https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82360261778

Meeting ID: 823 6026 1778
Passcode: 784878

Abstract

We examine ethnicity for 949 Censuses across six world regions and over six Census rounds from 1960-2019. These censuses account for almost 90 percent of all censuses ever taken. We find that the proportion of censuses that collected data on ethnicity from the 1960s to the 1990s was fairly stable but rose in the 2000 and 2010 round. We find wide regional variation with the Americas and Europe recording the largest increases in ethnic data collection. European censuses had a very low level of ethnic data collection until the 2000 round. Ethnic data collection has remained high and stable in Oceania while Africa and Asia have had uneven trends over the period. Most censuses, across all regions and census rounds, have collected data on religion. The next most common terms used (in order) are language, ethnicity, nationality and race. We find that although the term race has nearly disappeared from census questionnaires, censuses have increasingly collected data by race even though the term is in decreasing use. We also discuss new exigencies of changing international and domestic policies, global immigration and research on discrimination and inequality that call for increasing data collection of racialized or visible minorities.