Gender Identity

Gender Identity
Update Event
29 June 2017

Welcome
• Introductions
• Purpose of the event:
To share with you our work on gender identity so far
Will cover:
o An overview of work to date
o Findings from our research and testing
o Next steps

Practicalities
• Tea/coffee and water
• Mobile phones
• Fire alarm/exits
• Toilets
• Name badges
• Supportive environment
o Please feel free to share your views; please be respectful of others views
o Terminology, pronouns, titles
• Note takers
• Out of scope
• Questions
• Break (15 mins)

Aims
We will …
• Present our work and findings
• Share the challenges this has highlighted
• Describe what we’re doing next
We would like you to …
• Provide us with your feedback
• Share your responses to the challenges
• Talk to us about the next steps

2. User need,
considerations
and challenges
1. Background 3. Admin data
4. Approaches
to data
collection
5. Research
and testing
6. Next steps

1. Background
• Gender identity

Gender identity
• Gender identity is:
o A personal internal perception of oneself
o And as such the gender category with which a
person identifies may not match the sex they were
assigned at birth
• In contrast, sex is biologically determined
ONS does not currently collect gender identity
information on any of its social surveys
Do collect information on sex – protected characteristic

1. Background
• Gender identity
• Earlier work

Equality Data Review
• 2007: Equalities Review by the Cabinet Office
• ONS undertook an Equality Data Review
o Identified significant gaps in data for some equality areas,
including information on transgender people
• Report recommended
o Government agencies to work with non-government
stakeholders to agree an approach for obtaining more
equality information on transgender people and those
undergoing the process of gender reassignment

Trans Data Position Paper
• ONS Trans Data Position Paper (2009)
o Public acceptability
o Sensitivity
o Terminology
o Respondent burden
o Number of questions required
o Data quality
• Conclusion:
Household surveys not an appropriate approach to
collecting information about gender identity

Since 2009
• Aware of a need for data on gender identity/gender
reassignment:
o Equality Act 2010
– Protected characteristic of “gender reassignment”
o Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
– Public bodies should take into account discrimination and the
needs of people who are disadvantaged or may suffer inequality,
when they make decisions about how they provide their services and
implement policies
• Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
o Suite of questions for gender identity
o Reports published 2011 – 2012

Women and Equalities Committee:
Transgender equality inquiry
• The Women and Equalities Committee report on
Transgender Equality
o Published Jan 2016
o Makes recommendations in a wide range of policy areas
o Calls on the Government to take action to ensure full equality for
trans people
o Including – that the protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010
regarding trans people should be changed to "gender identity”
• Government Response
o Published July 2016
o Committed to undertake further reviews and other work
o Still regards the current form of words – "gender reassignment" and
"transsexual" – as adequate

Gender identity update paper (Jan 2017)
• Developments around the topic of gender identity since
the publication of our Trans Data Position Paper
• Covers:
o Legislation
o The Women and Equalities Committee Transgender Equality
inquiry
o Data collection and question development worldwide
o Details of our research, testing and findings so far
o Next steps and future work
• Conclusion:
o Many of same challenges still remain as found in TDP paper
Update paper available on the website

2. User need,
considerations
and challenges
• Request for data

2021 Census consultation
• Gender identity was not consulted on specifically, however
o 54 respondents discussed gender identity in their response
o Of these, 14 specifically requested ‘gender identity’ as an additional
topic in the census
• Overall score of 66.5 against criteria = medium user need
• High operational impact in terms of:
• Data quality: to be understood by whole population; as the
population of interest is very small the quality implications may
create errors bigger than the population trying to estimate
• Public acceptability: topic may be considered private;
gender identity may not be disclosed to other household members
• Respondent burden: may need more than one question to capture
required information

Informing the ONS position
• ONS do not currently collect gender identity data
o So no national harmonised standard question
o Early on in our journey – compared to other topics
• Research and testing will inform our position on this topic
• To determine whether, and how best, to meet user needs for
information on gender identity
• Findings will inform a recommendation of how we take forward
this work across ONS

