China News Service, March 22. According to a report in the UK edition of the European Times, the UK's decennial census (Census) kicked off on March 21.

The Census is a survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to understand the population and households of England and Wales.

The information collected in the census will help plan and fund local public services, such as transportation, medical care, education, and language services.

For example, the NHS may need to provide translation and interpretation services in different languages ​​in a specific area.

　　At present, many families have received invitation letters from the census. The unique 16-digit access code provided in the letters can be filled out online by logging in to the website.

The content to be filled in includes gender, age, race, health status, education occupation and family size, etc. Providing false information or not filling in the census questionnaire will constitute a violation of the law and may be fined up to £1,000.

　　Some questions in the questionnaire, such as those related to religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation, are voluntarily answered. If you do not answer, you will not violate the law.

At the same time, if you have lived in the UK for less than three months, you do not need to fill out the census questionnaire.

The census questionnaire must be completed in English, and residents of Wales can also complete it in Welsh.

The official website can also download the simplified Chinese version of the manual to help fill out the census paper questionnaire, which explains in detail how to fill in the census form.

The key data of the Chinese community at a glance Chinese students generally have higher performance

　　As an important minority ethnic group in the UK, the Chinese people's feedback on the census is vital to safeguarding their rights and building the Chinese community.

According to official statistics, there were 393,141 Chinese in England and Wales in 2011, accounting for 0.7% of the total population.

Oi Ling, a staff member of the Bureau of Statistics who is responsible for assisting community participation, revealed that 9.7% of Chinese live in the poorest 10% of communities, about 8% of Chinese are 60 years old and above, and 5.3% of the main members of Chinese families are for the elderly. Among gold recipients, 25.2% of Chinese are between 18 and 24 years old.

　　At the same time, Oi Ling said that between 2006 and 2018, the proportion of Chinese students entering higher education institutions was the highest. According to the 2018 cycle report issued by the Office of Higher Education Admissions (UCAS), 66.3% of Chinese students in that year Having received higher education, 75.3% of Chinese students achieved high scores in English, mathematics and GCSE exams, the highest proportion of all ethnic groups.

　　Oi Ling said that according to data from 2011, 82.1% of Chinese people of working age (16 to 64 years old).

In terms of mental health, learning disabilities and the number of prisons, the proportion of the Chinese population is the lowest.

Chinese feedback is closely related to resource allocation and actively cooperate to safeguard their rights

　　Oi Ling explained that charities such as Chinese Community Centres generally apply for activity funds based on the number of members. Therefore, the feedback of Chinese in the census will greatly affect the future resource allocation and the formulation of related social policies.

If the Chinese community grows stronger, but the data reflected in the census is inconsistent, it will be very unfavorable.

　　In short, the greater the proportion of the number of Chinese reflected in population data, the more Chinese can apply for and get more relevant resources and favorable policies in the UK.

Therefore, as an important part of the Chinese in the UK, international students should also actively speak up. The data reflected by the Chinese student population may affect local public transportation, medical services, language services, and supermarket convenience, which are highly related to daily life.

Large-scale online population data from the census during the epidemic is used to study the impact of the epidemic

　　In previous years, the census will also be conducted face-to-face, especially for people who need additional help.

But this year due to the epidemic, the census was launched online on a large scale.

Residents only need to complete the questionnaire online through the access code of their residence.

This not only facilitates data collection, but the prompts in the web version also avoid many clerical errors that may occur when handwriting.

　　In addition, if the epidemic prevention rules allow, people can also go to the offline assistance center of the census for help.

Oi Ling reminded that in order to facilitate the completion of the questionnaire for the majority of the Chinese community, there are platforms for providing relevant information at the entrance of the Super League in Chinatown, the Charing Cross Library and outside the Super Gate of Rongye Hong. All Chinese community centers will also have Chinese community consultants To assist.

　　Oi Ling mentioned that the information reflected in the 2011 census has played a huge role in this new crown pneumonia epidemic. People can use relevant data to obtain data on deaths of people of different races and physical conditions due to new crown pneumonia.

At the same time, it is also the only source of information on occupation and family composition at the local level.

It is believed that the latest data in 2021 can help conduct more relevant research and analysis.

(Tian Hao Xuezi)