Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Even after imputation of missing households, the UK’s 1991 Census counts were lower than expected. In the 1990s, the ESRC-funded Estimating with Confidence project (EwC) distributed official non-response data for local authority districts on a small area-specific basis to allow for under-enumeration, timing changes between census day and the mid-year, armed forces adjustments and the transfer of students from home to term-time addresses. The EwC-enhanced census counts became accepted as the ‘gold standard’ for mid-1991 small area populations and have been widely used in academic and government research. Following the 2001 Census, evidence suggested that previous official upward adjustments to 1991 populations were too large. Revisions were retrospectively made to 1991 non-response in England, Wales and Scotland (GB) and to the official annual time-series of local authority (LA) mid-year population estimates. Since data for previous populations are needed for sub-district small areas, this project has revised the original EwC non-response allowances (for small areas across GB) and converted the output to more contemporary geographies (for all of UK including Northern Ireland). As a result, the 1991 EwC small area estimates are now consistent and comparable with the 2001 Census population definition and geography and the 1981-2001 official population time-series at LA level across the whole of the UK. These revised UK-coverage small area population estimates resource will underpin late 20th Century local area social analyses of changes in populations and, for example, changes in health and unemployment rates. Further information can be found on the ESRC Award web page.Main Topics:The study provides complete mid-1991 and mid-2001 population estimates by five year age-groups and sex for Census Area Statistics (CAS) wards across England, Wales and Northern Ireland CAS postal sectors across...