As of 2024, there were estimated to be 862,700 people in Wales who could speak Welsh, or approximately 28 percent of the population. Between 2001 and 2024, the number and percentage of Welsh speakers was lowest in 2007, when just a quarter of the population or around 726,200 people said they could speak Welsh.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in Wales aged 3 years and over in Wales by Welsh language skills and country of birth. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. Data are also available in these geographic types:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

Welsh language skills

Whether a person has Welsh language skills. If they do, can they do any of the following:

• understand spoken Welsh
• speak Welsh
• read Welsh
• write Welsh
• no skills in Welsh

The census questionnaire only asked this question to people in Wales.

In results that classify people by Welsh language skills, a person may appear in more than one category depending on which combination of skills they have.

Country of birth

The country in which a person was born.

For people not born in one of in the four parts of the UK, there was an option to select "elsewhere".

People who selected "elsewhere" were asked to write in the current name for their country of birth.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Age

Age is derived from the date of birth question and is a person's age at their last birthday, at 27 March 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed. Infants less than one year old are classified as 0 years of age.

Welsh language profile

This 'Welsh language profile' classifies usual residents aged 3 and over by Welsh language skills, for Wales as at census day, 27 March 2011. People with skills in Welsh are further categorised by key age groups.

Applicable to Wales only.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This machine-readable version of John Williams' Digest of Welsh Historical Statistics is the result of a collaboration between the Statistical Directorate of the National Assembly for Wales, the History Data Service and the Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis at Queen's University Belfast.
John Williams' Digest of Welsh Historical Statistics is intended to provide a service for those working on the history of modern Wales. It arises from a belief that the quantitative element is a necessary and important part of the historical record; from an awareness that it was an aspect that was particularly inaccessible for scholars of Welsh history; and from a conviction that some encouragement in the use of quantitative material was necessary. It is modelled on the two volumes dedicated to British historical statistics: Mitchell, B.R. and Deane, P. (1962) Abstract of British historical statistics and Mitchell, B.R. and Jones, H.G. (1971) Second abstract of British historical statistics.
Main Topics:
The main tables are:


Total population and intercensal change by sex by county, 1801-1971
Number of females per 1000 males by county, 1801-1971
Age and marital condition by sex, 1841-1971
Area/acreage by county, 1841-1971
Population of Registration Counties as constituted at the time of each Census, 1841-1911
Comparative area and population of Registration, Ancient and Administrative Counties, 1891
Parish Register returns of baptisms, burials and marriages, 1700-1840
Estimated mid-year population by sex, 1841-1974
Estimated mid-year population totals by county, 1903-1974
Number of deaths by sex, crude death-rates and infant mortality, 1838-1974
Number of births and birth-rates, 1839-1974
Number of marriages and rate per 1000 population, 1839-1974
Population of towns, 1801-1971
Net migration and natural increase, number and per cent for each, inter-censal period, by county, 1841-1971
Number born in Wales and living in United States, 1850-1970
Number of Welsh speakers by sex, by county and county borough, 1891-1971
Welsh speakers as a percentage of total population over three years of age, by county and county borough, 1891-1971
Welsh-speaking population by age, 1901-1971

Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aims of the project were as follows :
to collect and process information from the data relating to the Welsh language in the 1891 Census Enumerators' Returns in 20 selected communities in Wales;
to create computer-readable data files on the language ability of around 90,000 individuals, i.e. five per cent of the population;
to undertake a quantitative analysis of the socio-economic structure of Welsh/English language ability on the basis of the above data;
to develop a classification of occupations in order to explore links between economic activity and the process of language change;
to write a volume on the basis of the above in order to deepen our socio-cultural understanding of a society in which nearly a million people spoke Welsh and over half a million were monoglot Welsh.
Main Topics:

The dataset contains 35 files, each of which consists of a 100 per cent sample of the enumeration district in twenty communities selected from the 178 sub-registration districts in Wales, i.e. 90,000 individuals or five per cent of the total population of wales in 1891. Two specific datafiles were created for each district.
Variables in the first file identify : the individual person, enumeration district, schedule number, first name, surname, relation to head of household, marital status, gender, age, occupation, employment status, occupation code, country/county of birth, birthplace and language spoken.
Variables in the second file identify : the enumeration district, schedule number, whether a Welsh-language schedule was used, number of persons in the household, number of rooms and address.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in Wales aged 3 years and over in Wales by ability to speak Welsh, by national identity, and by age. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

The increase since the 2011 Census in people identifying as “British” and fall in people identifying as “English” may partly reflect true changes in self-perception. It is also likely to reflect that “British” replaced “English” as the first response option listed on the questionnaire in England. Read more about this quality notice.

