Breakdown of Census 2021 responses under the Black African ethnic group

Reference: FOI-2024-1776 

You asked

Can I please get a breakdown of responses for the write-in response section under the Black African ethnic group? I believe this was a new question added in the 2021 census.

I would like to understand:

• How many people (or %) who identified as Black African, also completed this section
• For those that did complete the section, what response was given and the % split?

Based on the responses of those that did complete the question, I'd like a breakdown of their responses by:

• Housing status
• Household size
• Educational Level
• Marriage/Relationship Status
• Unemployment %
• Age
• Sex
• Median Pay (split by sex & age)

We said

Thank you for your freedom of information request. 

A question on ethnic group has been asked since the 1991 Census for England and Wales and has developed over time but, in all versions, there have been options allowing respondents to write in their ethnic group to identify as they wish. For Census 2021, for example, where people wanted to identify their ethnic group in a way that was not included as a tick-box option (e.g. as White English or Asian British), they could write that response in one of the write-in response options. For all the identity questions, people could select one of the tick-box options or write in their answer -- making census more inclusive than ever before. 

We have published census data on everyone in England and Wales. Everyone's write-in answers are included in our statistics but not every write-in answer is published. 

We record every response provided to the ethnic group question, either through tick-box selection or write-in. Sometimes there were not enough people identifying in a particular way for us to include it in our published datasets while ensuring confidentiality. In these cases, we have grouped them together where appropriate, or included them within 'Any other ethnic group'. 

From these many write-in answers, we have built a detailed ethnic group dataset that provides insight into 287 ethnic groups. As a result, some aspects of someone's ethnic group may appear multiple times. 

For example, "Portuguese" could appear in the detailed classification as "Black, Black British, Black Welsh of African or Caribbean background: Portuguese," or it could also appear in "Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: Portuguese", "White: Portuguese" or "Other ethnic group: Portuguese". 

The ethnic groups with too few write-in answers for us to publish and ensure confidentiality are grouped together as "any other ethnic group" under their respective high-level 'tick-box' categories. For example, if there were very few people who identified as "Portuguese" within the "Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh" ethnic group, they would need to be aggregated with other small groups in the "Asian, Asian British, Asian Welsh: Any other ethnic group" category. 

You may be able to access the data you require from the multivariate data we have published or by using the create a custom dataset tool. This includes the functionality to combine two or more variables in a single dataset, such as occupation by sex, and allows you to adjust the geography and population included in the dataset to suit your needs, subject to statistical disclosure control. 

The attached dataset (RM032) provides ethnic group by sex by age for England and Wales and has been extracted from the multivariate data flexible datasets, where you can choose and change the area type, coverage and variables for Census 2021 data, and custom datasets that you make yourself. 

Detailed census data (housing, household size, qualifications, relationship status, employment, age and sex) is available by ethnic group from our create a custom dataset tool. The census has never included a question on income. (Navigation instructions are attached).  

If the data are not available in the ready-made multivariate datasets or using the create a custom dataset tool, you may be able to commission a table to your own specifications. The Commission Tables process uses similar disclosure control methods but with a manual assessment so adapting a query to your specific needs may result in a more successful outcome. Please note there is a charge for this service. 

If you have any queries about this data or require any assistance with the use of these datasets, Census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk can advise.