Census gender identity question information

You asked

Please find my FOI about Question 27 on Gender Identity. I like some 99% of the UK population do not have a gender identity and the construction of the question gave us no way to answer. I fear this undermines the validity of the numerical outcome considerably.

I assume that this mis-construction of the Gender Identity question and its inappropriate separation from the unequivocally connected question about biological sex was not a deliberate attempt to undermine the numerical value of the outcome of this question, however what measures are the ONS going to take to

i) disaggregate the figure arrived at between those who have a gender identity and those like me who have no gender identity and were forced to use the affirmative in order to access a means of saying so because the whole construction and assumption of the question was wrong?

ii) reverse the incorrect & false information as conveyed to the whole population of the UK in a question they were legally obliged to answer, that everybody has a gender identity, when at current estimates only some 0.3-0.75% of the UK population do and by definition those who do not gender identify out of biological sex have no gender identity.

iii) If the ONS did not adequately understand the concept of gender identity, as evidenced by Question 27, why did it include it in Census 2021? (or why didn’t it ask reputable sources?)

Can add to the request the proforma of Question 27 as it appeared online. I took a screen capture but clearly over-wrote it, I was very annoyed with myself but I was not well.

We said

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding the Census 2021 gender identity question.

In both the online and paper versions of Census 2021, the guidance states explicitly that the gender identity question is voluntary and is only asked of those 16 and over. This means that respondents can choose whether they wish to respond.

A screenshot of the online version of the Census 2021 gender identity question can be found in the download accompanying this request, named 'Gender_Identity_Question_Census_2021'.

Answering your three specific questions on "what measures are the ONS going to take to":

i) disaggregate the figure arrived at between those who have a gender identity and those like me who have no gender identity and were forced to use the affirmative in order to access a means of saying so because the whole construction and assumption of the question was wrong?

There is no requirement to do this as, because of the voluntary nature of the question, people were not "forced to use the affirmative".

ii) reverse the incorrect & false information as conveyed to the whole population of the UK in a question they were legally obliged to answer, that everybody has a gender identity, when at current estimates only some 0.3-0.75% of the UK population do and by definition those who do not gender identify out of biological sex have no gender identity.

It was not conveyed that people were legally obliged to answer; it was stated clearly in the question that it was voluntary. We recognise that opinions on the nature of gender identity differ but in practice, for example, we fully expect that many people who were biologically female at birth may readily state that they identify with the female gender - i.e. we do not consider that the question is only applicable to those who are transgender. Our testing prior to the census found that 90% of respondents found the wording of the gender identity question either "acceptable" or "very acceptable". If somebody does not consider that they have a gender identity, they can choose not to answer the question.

iii) If the ONS did not adequately understand the concept of gender identity, as evidenced by Question 27, why did it include it in Census 2021? (or why didn't it ask reputable sources?)

The gender identity question was included to serve a clear user need, for example to inform service provision and support the delivery of public sector equality duties. We do not agree that we misunderstood the concept.

If you require anything further, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at pop.info@ons.gov.uk.