Estimates for single year of age between ages 90 and 100+ are less reliable than other ages. Estimation and adjustment at these ages was based on the age range 90+ rather than five-year age bands. Read more about this quality notice.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. Data are also available in these geographic types:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

Welsh speaking ability

This classifies a person as being able to "Speak Welsh". They may have also ticked one or more of the following:

• understand spoken Welsh
• read Welsh
• write Welsh

In results that classify people by Welsh language skills, a person may appear in more than one category depending on which combination of skills they have.

National identity

Someone’s national identity is a self-determined assessment of their own identity, it could be the country or countries where they feel they belong or think of as home. It is not dependent on ethnic group or citizenship.

Respondents could select more than one national identity.

Age (B)

A person’s age on Census Day, 21 March 2021 in England and Wales. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age. Age is categorised as follows:

• Aged 15 years and under
• Aged 16 to 49 years
• Aged 50 years and over

The Welsh SpeechDat(II) FDB-2000 database contains the recordings of 2,000 Welsh speakers (918 male speakers et 1,082 speakers) recorded over the British fixed telephone network. The FDB-2000 database is partitioned into 10 CDs, which comprise 200 speakers sessions each.Speech samples are stored as sequences of 8-bit 8 kHz A-law. Each prompted utterance is stored in a separate file. Each signal file is accompanied by an ASCII SAM label file which contains the relevant descriptive information.This database was validated by SPEX (the Netherlands) to assess its compliance with the SpeechDat format and content specifications.Each speaker uttered the following items: * 6 application words * 1 sequence of 10 isolated digits * 4 connected digits (1 sheet number –5 digits, 1 telephone number –9/11 digits, 1 credit card number –14/16 digits, 1 PIN code -6 digits) * 3 dates (1 spontaneous e.g. birthday, 1 word style prompted date, 1 relative and general date expression) * 1 word spotting phrase using an embedded application word * 1 isolated digit * 3 spelled word (1 spontaneous e.g. own forename, 1 city name, 1 real/artificial for coverage) * 1 currency money amount * 1 natural number * 5 directory assistance names (1 spontaneous e.g. own forename, 1 city of birth/growing up, 1 most frequent city name out of a set of 500, 1 common forename and surname) * 2 yes/no questions (1 predominantly "yes" question, 1 predominantly "no" question) * 9 phonetically rich sentences * 2 time phrases (1 spontaneous time of day, 1 word style time phrase) * 4 phonetically rich wordsThe following age distribution has been obtained: 509 speakers are between 16 and 30, 645 speakers are between 31 and 45, 565 speakers are between 46 and 60 and 281 speakers are over 60.A pronunciation lexicon with a phonemic transcription in SAMPA is also included.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

To examine the social correlates of religious participation, chiefly in terms of communal involvement. The survey was undertaken in Newtown/Machynlleth (N/M).
Main Topics:

Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions
Details of previous residence, whether outside local area/Wales, where childhood spent (respondent and spouse), length of residence in N/M, number of moves since aged fifteen, persons known in N/M prior to move. Reasons for decision to move to or away from N/M, respondent's sense of belonging to N/M, particular likes/dislikes of N/M, preferred place of residence. Place of marriage (whether normal place of worship), expectations of children living in N/M. Frequency of contact with children, parents and relatives. Number of close friends in N/M (details of four closest friends - sex, length of friendship, place of residence, frequency of contact, method of getting to know friends, whether friends know one another). Respondents were asked about their neighbours (frequency of chats, whether neighbours considered friends, visits to each other's houses).
Assessment of friendliness of N/M residents, opinion on whether people in general look after themselves or others. Recognition and identification of groups/classes in N/M, subjective affiliation to groups/classes. Membership of clubs/organisations (ranked in order of importance), frequency of attendance at meetings, number of close friends in clubs/organisations, previous memberships, reasons for leaving.
Opinion on adequacy of leisure facilities in N/M, suggested improvements. Opinion of development in Newtown.
Parents' membership of church or chapel during respondent's childhood, respondent's attendance at church and Sunday School, whether attendance changed during teens (reasons), importance of religion in family.
Denominational affiliation (duration), other denominational adherence, reasons for changing/leaving denominations, offices held in church, church attendance. Situation in which respondent would cease to attend church, aspects of church/chapel liked and disliked, number of close friends among congregation, meetings with church friends outside. Opinion of people who attend church regularly. Opinion on relation of Christianity and church attendance.
Knowledge of ministers in local area, membership of political organisations, reasons for leaving, voting intention, vote in 1970 and 1974 elections, ranking of civic figures in order of influence, fluency in Welsh, number of friends who speak Welsh, attendance at Welsh-speaking festivals.
If Welsh speaking: amount of time Welsh spoken (change in last few years), frequency of exposure to Welsh media.
Non-Welsh speakers: whether ever tried to learn Welsh.
Respondents were asked to agree/disagree with a number of statements about general human nature, social and personal values and Wales. Willingness to move out of area for better job.
Background Variables
Age, sex, marital status, place of birth, number of children (age finished full-time education, occupation, age). For children not living at home: place of residence. Parents: whether alive, where spent most of married life, present residence. Father's occupation when respondent was a child present or last job.
Employment status, occupation (present and previous), place of work, length of employment, age finished full-time education. Car ownership, newspapers read regularly.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Country of birth (alternative classification)

Country of birth is the country in which a person was born. This topic records whether the person was born in or if they were not born in a country.

For the full country of birth classification in England and Wales, please see the National Statistics Country Classification.

Welsh language skills

A person aged three and over is classified with skills in Welsh if they can do one or more of the following:

• Understand spoken Welsh
• Speak Welsh
• Read Welsh
• Write Welsh

In results that classify people by Welsh language skills, a person may appear in more than one category depending on which combination of skills they have.

Applicable to Wales only.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Ability to speak Welsh

A person is classified as being able to read Welsh if they tick 'Read Welsh', though they may also tick one or more of the following:

• Understand spoken Welsh
• Speak Welsh
• Write Welsh

In results that classify people by Welsh language skills, a person may appear in more than one category depending on which combination of skills they have.

Applicable to Wales only.

Age

Age is derived from the date of birth question and is a person's age at their last birthday, at 27 March 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed. Infants less than one year old are classified as 0 years of age.

General health

General health is a self-assessment of a person's general state of health. People were asked to assess whether their health was very good, good, fair, bad or very bad.

For England and Wales, this assessment is not based on a person's health over any specified period of time.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The purpose of this study was to describe the outlook, way of life and attitudes of Cardiganshire people.
Main Topics:

Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions
Political involvement is gauged by self-assessment of interest in politics, voting behaviour and election involvement (with special reference to the 1970 General Election), party identification and membership history. Political knowledge and sophistication is assesed by formation of party images (Conservative, Labour, Liberal and Plaid Cymru), correct identification of: the current prime minister, the Cardiganshire MP, the Secretary of State for Wales and the functions of the Welsh Office, and use made of MP and/or local councillor to help with a problem.
Attitudinal data: voluntary mention of important problems facing the country (up to 5 recorded) and, in addition, attitudes towards a number of general policy issues are collected (e.g. rising prices, Common Market, unemployment, strikes, governmental influence etc.). Further, the respondent is asked to state the forms of political protest that he believes can, under certain circumstances, be justified (e.g. pulling down signposts, blowing up pipelines etc. - 9 categories). Welsh politics specifically: attitudes towards the amount of say the Welsh have in British governmental matters affecting Wales (and, particularly, perceptions of governmental understanding of the needs of Cardiganshire in relation to other parts of Britain), respondent-preferred governmental system for Wales (5 categories), opinions on topics including the preservation of the Welsh language, the Investiture, Sunday opening, English people living in Wales etc. - questions relating to Welsh identity are closely considered. Finally, respondents are asked to state their likes and dislikes of life in Cardiganshire.
Contextual data include: perception of class consciousness and Welsh national consciousness (respondent is asked to describe a stereotype Welsh character and a type with completely opposite characteristics, he is then asked to place himself on a scale between these two extremes), whether Welsh speaking (if yes, amount spoken in home, social and work environments is given), whether attends (or follows through the media) national and local eisteddfodau and cymafa ganu . Data include newspaper and magazine readership (Welsh periodicals included), TV news and current affairs viewing, radio news and current affairs listening.
Background Variables
Sex, age, cohort, marital status, number of children, household composition, terms of home tenure (5 categories), age when left school, whether had any further full-time education, whether ever lived outside Cardiganshire (5 categories), place of birth, place of origin of parents, occupation of father, whether respondent has even been outside the British Isles, identification of head of household, employment status (i.e. full or part-time etc.), job description and occupational classification of head of household (and respondent where different), finally, religious and political party affiliations and voting behaviour of parents.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The purpose of this study was to investigate specific Welsh dimensions within the general field of voting behaviour and partisanship in British politics. In addition, data was collected on exclusively Welsh issues such as the Welsh language, devolution, and aspects of national identity. This study was designed and conducted in close collaboration with the British Election Study (Essex) and the Scottish Election Study (Strathclyde).
Main Topics:

Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions
Good and bad points of Conservative and Labour Parties, interest in politics, assessment of each party's handling of various issues, e.g. rising prices/strikes/unemployment. Experience of and importance of unemployment. Knowledge of party policies on nationalisation/tax cuts/trade union power and own position, opinion of position of Britain's economy and future prospects. Perception of differences between the major parties. Attitude to recent changes taking place in areas such as sexual equality, racial equality, censorship, abortion. Attitude to big business and trade unions, degree of involvement in union matters. Relative position of respondent's salary, way in which wages and salaries issue should be handled. Attitude to forms of political protest. Most important aims for the country for the next decade, e.g. economic growth/defence/freedom of speech.
Whether voted at election and for which party, vote in October and February 1974 and June 1970. Party identification. Marks out of ten for parties and leading politicians. Vote in local government election in 1979, opinion of local government services and need for changes.
Class identification and attitude to the class system. A number of questions were asked on Welsh Devolution including vote in the recent Referendum and views on the Welsh language issue.
Background Variables
Newspaper readership, television news viewing, religious affiliation and attendance, national identification, type of school attended and age completed full-time education, qualifications, telephone/vehicle ownership, membership of private medical insurance schemes. Employment status and occupation of respondent and spouse, sex, marital status, age cohort, place of birth, income, accomodation tenure, length of residence in area.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The 2021 UK Census was the 23rd official census of the United Kingdom. The UK Census is generally conducted once every 10 years, and the 2021 censuses of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021. In Scotland, the decision was made to move the census to March 2022 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and National Records of Scotland (NRS), respectively. In England and Wales, Census 2021 was the first census with a digital-first design, encouraging participants to respond online rather than on a paper questionnaire.

Topics covered in the 2021 UK Census included:

• demography and migration
• ethnic group, national identity, language and religion
• labour market and travel to work
• housing
• education
• health, disability, and unpaid care
• Welsh and other languages
• UK armed forces veterans
• sexual orientation and gender identity.

The 2021 Census: Safeguarded Household Microdata Sample dataset consists of a random sample of 1% of households from the 2021 Census and contains records for all individuals within these sampled households. It includes records for 263,729 households and 606,210 persons. These data cover England and Wales only. This sample allows linkage between individuals in the same household.  The lowest level of geography is Wales and regions within England. It contains 56 variables and a low level of detail. This is a new ONS product following user feedback from the 2011 Census.

