In the United Kingdom, a census takes place once every decade, that is, once every ten years. The census can be completely through the internet though many choose to complete a paper copy. There is a census being taken currently in the UK. By law every household must complete a census. The last census was taken in 2001, and out of the total number of households that did not complete the census, the government took legal action against 38, according to "Frank Skinner's Opinionated," a popular television programme. In England and Wales, censuses have been taken every 10 years since 1801. In Scotland, the first census was taken in 1861, and then they were taken every decade after that, with the exception of 1941, when there was no census in the United Kingdom due to the outbreak of World War II. Censuses are important as they provide the government with vital information about how resources should be distributed, economic statistics, and the change in population demographics such as the aging of the population or changes due to immigration. For example it is through censuses that we know Britain's population is aging (the proportion of pensioners is going up) and that the birth rate is very gradually decreasing in England (though the movement of immigrants is offsetting the reduction). It is therefore important not to put sarcastic or humorous answers on a census, and it must be completed fully. Many people collaborated via the internet and decided to put "Jedi" as their religion during the census of 2001. Whilst this was completely harmless, it provided little useful information to the government on how different religions are distributed through the UK. For more information, look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_in_the_United_Kingdom as this is where I got my information from.
