The UK 2001 census question on within household relationships

Abstract

In 1997, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Statistical Office of the European Communities introduced recommendations for the 2000 round of censuses. Part of the recommendations on family and household types, included the identification of ‘hidden’ and ‘reconstituted’ families [1]. In response to this request, the 3 Census Offices in the UK, namely Scotland, England & Wales and Northern Ireland developed a question to fulfil this requirement. It is the development of this question known as the “Relationship Matrix” and the results achieved that are outlined in this paper.