Somebody’s Watching Me

I know that Census Day is officially tomorrow, but it said on the form that you can complete it early if you think things will be the same on the night of the 21st as they are now. Well, given that we are still in lockdown, not allowed to travel and can’t have anyone else in our homes, I think we can safely assume that the state affairs tomorrow will be the same as it is today - in fact, the same as it has been for the last three months! I suppose if anything happened to either of us, or any of my family in Chester, today then the responses may be different but, I’ve spoken to most of them in the last couple of days and everyone seems hale and hearty so we’ll assume they can hang on until after the weekend!
This time I’ve had to complete a return for our flat in Chester as well as where we live. Naturally, I’ve not had the letter for that property but it was nice and simple to obtain a reference number online and then submit a “nil” return. In fact, doing the returns online was a very quick and straightforward process - so much easier than the paper form I recall filling out in 2011.
Some interesting questions though. I can’t help but wonder what the citizens of 1921 would have made of being asked about what gender they identified as, or what their sexual orientation was! You couldn’t even have asked the latter question until after 1967 (as it was illegal), and I wouldn’t mind betting that very few would have answered truthfully in the 1971 Census.Thankfully, we live in much more enlightened times nowadays.
Whilst I understand knowing what type of fuel my heating uses, and how many cars are in the household, can help the Government plan for energy usage over the next ten years or so, I’m not 100% certain as to what use knowing how people “identify” can be used.
I mention the 1921 Census because it will be released for public consumption in due course, under the 100 year rule. Significantly, it will be the last available for some time as the 1931 return was destroyed in the war and there was no Census in 1941, because of the war.
My ambition is to live long enough to see the 1961 Census released as it will be the first I appear on!