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Tag: Office For National Statistics

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  • Did you survive the week? Apparently more people die this week than at any other time in the year

    Did you survive the week? Apparently more people die this week than at any other time in the year

    More people will die this week than at any other time of the year – with one death every 44 seconds, it has emerged.

    aitoff / Pixabay

    Figures from the ONS show the second week in January sees an average of 13,670 deaths – 1,953 every day or 81 per hour – mainly due to cold weather and an increase in bugs and illnesses.

    The rest of the year sees an average of 9,756 deaths every week.

    And that means scores of families will have to find cash for funerals.

    A separate study by SunLife revealed the average basic funeral now costs £4,271, meaning around £58 million could be spent on funerals for loved ones who pass away this week.

    In fact, the total cost of funerals in the UK during January could hit more than £229 million.

    SunLife marketing director Ian Atkinson said: “This week will see more deaths than any other week in the year, and for those families dealing with bereavement, searching through quotes is probably the last thing on their minds.

    “You need to choose a funeral director fairly quickly so they can take away the body, and most people have not thought about which one they would use.

    “But with the average funeral now costing £4,271, it is crazy to think we are just paying the bill without thinking about whether the funeral services they are using are right, for them.”

    SunLife figures mirror the ONS stats with an average of 9,031 death claims on policies in January – compared to 7,314 each month for the rest of the year.

    But research carried out by SunLife found 37 per cent have made no provision for their own funeral, instead leaving loved ones to pick up the bill.

    And even of those who did plan for their send off financially, they didn’t leave enough to cover the total bill.

    It also emerged that rather than shopping around, most will also just pay the first funeral director they speak to without getting any other quotes.

    Just one in five will get more than one price before booking a funeral.

    • SunLife has launched its Funeral Planning Mapper, an independent online tool which maps funeral services locations across the UK.

  • 2021 Census will include questions about gender and sexuality

    The UK’s 2021 census will include questions to help determine the size of Britain’s LGBT+ community.

    ellisedelacruz / Pixabay

    The digital first 2021 Census will help shape public services to meet the needs of the LGBT+ community in the years to come, as plans set out in a government white paper today show.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recommended a new voluntary question on sexual orientation for those aged 16 and over. In addition to the usual question on being male or female for all ages, there will also be a voluntary question on gender identity in England and Wales for those aged over 16.

    It was always the intention of ONS that these questions would be voluntary.

    The data gathered from these questions will make it easier to monitor inequalities under the anti-discrimination duties of the Equality Act 2010 and to directly plan public services and support for these groups.

    “Stand Up and Be Counted”

    National Statistician, John Pullinger, said: “The Census is for everyone; it gives us all the opportunity to stand up and be counted in democratic debate and policy decisions.

    “We have designed it with people at its heart and we consulted widely to ensure it meets the needs of society. Unlike previous Censuses, it will be digital first which will make it easier to complete electronically, with help available for those who need it.”

    The date for the digital-first census has been confirmed as 21 March 2021, subject to parliamentary approval.

    Information gathered by ONS will ensure vital public services can be targeted into communities and groups where they are needed, in 2021 and beyond.  

    ONS is transforming the way it collects, processes and shares data and the next census is part of a wider drive towards making more use of data already held and moving surveys online.

    In line with previous censuses, ONS will hold a census rehearsal in October 2019 and is currently reviewing which local authority areas will be included.

    For more information, see the white paper which has been laid today in Parliament.

    How many LGBT people are there in the UK?

    (C) BIGSTOCK

    The number of people who identify as lesbian, gay and bisexual is a hotly debated subject, with no clear answer, but here will look at all the available stats.

    There has long been a widely-held belief that around 10 per cent of the population is gay, lesbian or bisexual or who identify as non-heterosexual. This is probably the most accurate of all the figures – as more and more people feel comfortable to come out about their sexuality.

    The ONS (Office of National Statistics) says that in a survey of people in the United Kingdom it found that 1.5 per cent of people identified as LGB. This result was arrived at by extrapolation of data collected. However, these statistics were disputed for not being accurate or showing the full picture.

    By their estimations, this would mean that there are only 990,300 LGB people in the UK.

  • Consulting firm disputes the “1.5% homosexuality rate” in the UK

    LGBT consulting firm Out Now, has issued a statement to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) that disputes the data that relates to the number of gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the UK.

    Out Now Consulting, the global LGBT marketing agency, has today written to the Director General of the Office for National Statistics, requesting the immediate withdrawal of data relating to gay and lesbian people on the grounds that it is inaccurate and misleading.

    Out Now says that a flawed and poor research methodology used by the ONS renders it incapable of providing a correct measurement of homosexuality and bisexuality in the UK.

    The ONS claims that research, part of the Integrated Household Survey, shows that “1.5 per cent of adults in the UK identified themselves as Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual.”

    Out Now disputes this figure, saying:

    ‘This claim is not only inaccurate as a true measure of the prevalence of homosexuality and bisexuality in the United Kingdom, it is dangerous as it is prone to misreporting and may lead to funding problems for organisations focused on the health of LGB people.
    ‘The research methodology you have employed is not suitable for the purpose of obtaining an accurate measure of homosexuality and bisexuality in the UK.’

    The ONS is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and is the recognised national statistical institute for the UK. It is responsible for collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels. It also conducts the census in England and Wales every ten years.

    An ONS spokesman said: ‘The question on sexual identity was developed and tested on a number of surveys in 2008 and was added to the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) in 2009. A prototype question was developed using focus groups to gain an understanding of the concept of sexual identity, and piloted on an ONS survey prior to inclusion in the IHS.

    ‘The sexual identity question was asked of respondents aged 16 years and over; it was not asked by proxy, and the question was asked in mainly face to face with some telephone interviews. The data have been collected to provide accurate statistics to underpin the equality monitoring responsibilities of public sector organisations and to assess the disadvantage or relative discrimination experienced by the lesbian, gay and bisexual population.

    ‘The sexual identity measure is based on what the respondent to the IHS self declare. It is possible that a proportion of responders who are LGB answer with an alternative response to the ONS survey, however the ONS trials and pilots did not suggest this was the case to a significant degree despite concerns that it might be being raised at the time.

    We are responding directly to the comments made by OutNow and we will examine their concerns.’
    Out Now founder and Ian Johnson today wrote to the ONS saying:
    “The data you are responsible for publishing is not fit for purpose and risks being used by those who may not ‘like’ gay, lesbian or bisexual people to undermine their rights. It may be used similarly to seek to reduce funding for government and NGO initiatives focused on LGB people in the UK.”

    Social media users, have taken to Facebook and Twitter to also disagree with the claims from the ONS. Antony Simpson on Facebook wrote:

    ‘Disagree many, many more!’

    Another wrote:

    ‘I think there’s many more gay people out there. So many are married to women and living a heterosexual life (with some ‘fun’ with men on the side, as we all know if we log on to Grindr and the like). Admittedly many of those people in marriages will perhaps be bisexual, but still I imagine there are a lot more gay people than anyone realises.’