Improve gender lens in UK census data, report urges
A new report has called on the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) to make gender inequalities such as unpaid care more visible in the next census.
The report – Bridging the gender data gap: Recommendations for improving UK census data – was produced by the King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and the Women’s Budget Group, and draws on feminist economics and user engagement.
It highlights both the potential and limitations of census data in making gender inequalities visible, particularly those related to income, unpaid care, and occupational segregation.
It describes gender data gaps in the UK census as “not simply technical oversights but structural omissions that reflect deeper epistemological and political biases in how the economy is defined and governed”.
Its seven recommendations for inclusive data systems include embedding questions on unpaid childcare; integrating or linking income data; improving occupational classifications; and identifying sandwich carers (who look after both children and older adults).
It also suggests co-designing statistical processes with civil society, mainstreaming gender equality, and developing a national gender data strategy.
“These changes would not only close critical gaps in representation but fundamentally reorient the values underpinning UK data governance,” it said.
Transforming how we ‘govern knowledge itself’
In the foreword of the report, Julia Gillard, the chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London and former prime minister of Australia, said “the need for reliable, inclusive, and conceptually sound data has never been more urgent”.
“High-quality statistics are essential for tracking progress toward gender equality and designing effective policies to improve the diverse lives of our population”, she said, adding that meeting this need goes “beyond simple sex-disaggregation”.
She explained that gender statistics are designed, produced, and interpreted through frameworks that reflect the social and structural dimensions of gender, including the “roles, norms, and institutions that continue to shape women’s and men’s outcomes in different ways”.
“Without this lens, much of the gender inequalities embedded in everyday life remains invisible in aggregate figures, limiting the effectiveness of data-informed decision making.”
“To count what matters is to make visible what sustains us, including the unpaid labour that underpins our economy and society. Achieving a gender-equal future requires a transformation of how we design, govern, and democratise knowledge itself,” she said.
Read more: Australia releases gender responsive budgeting guidance for federal departments
ONS grapples with findings of the Devereux Review
The report comes as the ONS grapples with the findings of the Devereux Review.
The review into the performance and culture of the ONS, which was delivered to government in June and undertaken by former UK Department for Work and Pensions permanent secretary Sir Robert Devereux, was commissioned following issues with core economic statistics and found serious governance failings.
“At this critical juncture, embedding gender mainstreaming into the census and wider data system is essential for supporting effective policymaking toward a more inclusive society and prosperous economy,” the the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership report said.
The report concludes: “As the Office for National Statistics works to restore credibility following recent challenges, this is a timely opportunity to embed gender-sensitive approaches to data production. Doing so within the census and across the wider data infrastructure is essential to strengthening policy, rebuilding trust, and supporting a more inclusive society and prosperous economy.”
The report’s insights were drawn from a UK-wide workshop series with more than 170 participants from local government, women’s and grassroots organisations, academia, and the private sector.
Preparations for the next UK census, which will take place in 2031, are underway.
Read more: European Economic and Social Committee reaffirms commitment to gender equality
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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