Research and testing plan
1. Clarify the specific data required
on gender identity and the
concepts to be measured
2. Review the ‘Trans Data Position
Paper’ (2009)
3. Seek to learn from other National
Statistics Agencies
4. Identify alternative options
e.g. administrative data

Gender identity workshop (Aug 2016)
• First stage of engagement with stakeholders, data users
and organisations representing the trans community
• To gain further understanding and clarity around:
o Specific information / data required
o Concepts to be measured
o Terminology
• The opportunity for participants to learn more about our
research and testing plans
• Attendees:
o Special interest groups, members representing the trans community
o Public bodies and organisations with equalities responsibilities
o Local government
o Academics and researchers

Data requirements and concepts
• Need for data on ‘gender identity’
• For government policy development, equalities
monitoring, resource allocation and service planning
• However, need unclear; differing requirements rather than
one distinct data need
• Data required:
o Those covered by the protected characteristic of gender
reassignment – Equality Act 2010, Public Sector Equality Duty
o The population identifying as trans
• Not all data needs can be met using one measure
• A range of different but inter-related concepts

Other findings
• Wide range of complex and often changing terminology
and identities
• Opportunity to self-identify is important for any question on
gender identity, also sex
o Sex question is a barrier for some, including those who are intersex
• Important to be informed about why any gender identity
question is being asked
• Important to provide an assurance of confidentiality
• Issues of privacy, acceptability and quality
• Review instructions around the sex question, particularly
where asked without a gender question
• Additional engagement with stakeholders required
Summary of discussions available on the website

2. User need,
considerations
and challenges
• Request for data
• How do we decide what information to collect?
• Challenges and considerations

1. How do we determine what
information to collect?
Identify and clarify user need
↓
Determine whether, and how best, to meet user
needs for information on a topic
Balancing act:
• The strength of user need
• Public acceptability
• Data quality
• Respondent burden
• Cost
• Small numbers (disclosure control)
• Legislative changes which may be required

1a. How do we determine what
information to collect? Census
constraints
• The strength of user need in comparison with other user
need
• Public acceptability – the whole population
• Data quality – effect on other questions – especially sex
• Respondent burden
• Cost
• Small numbers (disclosure control)
• Legislative changes are very likely to be required 1920
Census Act
Space on paper questionnaire

Statistical
disclosure
– small
numbers
Data
quality –
gender
identity
Sex /
gender
conflation
Privacy
More than
one
question
Acceptability
Sex
question –
barrier
Sensitivity
Terminology
Scope of
information
required
No national
harmonised
standard
question
Appropriate
for a
household
survey?
Not
declaring
trans
identity
Legislation
Respondent
understanding
Complexity
Data
quality –
sex
Disclosure
– to others

3. Admin data
• Sex and gender
identity in admin data

The importance of Sex!
• Protected Characteristic – equalities act 2010
• Demography

Number of male births per 1,000 female
births, England & Wales
1,035
1,040
1,045
1,050
1,055
1,060
1,065
1,070
1938
1941
1944
1947
1950
1953
1956
1959
1962
1965
1968
1971
1974
1977
1980
1983
1986
1989
1992
1995
1998
2001
2004
2007
2010
2013

The importance of Sex!
• Protected Characteristic – equalities act 2010
• Demography
• Risk of abuse of question
• But definition – it is defined as binary (despite
intersex issues)
Sex is a protected characteristic within the
Equalities Act 2010. It is stated in s.11(a) that ‘a
reference to a person who has [that] particular
protected characteristic is a reference to a man
or to a woman
’

Sex question 2011 Census: sex/gender
Sex – binary
2011 Census question
Instructions:
• On the form – none
• Guidance for those answering queries
Transgender or transsexual: select the answer which you identify yourself as. You
can select either "male" or "female", whichever you believe is correct, irrespective of
the details recorded on your birth certificate. You do not need to have a Gender
Recognition Certificate. If you are answering on behalf of someone who is
transgender or transsexual then where possible you should ask them how they want
to be identified. If they are away, you should select the answer you think they would
wish to be identified as. You do not need to know whether they have a Gender
Recognition Certificate.

