Census Ethnic Categories and Second-Generation Identities: A Study of the Irish in England and Wales

Abstract

This article focuses on the second-generation Irish in Britain, and presents findings of the relationship between particular social characteristics and predictions of the likelihood of second-generation Irish selecting ‘White Irish’ or ‘White British’ in the 2001 Census in England and Wales. Using a combination of new quantitative data and earlier (unpublished) qualitative evidence, it analyses the complexity underlying the public claiming of a British or Irish identity in the Census and argues that it is not possible to predict that individuals with the closest attachments to Ireland will necessarily select the ‘White Irish’ category nor that those who select ‘White British’ inevitably have weaker ties. The ONS Longitudinal Survey data presented here reveal that age, gender, marital status, educational qualifications, upward social mobility and number of Irish-born parents are significant social characteristics increasing the likelihood of particular selections of census category. The article discusses the form of the ethnic question and its impact on response patterns, proposed revisions for the 2011 Census, and the usefulness or otherwise of census categories as a lens for examining second-generation identification.

Keywords:

• Irish
• British
• England
• Wales
• Census
• Ethnic Categories

Acknowledgements

The permission of the Office for National Statistics to use the Longitudinal Study is gratefully acknowledged, as is the help provided by staff of the Centre for Longitudinal Study Information and User Support (CeLSIUS). CeLSIUS is supported by the ESRC Census of Population Programme (Award Ref: RES-000-22-1435). The author alone is responsible for the interpretation of the data. Census output is Crown copyright and is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. I would also like to acknowledge the insights afforded me in discussions with Robert Moore and Bronwen Walter, and at the CRESR Symposium ‘The Irish in Britain: issues, evidence and future trends’, Sheffield Hallam University, 3 June 2008. Three anonymous JEMS referees, and Breda Gray and Allan Williams, also made valuable comments on the paper.

Notes

1. The ‘Irish2 project’ was shorthand for the ESRC-funded project ‘The second generation Irish: a hidden population in multi-ethnic Britain’ (reference number: R00023836; see: www.apu.ac.uk/geography/progress/Irish2).

2. The research is part of a larger ESRC-funded project ‘Changing and claiming ethnic identities: the evidence of the ONS Longitudinal Study’ (RES-000-22-1435).

3. We excluded all those for whom ethnicity was imputed.

4. Assuming, that is, that the census continues after 2011—and the new British government has already indicated that this might not be the case.