Sir, The 2011 Census form landed on my doormat an hour ago and already I’m feeling irritated. I’m not so disaffected that I’ll refuse to complete it, but I do wonder what brainbox designed it and how useful it will be.
Seventeen of the 42 questions deal with employment, commencing with Q26. This offers seven employment options, but I must tick “none of the above” because there is no mention of “retired”. Thus instead of being able to skip a few questions I must answer Q27 “Were you actively looking for any kind of paid work during the last four weeks?” and Q28 “If a job had been available last week, could you have started it within two weeks?”
How informative is it for government planners, policymakers and statisticians to input my “No” answers to these questions? There follow six questions relating to former employment. I wonder how relevant is information that is, in my case, a decade out of date.
Elizabeth Balsom
London SW15
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Sir, Members of the household are required to give only first and last names. Family history researchers find that the middle names give vital clues to earlier generations, particularly on the maternal side. Researchers will curse the National Statistician for such a lapse in detail.
Andrew Chalmers
Amersham, Bucks
Sir, I followed a lady at the postbox this morning who was, like me, returning census forms. Because the envelope provided has been so cunningly designed not to fit into the slot of a postbox, between us we completely clogged up the box.
Peter Hayes
Wolverhampton, W Midlands
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Sir, The Census telephone helpline is supposed to answer your questions. I rang the helpline, went through three menus pressing buttons, and at last found one that would put me on to a human being. The answer came: “There is no one available to answer your question. Goodbye.”
Dennis Milstone
Northwood, Middx
Sir, I note that the Census form is available in 56 languages. What does that say about integration?
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Michael Lazarus
Northaw, Herts