‘Sexy’ stats
• Fertility analysis
• Life expectancy
• Lone parenthood
• Earnings
• Employment
• Well Being
• Crime/Prison

Sex and gender in the registration
system - recording
• Births
reported by the parent by asking the question:
‘At the time of the event (i.e.birth) what was the sex?’
System records ‘child’s sex’, and offer the options of ‘Male’, ‘Female’, or
‘Indeterminate’
• Deaths
registered by an informant – with a death certificate
‘At the time of the event, what was the sex of the individual?’
The response of the informant is recorded from the options: ‘Male’,
‘Female’, or ‘Indeterminate’
Indeterminate cases referred to GRO
• Marriage
At the Notice of Marriage appointment, the registrar records ‘sex’ by
asking each person to confirm their sex as either ‘male’ or ‘female’.
There is no ‘other’ or ‘indeterminate’ option. The next question on their
system directly asks ‘Is this a notice of marriage for a same-sex
couple?

Vital statistics and registration data
Vital statistics
- Births
- Deaths
- Marriages/
Civil
partnerships
Cause of death being
incompatible with registered
sex
Births of indeterminate sex are
automatically changed to male
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
allows for marriages to remain whilst a
spouse is obtaining gender recognition
Registration data
- General Register
Office
- Coroner (Ministry
of Justice)
Implications of GRA 2004 on
recording sex in death registrations
(privacy and disclosure concerns)

What other data sources for Gender?
data across Government:
o Statistics on Transgender prisoners: Ministry of
Justice (MoJ)
o Gender Recognition Certification statistics: Her
Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS
sits within MoJ)
o e-borders and application of ‘U’ passports: Home
Office
o Registration data: General Register Office (GRO)

But might it exist elsewhere
• Customer facing data – is it sex or gender?
HMRC/DWP Customer information system
NHS Personal Demographics Service
And might other systems in those organisations
contain sex? But data protection may stop us
using that data.
• Other data sets may have sex or gender
HESA
School Census – asks for Gender

Key messages:
User need, considerations and challenges
• Not all data needs can be met with one measure
• Legislation considerations
• Sex underlies population and social statistics
• Sex / gender conflation – potential impact on data
quality
• Various challenges and considerations

4. Approaches
to data
collection
• International

Aims
• Gender Identity Research and Testing Plan
o Published May 2016
o “Seek to learn from other National Statistics agencies”
• This work will involve collaboration with:
o Countries known to have collected data on gender
identity
o Any other countries identified as taking forward work

AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF
STATISTICS
Australia

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
• Australian Government Guidelines on the
Recognition of Sex and Gender
o November 2015
o Requires all government departments and agencies’
records to reflect individuals who do not identify
exclusively as male or female
• Standards for Sex and Gender variables
o Published Feb 2016
o Outlined intentions to allow respondents to record their
sex as other than male or female

2011 and 2016 Census –
Paper forms
• Guidance informed
respondents they could write
the term they are most
comfortable with to the right of
the M/F response categories
• Privacy
• No instructions were provided
on the paper form
2016 Census –
Online Form
o Guidance advised respondents
to call the Census Enquiry
Service to request a
separate login with which they
can complete an alternative
online form

Sex/ Gender other than Male/Female Results
• 2011 Census
o Not produced due to disclosure issues
• 2016 Census
o Statistics published for those who identified as sex/gender other
than male or female:
Persons Rate per 100,000 people
Valid and Intentional 1300 5
Possible sex/gender diverse responses 2400 10
Wider group of Possible sex/gender
diverse responses 3700 16
Responses – clearly not an intended
'other' response 6500 27
Australia 23,717,400

Limitations
• Operational challenges
o Reliance on contact with the Census Enquiry Service
o High volume of calls
o Withdrawal of the online form for 43 hours
• Collecting sex and gender in the Census
o Proxy responses
o Privacy concerns
o Limited space on census forms (physical limitations,
completion rates)
o Personal choice in reporting

