Sikh Council UK today wrote to the Office of National Statistics to reaffirm the case for a separate
Sikh ethnic tick box in the Census 2021.
Over 83,000 Sikhs identified their ethnic background as Sikh in the last census in 2011 despite there being no designated provision for this. The ONS undertook consultations of stakeholders in respect of the next census in 2015 and 2016 and concluded there was demand and earlier this year tested the use of a separate Sikh ethnic tick box and are currently undertaking further research before making a recommendation in the next three to four months that will be reflected in the Census White Paper 2018.
Sikh Council UK Secretary General Elect Jagtar Singh said “There are strong and well-founded arguments for increased collection and analysis of statistics on Sikhs in education, employment, health and public services at both local and national level, but this will only come into practice if there is a separate Sikh ethnic tick box in the Census 2021.”
He added “Sikhs have long been recognised as a distinct racial group with respect to ethnic origins as well as a faith community and recording Sikh numbers by way of the mandatory ethnicity question as well as the optional faith question in the next census will assist public bodies, policy makers and community groups in addressing specific needs of the Sikh community”.
