms, in lower-paying occupations. For most groups, the pay gaps at entry seem to be largely preserved over the life-cycle, neither narrowing nor widening. For migrants, we find that the extra pay penalty is concentrated almost exclusively in those who arrived in the UK at later ages.

The occupational roles of nurses and midwives in the UK: an analysis of the Nursing and Midwifery Council-census England and Wales 2021 data linkage study

ObjectiveThe nursing and midwifery professions are facing challenges to recruitment and retention. Understanding the occupational choices of people registered as nurses and midwives can inform policy as to the potential of initiatives to encourage registrants back to practice. This study thus aims to ascertain the occupational roles taken by nurses and midwives in the UK in 2021 and the drivers behind choosing to work outside of direct clinical practice. ApproachThe Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register contains information on everyone meeting required standards to practice in those professions in England and Wales (currently around 800 thousand people). Registrants must not only complete a course of study for registration but must revalidated every three years. The register has been linked to the 2021 census for England and Wales. The census includes questions ascertaining occupation. Information provided is categorised to provide indication of individuals’ main occupation. These include codes for nursing and for midwifery which provides indication not only to occupation but also to engagement in clinical practice. Analysis uses logistic regression to ascertain how socio-demographics influence engagement in clinical practice or otherwise. Conclusions and ImplicationsData linkage for this study is now completed with the conference being the first time results will be shared. This will be the first time there has been concrete evidence as to nurses and midwives actual occupational roles. A stakeholder group supporting this work includes individuals from Chief Nurses’ Offices to enable findings to feed into policy.

National identities among minority and ‘majority’ ethnic groups: evidence from the 2021 census in England and Wales

ABSTRACT This paper employs data from the 2021 UK census to initially explore sub-state (English, Welsh) national identities among minority ethnic groups. This shows that these identities remain much more exclusive of people in minority groups than is a British identity, and that this exclusion is particularly marked with respect to English identity. The analysis then builds on this observation using similar data to examine English identification among the White British ‘majority’ in a ‘superdiverse’ city – London. Attributes which are typically shared by London boroughs in which identification as English deviates most from the national average, and multi-variable analysis which considers the ethnic structure of the borough in which an individual lives alongside other key factors (age, education, social class) suggest differences in identification between people living in boroughs that are characterised by more established and extensive ethnic diversity and those in boroughs transitioning from a previously more homogeneous (white) ethnic structure. In exploring how the articulation of a specific national identity might relate to ethnically-diverse or ‘superdiverse’ contexts, the paper uniquely contributes to recent research which calls for a stronger focus on how people who do not belong to migrant-minority groups might respond to living in such contexts.

Consistency, completeness and external validity of ethnicity recording in NHS primary care records: a cohort study in 25 million patients’ records at source using OpenSAFELY

BackgroundEthnicity is known to be an important correlate of health outcomes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, where some ethnic groups were shown to be at higher risk of infection and adverse outcomes. The recording of patients’ ethnic groups in primary care can support research and efforts to achieve equity in service provision and outcomes; however, the coding of ethnicity is known to present complex challenges. We therefore set out to describe ethnicity coding in detail with a view to supporting the use of this data in a wide range of settings, as part of wider efforts to robustly describe and define methods of using administrative data.MethodsWe describe the completeness and consistency of primary care ethnicity recording in the OpenSAFELY-TPP database, containing linked primary care and hospital records in > 25 million patients in England. We also compared the ethnic breakdown in OpenSAFELY-TPP with that of the 2021 UK census.Results78.2% of patients registered in OpenSAFELY-TPP on 1 January 2022 had their ethnicity recorded in primary care records, rising to 92.5% when supplemented with hospital data. The completeness of ethnicity recording was higher for women than for men. The rate of primary care ethnicity recording ranged from 77% in the South East of England to 82.2% in the West Midlands. Ethnicity recording rates were higher in patients with chronic or other serious health conditions. For each of the five broad ethnicity groups, primary care recorded ethnicity was within 2.9 percentage points of the population rate as recorded in the 2021 Census for England as a whole. For patients with multiple ethnicity records, 98.7% of the latest recorded ethnicities matched the most frequently coded ethnicity. Patients whose latest recorded ethnicity was categorised as Other were most likely to have a discordant ethnicity recording (32.2%).ConclusionsPrimary care ethnicity data in OpenSAFELY is present for over three quarters of all patients, and combined with data from other sources can achieve a high level of completeness. The overall distribution of ethnicities across all English OpenSAFELY-TPP practices was similar to the 2021 Census, with some regional variation. This report identifies the best available codelist for use in OpenSAFELY and similar electronic health record data.