Statistics Canada
Prior to the 2016
Census, Statistics
Canada had contact
from members of the
transgender
community
commenting that it was
not possible for them
to answer the sex
question

Statistics Canada (StatsCan)
2016 Census sex question:
• Individuals with transgender identities could leave the question
blank
• Write in a comment as to why at the end of the questionnaire
• StatsCan made a public commitment to analyse the comments and
release a report later in 2017

Statistics Canada
Next steps
• In preparation for their 2021 Census STC
are:
o Reviewing whether the data they collect should be
sex at birth
o Exploring the options for collecting gender identity
explicitly in addition
• A “two-step” approach:
o Sex at birth (as detailed on the original birth
certificate)
o Gender identity

STATISTICS NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ)
• Statistics Act 1975
o Sex is collected under this legal requirement
o 2013 Census -sex question:
• Respondent need
o ‘Two ticks for sex’ campaign
o Stats NZ recognise that people born biologically intersex and
those who make transitions cannot represent their biological sex

Intersex
• Looking to further explore and test the implications
of collecting information on the biologically
intersex population.
• Concerns around:
o Comparability
o Space constraints (defining what is meant by biologically
intersex)
o False responses

Gender Identity
• Emerging need to recognise gender identity
o Human Rights Commission (2014)
• Not recommended for inclusion on the 2018
census
o Not yet tested whether a standalone question
would work
o Self-completed (may be confusion over the difference
between sex and gender)

4. Approaches
to data
collection
• International
• UK

Data collection – UK
• Keeping up to date with what other data collection organisations
and those designing questions to collection information on
gender identity are developing. For example …
• Stonewall
• Scottish Trans Alliance

Data Collection - UK
• Government Digital Service

Key messages:
Approaches to data collection
• Similar challenges different solutions
• Conflation between sex and gender
• Impact of legislation and data needs on what is
collected
• Recognition of respondent need

5. Research
and testing
• Qualitative: Interviews and focus groups

Phase 1: Exploratory
• March – April 2017
• England and Wales
• Purposive sampling
In-depth interviews
• Trans, non-binary, intersex
• Parents of children with trans identities
Focus groups
• Cisgender (sex = male or female)
• Wide age range, educational attainment level, ethnic
group, household type

Phase 1: Purpose
To explore…
• Concepts
• Terminology
• How individuals might answer questions on sex
• How individuals might answer questions on gender
identity
• Privacy, security and acceptability concerns
• Burden (especially with a two question design)
• Order effects

Phase 1: Provisional findings
2011 Census sex question
• The sex question was considered out of date by
participants from cisgender and trans communities.
• Difficult to answer for those with trans identities
(including non-binary) and those who were intersex
• There were trans participants who found the question
unacceptable
What is your sex?
Male
Female

Hybrid question
• There were cisgender and transgender participants who felt
the addition of an ‘Other’ category was confusing
• Unclear whether the question was about sex or gender –
suggestions that it needs an explanation
• Non-binary participants tended to be most accepting of
‘Other’, but there were comments about the term ‘Other’ and
the stigma of ‘othering’
What is your sex?
Male
Female
Other

Two step approach
• Transgender participants broadly welcomed a two
step approach – sex & gender seen as separate
concepts
• Whilst considered an improvement to previous
questions there were still challenges
• Same problems as with 2011 question
• Qs difficult to answer
• Different interpretations and answer processes
1.What is your sex?
Male
Female
2. Which of the following options best describes how
you think of your gender identity?
Male
Female
In another way

Cisgender
•Both Qs
answered with
ease but…
•Purpose of
asking a gender
identity question
was less well
understood
•Some confusion
– might skip Q2
Trans
•Varied in their
approaches
•Q1: sex at birth or on
docs; acquired gender,
transitioned sex or
reclaimed sex
• Q2: gender vs identity?
•Therefore answers
might be same for both
Qs, or different (e.g.
Female/In another way)
• Q1: some potential to
be skipped
Parents of trans
children
•Tended to be
confident they
were giving the
same answers as
their child

