Britain: More mixed than we thought |
Britain: More mixed than we thought
British Broadcasting Corporation
2011-10-07
Mark Easton, Home editor
New figures seen by the BBC suggest our mixed race population may be twice the size of official figures—numbering up to two million people
Looking at some new figures on ethnic minorities in Britain the other day, I glanced at a footnote and suddenly sat bolt upright in my chair.
The implications of it were clear: Britain’s mixed-race community must be at least double the size we previously thought.
The research by Dr Alita Nandi at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) used data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) to examine the experience of different ethnic groups in the UK.
As with the census and other surveys, ethnicity is defined in the UKHLS by the individual: if you regard yourself as black Caribbean or white British that is how you are counted.
Using this self-reported approach, the figures suggest that 0.88% of adults define themselves as “mixed”.
But the survey—following 100,000 people in 40,000 households—asks another question: what is the ethnicity of your parents?
The footnote puts it: “If we use this alternative definition of mixed then 1.99% of adults are of mixed parentage.”
More than twice as many over-16-year-olds are technically mixed race than describe themselves that way…
Read the entire article here.
Tags: Alita Nandi, BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation, Mark Easton