Census Microdata

Microdata are small samples of individual records from a single census from which identifying information have been removed. They contain a range of individual and household characteristics and can be used to carry out analysis not possible from standard census outputs, such as:

• creating tables using bespoke variable combinations
• investigating specific combinations of variables or categories in a high level of detail
• conducting non-tabular statistical analyses on record-level data.

The microdata samples are designed to protect the confidentiality of individuals and households. This is done by applying access controls and removing information that might directly identify a person, such as names, addresses and date of birth. Record swapping is applied to the census data used to create the microdata samples. This is a statistical disclosure control (SDC) method, which makes very small changes to the data to prevent the identification of individuals. The microdata samples use further SDC methods, such as collapsing variables and restricting detail. The samples also include records that have been edited to prevent inconsistent data and contain imputed persons, households, and data values. To protect confidentiality, imputation flags are not included in any 2021 Census microdata sample.

Main Topics:

The 2021 Census: Safeguarded Household Microdata Sample data cover: demography, education, ethnicity, identity, language, religion, health, disability, unpaid care, housing, internal migration, international migration, labour market, students, and travel to work.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Age

Age is derived from the date of birth question and is a person's age at their last birthday, at 27 March 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed. Infants less than one year old are classified as 0 years of age.

Proficiency in English

Proficiency in English language classifies people whose main language is not English (or not English or Welsh in Wales) according to their ability to speak English. A person is classified in one of the categories:

• Can speak English very well
• Can speak English well
• Cannot speak English well
• Cannot speak English

This question was handled slightly differently in the England and Wales censuses.

In the English census a tick box was used in Question 18, asking "What is your main language?", giving the option of 'English' or 'Other'.

In the Welsh census, a tick box was used in Question 18, asking "What is your main language?", giving the option of 'English or Welsh' or 'Other'.

Those who ticked 'Other' would be asked about their ability to speak English.

A consequence of this is that a person who reports their main language to be Welsh and completed the Welsh census, will not be asked about their ability to speak English. Whereas a person who indicates that their main language is Welsh and lives in England would be asked about 'their ability to speak English'.

Copies of the census forms can be found here: UK census forms.

This statistic presents the number of domestic tourism trips taken to national parks in Great Britain between 2016 and 2019. South Downs National Park The South Downs are a range of chalk hills within the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire to Beachy Head in East Sussex.
Owing to their natural beauty, accessibility, and relative proximity to several populous area of Southern England the South Down National Park was the most popular national park in the Great Britain; receiving 2.31 million visitors in 2019. Lake District National Park The Lake District National Park, colloquially known as The Lakes, is a mountainous region within the county of Cumbria in the North West of England. As the largest national park within England, the Lake District exhibits diverse terrain and cultural heritage and contains a wide variety of flora and fauna. As a result of this depth of cultural and natural resources the Lake District is one of the most popular tourist destinations in England; consistently receiving over two million visitors annually.
As the greatest upland region in England, all of the land within England more than 914 m above sea level lies within the Lake district National Park, including the highest mountain in England; Scafell Pike. In addition to the superlative mountainous characteristics the Lake District contains both the deepest and largest natural bodies of water in England. These natural resources make the Lake District national park extremely popular amongst climbers and mountaineers; ramblers; photographers; and water sports enthusiasts and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Alongside these diverse natural resources there exists a wealth of cultural history including a deep literary history, with its associations with Beatrix Potter, John Ruskin, William Wordsworth and other ‘Lake Poets’. Snowdonia Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park, was established in 1951 as the first national park in Wales is the country’s most popular national park receiving over 1.1 million visitors in 2019.
The region is named, in English, in reference to Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa); the highest peak within the National Park which, at 1,085 meters above sea level, is the highest mountain within Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
As one of few regions of alpine topography in the United Kingdom (UK), Snowdonia is particularly popular amongst climbers and mountaineers. In addition to its mountainous terrain Snowdonia also contains over 200 miles of coastline, much of which exists on the Llyn Peninsular, a region designated as an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ by Natural Resources Wales. There is a strong cultural affinity amongst the local population; many of whom are among the nations few remaining first language welsh speakers. Within Snowdonia the Welsh language (Cymraeg) is the day to day language and is spoken and understood by the majority of the population.
With English sovereignty over Wales imposed within Henry VIII’s Act of Union in 1536, the use of the Welsh language was largely banned and laws were passed which removed its official status. Following the act it was not possible for a monoglot Welshman to hold an official office in Wales; a condition that remains to this day.
From the 1847 ‘Treachery of the Blue Books’, a government report that condemned “the evil of the Welsh language” as a “barrier to the moral progress and commercial prosperity of the people”, to the nineteenth century ‘Welsh Not’, which physically punished schoolchildren for speaking their native tongue, the Welsh language has been systematically and consistently oppressed throughout welsh history.
This perceived oppression led to the development of a number of significant public campaigns which successfully prevented the extinction of the Welsh language and today the language plays a major part in national and local government, education, tourism, administration and culture. The main cultural festivals are the National Eisteddfod and the Urdd Youth Eisteddfod which celebrate the wealth of Welsh talent in music, poetry, drama, prose, art and science. Throughout Snowdonia National Park there are many galleries, theatres, museums, concert halls and libraries to host and support the hundreds of Welsh language cultural activities that take place in the region each year