Two-step approach: further challenges
• Likely to undercount trans population
• Varying views regarding visibility in data vs.
remaining stealth
• Potential revised approach suggested:
• Ask sex assigned at birth, then gender
• Or gender then if is the same as sex at birth
• But varied views as to whether acceptable

Next steps
• Phase 2: Question testing
o Develop questioning in light of the findings
and today’s event
o Any change to design must work across all
groups – comprehension & answer
strategies as intended, acceptability
o One-to-one cognitive question testing
interviews

5. Research
and testing
• Quantitative: Public acceptability testing

Quantitative:
Public acceptability testing, gender identity
Purpose
To explore whether the public …
• Would answer a question on gender identity on the census
• Would request an individual form or stop completing the census
form
• Were willing for other household members to answer a gender
identity question on their behalf
• Would be willing to answer on behalf of other household
members aged 16 or over
• Would be willing to answer on behalf of other household
members aged 15 or under

Quantitative:
Public acceptability testing, gender identity
• Survey
• Independent research company
• Split-sample, UK – gender
identity (and sexual identity)
• Over 4,000 responses for
gender identity in England and
Wales
• Census
Example gender identity question

The following three slides replace the
provisional data shown at the event. They
come from the Census Roadshows which
took place shortly after.

Public acceptability testing (results)
To what extent would you personally find it acceptable for
a gender identity question to be asked on the census?
77
Majority = Acceptable (England: 80%, Wales: 75%)

Acceptable or very acceptable
78

Public acceptability testing (Results)
If this gender identity question was included in the 2021
Census, how would you answer the gender identity
question for yourself?
79

5. Research
and testing
• Quantitative: Public acceptability testing
• Quantitative: Data quality and non-response

Quantitative:
Data quality and non-response
Different options for collecting sex/gender information
Purpose:
1. Data quality
a. Item non-response
b. ‘Correctness’ of answer, including potential mischievous responses
2. Overall response
• Survey
• England and Wales (with related work in Scotland and Northern
Ireland)
• Independent research company
• Currently developing and commissioning

Key messages:
Research and testing
• Recognition of respondent need – expectation from some
respondents to be able to declare an identity other than m/f
• Sex question can be a barrier; seen as out of date
• Complexity – sex / gender conflation, range of views as to how
would response to such questions
• Appears no major problems with acceptability but needs to be
tested in practice
• Issues around privacy
• Could we ever measure the whole population of interest?

What went well
What can we
improve
Bright ideas Questions?

Statistical
disclosure
– small
numbers
Data
quality –
gender
identity
Sex /
gender
conflation
Privacy
More than
one
question
Acceptability
Sex
question –
barrier
Sensitivity
Terminology
Scope of
information
required
No national
harmonised
standard
question
Appropriate
for a
household
survey?
Not
declaring
trans
identity
Legislation
Respondent
understanding
Complexity
Data
quality –
sex

Next steps
• Recommendation: whether and how best to take forward
work on gender identity across ONS (2021 Census, other
surveys)
o Currently gathering evidence, still be decided – Sept
o Work for wider office, not just census
• Publish update around autumn 2017
• Produce a summary of today’s event
• Continue to engage with you
• Census Roadshows – early July – various topics

Webpage
https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/
measuringequality/genderidentity

Aims
Today had given us the opportunity to …
• Present our work and findings
• Share the challenges this has highlighted
• Describe what we’re doing next
We hope today has given you the opportunity to …
• Provide us with your feedback
• Share your responses to the challenges
• Talk to us about the next steps

Feedback forms
• Please complete a feedback form before you
go
• Anything you have missed or realise you
would have liked to have included, please
feel free to feedback after this event

Thank you for attending
We hope you will continue to join us on
our gender identity journey

Questions?
Further information?
Michelle Monkman
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
01329 444986
stakeholder.engagement@ons.gov.uk

Gender Identity

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