50-year Deprivation Trajectories: Local Area Change in England and Wales, 1971–2021

Since 1971, the decennial censuses of England and Wales have underpinned the construction of various local level deprivation measures. Many policy-related and academic studies have used deprivation scores calculated cross-sectionally to identify geographical areas in need of regeneration and to explain spatial variations in health outcomes. However, such an approach masks the sometimes very distinct challenges faced in areas with different deprivation histories. There is, therefore, a need to consider the deprivation trajectories of areas over a long time run. This can then enable, for example: monitoring the effects of industry closure; assessing the impacts of area-based planning initiatives; and determining whether a change in the level of deprivation leads to changes in health outcomes. It can also be used to consider what interventions may be linked with positive changes and which could then possibly be implemented elsewhere. Here we extend previous work to cover a 50-year period using input variables relating to employment, housing, and car accessibility, from the six censuses from 1971 to 2021. We identify areas of persistent (dis-)advantage, those areas which have improved their deprivation situation, and those places where the situation has worsened. We cross-classify the changing deprivation measurements with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Supergroups area classification to thereby determine how different types of area are faring. On average, areas are less deprived in 2021 than in 1971. However, the trajectories of the input variables and of overall deprivation are not linear. The earlier decades are distinctive in rapid falls in non-home ownership and lack of car access but rises and falls in unemployment. The more recent decades have seen rises in non-home ownership and household overcrowding. Geographically, there has been a shift from a widespread level of deprivation, including in more rural areas in 1971, to being more concentrated in urban areas in the 21st Century.

Gender Identity in the 2021 Census of England and Wales: How a Flawed Question Created Spurious Data

The 2021 Census of England and Wales was one of the first in the world to ascertain the gender identity of an entire population. This article argues that its results are implausible with regard to geography, language, education, ethnicity, and religion. The results contradict data on referrals to gender clinics and signatures on a pro-transgender petition. The results are also internally inconsistent when the various categories of gender identity are correlated across localities, and when compared with sexual orientation. The spurious results were produced by a flawed question, which originated with a transgender campaigning organization. The question evidently confused a substantial number of respondents who erroneously declared their gender identity to differ from their natal sex. Confusion is manifested in the overrepresentation of people lacking English proficiency in the most suspect gender categories. These findings demonstrate how a faulty question can distort our apprehension of the social world.

Regional and Local Inequalities in Disability Status by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: A Cross-Sectional Ecological Analysis of the 2021 Census of England and Wales.

To examine regional differences in disability status by sexual orientation and gender identity and to explore local factors that are associated with levels of inequalities for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other sexual orientations (LGB+) or transgender. This was a cross-sectional ecological analysis of 2021 Census data from England and Wales. The main outcome variable was disability status. The main explanatory variables were sexual orientation and gender identity. Weighed linear regression was used to examine differences in disability status by sexual orientation (LGB+ vs. heterosexual) and gender identity (transgender vs. cisgender). The magnitude of between-group differences was explored by region and, in England, local authority-level urbanization and socioeconomic deprivation. Among 48.5 million census respondents within 331 local authority districts (LADs) across England and Wales, LGB+ and transgender groups were more likely to report having a disability than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. Inequalities were prevalent across regions of England and Wales, but were smallest in the Greater London area and largest in the southwest of England. Inequalities were also larger within English LADs that were relatively less urbanized and relatively more socioeconomically deprived. This study identified disparities in disability status by sexual orientation and gender identity, which varied by region and local socioeconomic deprivation and urbanization. More research is needed to better understand how to support disabled LGBT+ people, especially those in less urbanized and more socioeconomically deprived areas.

Child Health and the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Workforce: 2020-2040.

Pediatric hematology-oncology (PHO) is 1 of the oldest recognized pediatric subspecialities. PHO physicians care for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with all types of cancer and nonmalignant blood conditions, in many cases temporarily assuming the role of a primary care physician because of the complexity and intensity of treatment. However, the number of clinically active PHO subspecialists needed to care for children in the United States remains unknown. Recent papers suggest a potential oversaturation of PHO physicians in some geographic areas. This article is part of a Pediatrics supplement focused on projecting the future supply of the pediatric subspecialty workforce. It draws on information available in the literature, data from the American Board of Pediatrics, and findings from a new microsimulation model estimating the future supply of pediatric subspecialists through 2040. The model predicts a workforce growth in PHO subspecialists of 66% by 2040. Alternative scenarios, including changes in clinical time and fellowship size, resulted in a difference in growth of ±18% from baseline. The model also forecasts significant geographic maldistribution. For example, the current workforce is concentrated in the Northeast Census region and the model predicts the New England Census division will have a 2.9-fold higher clinical workforce equivalent per 100 000 children aged 0 to 18 years than the Mountain Census division by 2040. These findings suggest potential opportunities to improve the PHO subspecialty workforce and the outcomes and experiences of its patient population through educational changes, practice initiatives, policy interventions, and dedicated research.