A mixed methods approach was adopted, with the project undertaking qualitative interviews and a questionnaire survey. The interviews were conducted with policy-makers, teachers and young people in both Wales and Scotland. These focused on the link between education, minority languages and identity in both countries. Key themes include the use of minority languages in different settings (Welsh and Scots Gaelic), as well as the institutional support provided for the use of these languages by the schools. The interviews also address the link between minority language use and identity, as well as broader connections with other practices, including volunteering. This project investigated the types of civic participation and conceptions of language and identity promoted within the statutory education system, and within civil society organisations working with young people. The research took place in both Wales and Scotland. The questionnaire survey was conducted across a series of schools in Wales, focusing on the link between education, minority languages and identity. Key themes include the use of minority languages in different settings, the link between minority language use and identity, as well as broader connections with other practices, including volunteering.

This proposal is for a National Research Centre (WISERD/Civil Society) to undertake a five year programme of policy relevant research addressing Civil Society in Wales. Established in 2008, WISERD provides an 'All-Wales' focus for research and has had a major impact on the quantity and quality of social science research undertaken in Wales. As part of WISERD, WISERD/Civil Society will enable this work to be deepened and sustained through a focused research programme that further develops our research expertise, intensifies our policy impact and knowledge exchange work and strengthens our research capacity and career development activities. WISERD/Civil Society will therefore aim to develop key aspects of the multidisciplinary research initiated during the first phase of WISERD's work to produce new empirical evidence to inform our understanding of the changing nature of civil society in the context of devolved government and processes of profound social and economic change. There are many disagreements over what civil society is and how it may be changing. We do know that over the last forty years there have been unprecedented changes in the spheres of economy and industry, politics and governance, social relations and individual life courses. How individuals in local contexts are affected by and respond to dramatic institutional changes is not well understood. An important gap in our knowledge is in describing and explaining the impact of social change on local forms of civil society and civil society organisations and what this means for social cohesion and well-being. In addition how different forms of civil society are developing in the context of multi-level and devolved government is not well understood. Because of its size and devolved government, Wales offers a unique context for studying these issues. Viewing Wales as a 'laboratory for social science' the proposed centre will build on existing networks of researchers who have a wide range of expertise and skills. Large survey data sets will be exploited and analysed and new data collected on civil society in Wales, the UK and Europe. Inter-disciplinarity and multi-method approaches applied to longitudinal and comparative data will be a key feature and strength of the WISERD/Civil Society research programme. Our research will be underpinned by three principles: (i) to maximise research impact, (ii) to become a centre of excellence for comparative, longitudinal, and relational research methods and (iii) to contribute to the growth of research capacity in Wales. We will also extend our research out from Wales to undertake comparative studies at different regional, national and international levels. In this way WISERD will make substantive and novel contributions to the advancement of social theory applied to researching contemporary civil society and to methodological approaches to describing and explaining patterns of civic participation in the context of devolution and multi-level governance. Substantive research will be applied to real and timely research problems conducted under four inter-related themes: 1) Locality, Community and Civil Society 2) Individuals, Institutions and Governance 3) Economic Austerity, Social Enterprise and Inequality 4) Generation, Life Course and Social Participation. Our aim will be to produce a wide range of outputs accessible to a variety of different audiences, including: academic papers; books; working papers; seminars; web based material; video and e-learning materials; as well as disseminating our work through a diversity of activities. Public awareness will be raised through events; activities; and exhibitions, designed to foster interest and...

