Samples of Anonymised Records: a resource for ethnicity research Ed Fieldhouse Director, SARs Support team

Key features of the SARs Coverage Full range of census variables Size Ethnicity and religion Geography Multivariate/flexibility Household structure Comparability with other census products Easy access

1991 Census microdata FileSample type GeographyAvailability 1991 Individual SAR 2% sample of individuals GB and NI available separately. Divided into a total of 288 SAR areas Online registration and access via CCSR. Data can be downloaded in SPSS, tab or Stata. Nesstar tool available for online data exploration Househol d SAR 1% sample of households GB and NI available separately. Regional geography

The SARs family 2001 FileSample typeGeographyAvailability Individual licenced 3% sample of individuals UK GOR (+ Wales, Scot, NI, Inner/Outer London) EUL CCSR Small area microdata 5% sample of individuals UK: LA (or consituency in NI) EUL CCSR Household licensed 1% hierarchical file None: England & Wales only Special licence UKDA Individual CAMS Same sample as Individual licenced SAR LA (GB) or Constituency (NI) IMD info for SOA In house at ONS Household CAMS 1% hierarchical file All of UKIn house at ONS

Individual SAR 3% sample of individuals from UK 1.84 million records All census variables present Lowest geography – GOR Access –End User Licence (via Athens for academics –Do not attempt to identify anyone –Do not pass on data to unregistered individual

Controlled Access Individual SAR 3% sample of individuals from UK 1.84 million records All census variables present with very great detail Lowest geography – LA Access –Only within 4 ONS offices –Rigorous application procedure by ONS –Careful vetting of outputs by ONS

Household SAR 1% sample of households, E & W only 225K Households; 525K individuals All census variables present No geography Individuals linked within household Access –Special Licence - administered by UKDA –More restrictive than EUL, eg cannot use on laptop –Applications need approval by ONS

Same sample as SL-Household SAR, but also contains Scotland and NI All census variables present with very great detail Lowest geography – LA Access –Only within 4 ONS offices –Rigorous application procedure by ONS –Careful vetting of outputs by ONS Controlled Access Household SAR

Small Area Microdata (SAM) 5% sample of Individuals from UK 2.96 million records Most census variables present – restricted detail Lowest geography – LA Access – End User Licence (via Athens for academics) –Do not attempt to identify anyone –Do not pass on data to unregistered individual

The 1991 Census ethnic group question asked in England, Wales and Scotland

The 2001 Census ethnic group question asked in England and Wales

The 2001 Census ethnic group question asked in Scotland

The 2001 Census ethnic group question asked in Northern Ireland

2007 Test – England and Wales

FileNo of ethnic group categories Country of birthReligion 1991 Individual SAR 1042No Individual licensed England and Wales 14 Scotland 2 Northern Ireland 169 E/W 11 Scotland 7 NI Small area microdata 13 E/W 8 Scotland 2 NI 59 E/W 10 Scotland 7 NI 1991 Household SAR 1042No SL Household licensed 16 E/W169 E/W Individual CAMS 16 E/W 14 Scotland 12 NI 499 E/W 10 Scotland 7 NI Household CAMS 16 E/W499 E/W 10 Scotland 7 NI

1991 2% Individual SAR

Ethnic Group for England and Wales – % Individual Licensed SAR

SAM: Sample size by ethnicity (England and Wales)

SAM: Northern Ireland

SAM in Scotland

Comparison of ethnic group categories in Census From Simpson and Akinwale, 2006

Ethnic group imputation in 2001

Comparing with the 100% data: England

Comparing with the 100% data: Scotland

Key research areas on ethincity using SARs Ethnic differences in unemployment Ethnic differences in educational attainment and participation Ethnic differences in class attainment Ethnic composition of families Ethnic differences in health

Research findings: 1991 SARs: Unemployment In contrast to the small sample size of survey data which forces many researchers to over-collapse the categories and call all minority ethnic groups 'black', the SARs allows for detailed analysis of ethnic groups. Differences both between and within major ethnic groups can be explored in various aspects of their socio-economic lives while at the same time controlling for other important characteristics. Blackburn, Dale and Jarman (1997) showed striking differences between ethnic groups in the vulnerability to unemployment, even among people with the same level of educational qualifications. One in five (20 per cent) of UK-born Black- African men and women with higher qualifications were unemployed, but the rate for similarly qualified UK-born Whites was only one fifth as many (3 to 4 per cent). This is a case of what might be called 'ethnic penalty' See also Fieldhouse and Gould, 1998 on how ethnic penalties are affected by local labour market conditions using sub- regional geography in SAR Similar work by Simpson et al (for DWP) and Heath et al using 2001 SARs

Mixed couples – SL-HSAR

...and UK born

Impact of age, sex, qualifications and country of birth on economic activity (source DWP Research Report 333)

Impact of age, sex, qualifications and country of birth on economic activity (source DWP Research Report 333

Ethnic penalties on women's economic activity (source DWP Research Report 333

Ethnic penalties on mens unemployment (source DWP Research Report 333

Accessing the files EUL files available online following standard registration with the Census Registration System –Licensed Individual file 2001 –Small Area Microdata file 2001 –1991 1% household and 2% individual SARs Special licence Household SAR (via UKDA) CAMS – controlled access allowed via ONS at specified sites