Why are Ethnic Minority Teacher Paid Differently in England: A Preliminary Analysis of the School Workforce Census

This paper uses data from the School Workforce Census in England, 2015-2022, to examine differential pay rates for teachers of different ethnic groups. Part of the reason for this is to help understand why ethnic minority teachers are under-represented in the teacher workforce. There are surface differences between the pay of different groups. Black African and Black Caribbean teachers tend to be paid more than average, and Pakistani teachers tend to be paid less. But there are also differences in age, qualifications, region, and phase of education. Taking all of the background and context variables into account, there is no evidence that ethnicity is a clear factor in determining pay. Of course, the reasons why teachers of different ethnicity teach in particular phases and regions may be part of that explanation. However, we will have to look elsewhere to explain the disproportion between ethnic minority teachers and pupils in England, and for the most effective policy levers to increase the supply and retention of minority ethnic teachers. Policymakers and schools could still consider salary incentives to try and attract more minority ethnic undergraduate students to a teaching career, where recruitment and retention of minority ethnic teachers is a challenge.

Improving our understanding of the social determinants of mental health: a data linkage study of mental health records and the 2011 UK census

ObjectivesTo address the lack of individual-level socioeconomic information in electronic healthcare records, we linked the 2011 census of England and Wales to patient records from a large mental healthcare provider....

THE TOPONYMIC ELEMENT “-END” IN THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE “ESTATE” THESAURUS: SEMANTICS AND FUNCTION (English-Russian context)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the history of the toponymic element “-end”, appearing in the names of many estates, both real (for example, the place Dichende in Northumberland, the village of Bourne End in Buckinghamshire, etc.), and literary ones (for example, Freeman’s End from the novel “Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life” by George Eliot (1871–1872), Howards End from the novel of the same name by Edward Morgan Forster (1910), Mole End from “The Wind in the Willows” (1908) by Kenneth Grahame, Bag End from John Ronald Reuel Tolkien’s fantasy novel “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” (1937), etc.). Attention in the study is paid to non-obvious, “latentˮ, including metaphysical, connotations of this concept (house “on the outskirts”, “dead end”, “goal”, “appointment”, etc.). The article specifically considers the genesis of the “-end” element, which goes deep into the history of the English estate (in particular, it is mentioned in the “Domesday Book”, the first land census of England, undertaken in the 11th century by William the Conqueror).

An ethnic group specific deprivation index for measuring neighbourhood inequalities in England and Wales

AbstractThe measurement of deprivation for small areas in the UK has provided the basis for the development of policies and targeting of resources aimed at reducing spatial inequalities. Most measures summarise the aggregate level of deprivation across all people in a given area, and no account is taken of differences between people with differing characteristics, such as age, sex or ethnic group. In recognition of the marked inequalities between ethnic groups in the UK, and the distinctive geographies of these inequalities, this paper presents a new ethnic group‐specific neighbourhood deprivation measure—the Ethnic Group Deprivation Index (EGDI). This index, using a custom cross‐tabulated 2021 Census dataset on employment, housing tenure, education and health by ethnic group, reveals the small area geographies of ethnic inequalities that have to date received scant attention, and yet have profound impacts on life chances and well‐being. Drawing on the methodological framework of the widely used English Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and for the same geographies (Lower Layer Super Output Areas), the EGDI measures deprivation for each ethnic group using data from the 2021 Census of England and Wales. The EGDI reveals the complex geographies of ethnic inequality and demonstrates that while one ethnic group in a neighbourhood may have high relative levels of deprivation, another ethnic group in that same neighbourhood may experience very low relative levels. The EGDI explores ethnic inequalities within and between neighbourhoods, complementing and augmenting existing measures by offering an important means of better understanding ethnic inequalities. The EGDI can be used to help shape locally and culturally sensitive policy development and resource allocation.