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Main language (detailed)

The language that is a person's first or preferred language.

This information helps central government, local authorities and the NHS to allocate resources and provide services for non-English speakers, e.g. English teaching and translation services. It is a better indicator than country of birth, which was previously used to forecast the additional cost of providing services to people whose first language is not English.

The data are also used to assess the impact of English or Welsh language ability on employment and other social inclusion indicators.

Information on the number of British Sign Language users helps with service planning and assists in developing policies to address the needs of the deaf community.

These statistics are used by public service providers to effectively target the delivery of their services, for example in the provision of translation and interpretation services, the availability of English language lessons, and the distribution of official information leaflets in alternative languages.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Age

Age is derived from the date of birth question and is a person's age at their last birthday, at 27 March 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed. Infants less than one year old are classified as 0 years of age.

Main language

The language that is a person's first or preferred language.

This information helps central government, local authorities and the NHS to allocate resources and provide services for non-English speakers, for example English teaching and translation services. It is a better indicator than country of birth, which was previously used to forecast the additional cost of providing services to people whose first language is not English.

The data are also used to assess the impact of English or Welsh language ability on employment and other social inclusion indicators.

Information on the number of British Sign Language users helps with service planning and assists in developing policies to address the needs of the deaf community.

These statistics are used by public service providers to effectively target the delivery of their services, for example in the provision of translation and interpretation services, the availability of English language lessons, and the distribution of official information leaflets in alternative languages.

Sex

The classification of a person as either male or female.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Age

Age is derived from the date of birth question and is a person's age at their last birthday, at 27 March 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed. Infants less than one year old are classified as 0 years of age.

Main language

The language that is a person's first or preferred language.

This information helps central government, local authorities and the NHS to allocate resources and provide services for non-English speakers, for example English teaching and translation services. It is a better indicator than country of birth, which was previously used to forecast the additional cost of providing services to people whose first language is not English.

The data are also used to assess the impact of English or Welsh language ability on employment and other social inclusion indicators.

Information on the number of British Sign Language users helps with service planning and assists in developing policies to address the needs of the deaf community.

These statistics are used by public service providers to effectively target the delivery of their services, for example in the provision of translation and interpretation services, the availability of English language lessons, and the distribution of official information leaflets in alternative languages.

Dataset population: Persons aged 3 and over

Age

Age is derived from the date of birth question and is a person's age at their last birthday, at 27 March 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed. Infants less than one year old are classified as 0 years of age.

General health

General health is a self-assessment of a person's general state of health. People were asked to assess whether their health was very good, good, fair, bad or very bad.

For England and Wales, this assessment is not based on a person's health over any specified period of time.

Proficiency in English

Proficiency in English language classifies people whose main language is not English (or not English or Welsh in Wales) according to their ability to speak English. A person is classified in one of the categories:

• Can speak English very well
• Can speak English well
• Cannot speak English well
• Cannot speak English

This question was handled slightly differently in the England and Wales censuses.

In the English census a tick box was used in Question 18, asking 'What is your main language?', giving the option of 'English' or 'Other'.

In the Welsh census, a tick box was used in Question 18, asking 'What is your main language?', giving the option of 'English or Welsh' or 'Other'.

Those who ticked 'Other' would be asked about their ability to speak English.

A consequence of this is that a person who reports their main language to be Welsh and completed the Welsh census, will not be asked about their ability to speak English. Whereas a person who indicates that their main language is Welsh and lives in England would be asked about 'their ability to speak English'.

Copies of the census forms can be found here: UK census forms.

Sex

The classification of a person as either male or female.