2011 Census - must we fill in everything??

Hi all,

I have been in the UK for 3.5 years but this is the first time I've ever received a copy of the census.  I have to say, I know we must fill it out, but I do find a lot of the questions very invasive.  I know it is also claimed that we could be fined if we don't answer it. A couple questions, do we have to fill in everything? what if some things are a bit private- ie. what if you are about to go thru a divorce/separation, what do you say?  then who gets the car/pays the bills/sleeps where.   Where does this information go?  I'm so sorry for all the gory and specific questions on an otherwise beautiful Sunday afternoon but I'm going to have a think on this before I complete this.   (More than you wanted to know or think about!)

I guess there's still a lot of American in me/5th ammendment rights. How much flexibility is there here?  I'd rather answer the least amount and still be fine.

take care all and happy mothers day!
Tulip

Apart from the religion question, I think all questions are mandatory. Also, is is specific t0 the date of March 27th so I think it's irrelevent if people are going to get divorced, or split up, it's what the situation is on March 27th 2011.
As to whether you answer questions truthfully though - nobody is going to come and interrogate you as to who owns the car or pays the electricity bill.

I have been in the UK for 3.5 years but this is the first time I've ever received a copy of the census. 

The UK census is only done once every 10 years (same as the US census), so you haven't missed out on anything . The last one was sent out in April 2001 (I was only 17 then, so my parents filled it out on my behalf - this year was the first time I've filled out a census form as an adult).

To be honest, I didn't really think much about the questions on the form - I filled the entire thing out in about 5 minutes.... tick, tick... job title, job description... tick, tick etc. . You don't have to worry about the details of bills or cars or anything - you can just tick what is appropriate to your situation (i.e. what type of central heating do you have, how many cars did you have on March 27th, what was your marital status on March 27th, who was physically staying at the property on March 27th etc.).

I believe the info goes to the National Office for Statistics... and all they do is work out the number of people in each category so they can come up with the latest UK population statistics - they don't care who you are or what your situation is, you're essentially just a statistic in a survey.

As to whether you answer questions truthfully though - nobody is going to come and interrogate you as to who owns the car or pays the electricity bill.

Thanks!

Also, like in the US I would imagine that the information, once received at the Census office, is highly confidential. My mother worked for the US Census and they were VERY serious about confidentiality and even the reports the US Census generates will not reveal individual details. I can't promise it's the same in the UK, but I'd imagine it is to some degree.

Just to clarify, the Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination. You aren't being accused of doing anything illegal and you aren't being asked to confess to doing anything illegal, so the Fifth Amendment wouldn't have anything to do with the situation.

ETA: Protection against self incrimination is derived from English Common Law.

I believe any personal details will be confidential for 100 years.  Unless you plan to be alive in 100 years I wouldn't worry about it.

Just to clarify, the Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination. You aren't being accused of doing anything illegal and you aren't being asked to confess to doing anything illegal, so the Fifth Amendment wouldn't have anything to do with the situation.

Maybe the OP was thinking of the 4th Amendment?  The one that protects Americans from unlawful searches?

(That's not intended to be a wise-a$$ answer; it's an honest suggestion.)

Maybe the OP was thinking of the 4th Amendment?  The one that protects Americans from unlawful searches?

(That's not intended to be a wise-a$$ answer; it's an honest suggestion.)

Could be.

Either way, I don't think it really matters.  As pp have pointed out, the purpose of the census is to put out a bunch of statistics and they could care less about if you paid your car tax this year or if you'll be divorced next year.

Thanks for the reassurance everyone.  I wanted to know where the data was going and that it's not going to be used against me, or at least not in the next 100 years.
And yes, clearly its been 20 years since I've been in history class