The adoption paradox: Exploring the role of ethnicity, deprivation, and co-ethnic density in care proceedings in England

The study objectives were to (1) examine the association between children’s ethnicity and final legal orders at the end of family care proceedings (section 31 of the 1989 Children Act), and (2) test whether residential context, such as co-ethnic density and area-level deprivation, moderates this association.
 Two sources of data were used for this study. The first consisted of records routinely generated by Cafcass (England) and stored in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank, and the second was the 2021 England Census. The focus was on children whose initial care proceedings took place between 2015/2016 and 2020/2021 and concluded with a recorded final legal order outcome (N = 98,161). Three-level logistic regression models were employed to estimate the relationship between children's ethnicity and adoption, along with the potential moderating effects of co-ethnic density and area-level deprivation.
 Children's ethnicity is significantly associated with placement for adoption, with white children being more likely to be subject to placement orders compared to children from all other ethnic groups combined (Asian, black, mixed or multiple, and other ethnic groups). Higher local authority co-ethnic density considerably reduces the likelihood of adoption for children of other ethnicities besides white, but not for white children. Moreover, white children living in the most deprived LSOAs are more likely to be placed for adoption than those residing in the least deprived LSOAs. However, the likelihood of placement for adoption remains consistent across all LSOA deprivation quintiles for children from ethnicities other than white. Local authority-level deprivation does not appear to moderate the relationship between children's ethnicity and adoption.
 This study sheds light on the intricate relationship between ethnicity, residential context, and adoption. While previous research has indicated that white children are more likely to be adopted, the findings enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms influencing adoption, paving the way for a more equitable family justice system.

Mapping the cultural divides of England and Wales: Did the geographies of 'Belonging' act as a brake on British Urbanisation, 1851-1911?

Although both the analysis of regional culture and urbanisation are long-standing preoccupations in geography, few studies have considered the relationship between the two, the former traditionally being a topic in cultural geography, while the latter is usually interpreted and analysed as a process in economic geography. Taking evidence from the 1851-1911 censuses of England and Wales, this article analyses individual migration paths to identify stable regions of human interaction by applying a sophisticated community-detection algorithm. By accurately mapping the regions within which the majority of migration occurred between 1851 and 1911 and arguing that the stability of these geographies is evidence of more than just mutable communities but rather of persistent regional cultures, this article responds to previous studies that have sought to identify the cultural provinces of England and Wales. Indeed, by demonstrating that the regions bear a striking resemblance to those that have long been hypothesised as being distinct cultural provinces of England and Wales, this article empirically corroborates their existence. In order to further demonstrate that the regions constitute cultural provinces, this paper incorporates these boundaries into a spatial interaction model (SIM). The results of the SIM not only shows that the boundaries between the regions limited the number of migrants that crossed them-over and above that explained by control variables-and therefore represented the boundaries of cultural provinces, demarcating discrete regions of human interaction-but that such boundaries disproportionately restricted rural-urban migrants, thereby slowing the pace at which England and Wales urbanised. This paper therefore demonstrates that urbanisation should not only be interpreted as only an economic phenomenon, but a cultural one also, and that if urbanisation is to be fully understood, individuals' attachment to place as a component of their identity, ought to be formally incorporated into models of migration.

A comprehensive overview by region of condoms, natural family planning, and spermicide as a contraceptive method among men aged 13–54 years attending contraceptive services in England

ObjectivesThis study aimed to (1) provide a comprehensive overview of contraceptive methods self-reported by men in England, over 5 years, focusing on condoms in comparison to any male method; and (2) explore condom as a contraceptive method by region and ethnicity. Study designData were from the Sexual and Reproductive Health Services (Contraception) England census data set from 2014/15 to 2018/19. Once missing data were removed, this left a total of 365,292 men. Two binomial logistic regression models were performed. Model 1 examined ethnicity, region, and time on condom as a method of contraception; and Model 2 examined ethnicity, region, and time by any male contraceptive. Descriptive statistics were run for natural family planning and spermicide. ResultsModel 1 revealed a significant model, χ2 (15) = 30,976, P < 0.001, and predicted that condoms as a method decreased in London with a greater decrease in Midlands. London saw the lowest rate of decline among the non-White ethnic group, whereas North and South regions increased probability over time. The North started at a higher probability and the South at the lowest. Model 2 also revealed a significant model, χ2 (15) = 32,472, P < 0.001, with a similar pattern to Model 1. Contingency tables showed natural family planning and spermicide were the least reported methods and decreased over time. ConclusionsAs any male contraceptive method appears to be decreasing in both models, reproductive health promotion is required. This study has implications for commissioning funds and for identifying regional areas of further investigation.

Occupational distribution and mobility of migrants born in South Asia: evidence from England/Wales Census, 1901–1911

ABSTRACT South Asians constitute Britain's largest ethnic minorities, yet very little is known about their migration history in the prewar era. Recent literature has begun to challenge the widely held view that South Asian migration to Britain was a post-war phenomenon in response to Britain's need for labour as it emerged from two costly wars. The literature has demonstrated that the South Asian presence in Britain can be traced back to the seventeenth century. This paper adds to that literature by analysing the occupation distribution and mobility of South Asian-born migrants during the early twentieth century. Regression results from the 1901 and 1911 Censuses of England and Wales suggest that relative to other foreign-born and British-born, South Asian-born immigrants were primarily employed in white-collar jobs, a position they largely retained until at least 1911. These results suggest that the South Asian diaspora was economically well assimilated into the British economy.

