1 week ago
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The fig of transgender radical surviving successful the UK whitethorn person been overestimated by the 2021 census, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed.
Following the survey successful England and Wales, it was reported that astir 1 successful 200 radical aged implicit 16 self-identified arsenic a antithetic sex to their enactment astatine birth.
However, a reappraisal recovered that radical who bash not talk fluent English whitethorn person misunderstood the wording of the applicable question and mistakenly answered that they see themselves to beryllium trans.
The ONS had antecedently defended its methodology, contempt immoderate academics raising concerns implicit its accuracy.
People who filled retired the 2021 census successful England and Wales were asked: "Is the sex you place with the aforesaid arsenic your enactment registered astatine birth?"
According to the ONS, 262,000 radical - astir 0.5% of the colonisation - answered "no".
But connected Wednesday, Mary Gregory - a lawman manager astatine the ONS - said immoderate radical whitethorn person misunderstood the question.
Writing connected the ONS's website, she said determination was "potential bias" successful however the question was answered "by those who responded that they had little levels of English proficiency, immoderate of whom whitethorn person mistakenly fixed an reply suggesting they were trans".
The fig of radical who answered the question mistakenly is thought to beryllium "relatively small", she added, but capable to overgarment an inaccurate representation successful areas "where determination are higher levels of non-English speakers".
Michael Biggs, a prof of sociology astatine Oxford University, publically questioned the statistic successful April.
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Writing successful the British Sociological Society journal, helium noted a amazingly precocious proportionality of radical recorded arsenic identifying arsenic trans did not talk English (or Welsh successful Wales) arsenic a archetypal language.
While lone 10% of radical said they did not talk English arsenic their main connection connected the census, it appeared they made up 29% of the full fig of transgender people, Prof Biggs said.
For example, the London Borough of Newham had the highest proportionality of radical who identified arsenic transgender (1.51%). The country besides has 1 of the highest rates of non-English speakers - 35%, compared to 9% nationally.
The Office for Statistics Regulation has downgraded the information from "accredited authoritative statistics" to "official statistic successful development" to bespeak the imaginable flaws.
The regulator said different statistic produced by the 2021 census are inactive considered to beryllium afloat accurate.
The ONS had antecedently said its estimates connected the transgender colonisation were successful enactment with “international comparators”.
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