Ethnic diversification and neighbourhood mixing: A rapid response analysis of the 2021 Census of England and Wales

AbstractThis paper provides a rapid response analysis of the changing geographies of ethnic diversity and segregation in England and Wales using Census data covering the last 30 years (1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021), a period of significant social, economic and political change. Presenting the first detailed analysis of 2021 Census small area ethnic group data, we find that the growth of ethnic diversity at the national level is mirrored across residential neighbourhoods. Increasing numbers of neighbourhoods are home to a substantial mix of people from different ethnic groups, and this growing neighbourhood ethnic diversity has been spatially diffusing across all regions of England and Wales. We argue that to understand the ethnic mosaic across England and Wales, it is more illuminating to consider mix than majority: places labelled as ‘minority‐majority’ are, in fact, ethnically diverse spaces, home to sizable proportions of people from many ethnic groups. Increasing ethnic diversity is matched by decreasing residential segregation, for all ethnic groups—majority and minority.

Fatal Places? Contextual Effects on Infant and Child Mortality in Early Twentieth Century England and Wales

AbstractThis paper takes, as its starting point, Preston and Haines’ observation in Fatal Years that social class was the most important influence on infant and child mortality in England and Wales in the early twentieth century. A subsequent study suggested that this could in part be due to the spatial distribution of the different classes across different types of place, and that some of the mortality differences by social class might actually reflect the contextual effects of healthy and unhealthy places. Although this line of argument has received a considerable amount of attention in health geography literature, it has rarely been examined for a specific historic period, and then only within particular urban areas. In this paper, we apply multi-level models to a complete count individual-level dataset of the 1911 census of England and Wales, comparing influences on infant and child mortality at the level of the individual couple and for two spatial levels. We find that although most variation in infant and child mortality operates at the individual level, there is also important variation at the two spatial levels and part of the mortality differences between social classes is better explained by the areas in which people lived rather than by their social class. A consideration of independent variables at all three levels suggests that different spatial scales capture different sorts of influences on early age mortality.

Is there greater ethnic mixing in residential or workplace spaces?

ABSTRACT While much of the ethnic and racial segregation literature concentrates on residential neighbourhoods, a growing body of research demonstrates how levels of inter-ethnic mixing vary between home and other spaces, including workplace environments. Using alternative population bases from the 2011 Census for England and Wales, we explore how levels of ethnic segregation and diversity compare for working-age people in residential (‘nighttime’), workday (‘daytime’) and workplace (‘employment’) environments. Analyses of Middle Layer Super Output Areas reveal that a larger number of these zones had low residential ethnic diversity than had low workday or workplace diversity. We also find higher levels of residential segregation than workplace segregation for all ethnic groups, including the White British (majority) and minoritised groups. Notable differences in segregation between residential and workplace spaces for the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups, for example, demonstrate that more commonly applied measures of residential segregation fail to capture the extent of inter-ethnic mixing across spaces, and at different times of the day. Commuting data are analysed to explore the role of daily mobilities in shaping these patterns. The findings nuance understandings of levels of ethnic mixing, and emphasise the need for segregation analyses across multiple spatio-temporal contexts.

Counting People in Early Modern England: Registers, Registrars, and Political Arithmetic

Abstract Although there was no complete census in England until 1801, there had been counts of people for various purposes in towns and villages since the sixteenth century, and by the end of the seventeenth century political arithmeticians were trying to calculate the total population and its demographic characteristics from a range of documents, old and new. There had even been projects to collect new data from parish registers which in some respects anticipated the civil registers of vital events finally established in 1837. The aim of this paper is to look again at the invention in the sixteenth century of the sources later used for demographic investigation, especially parish registers and bills of mortality; to demonstrate that their value for such purposes was appreciated by contemporaries earlier than has often been assumed; and to show why, when their utility declined in the eighteenth century, it proved impossible to reform them. Pressure from political arithmeticians and a growing sector of the medical profession to redesign the established machinery of registration had no effect because it had become a monopoly in the hands of an ecclesiastical establishment determined to defend it. In the 1530s England acquired a precocious system of national registration, potentially adaptable to multiple uses, but it scarcely changed at all for three hundred years because there was no agreement on how to adapt or replace it.