Family status variable: Census 2021

Mnemonic: family_status
Applicability: Person
Type: Derived variable

Definition

A family is a group of people who are either:

married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children (the children do not need to belong to both members of the couple)
a lone parent with children
a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with grandchildren but where the parents of those grandchildren are not present
a single or couple grandparent with grandchildren but where the parents of those grandchildren are not present

Classification

Total number of categories: 10

Code	Name
1	Not in a family: Aged 66 years and over
2	Not in a family: Other
3	In a couple family: Member of couple
4	In a couple family: Dependent child of one or both members of the couple
5	In a couple family: Non-dependent child of one or both members of the couple
6	In a lone parent family: Parent
7	In a lone parent family: Dependent child of parent
8	In a lone parent family: Non-dependent child of parent
9	Living in a communal establishment
-8	Does not apply*

*Students and schoolchildren living away during term-time, and short-term migrants.

Background

Read about how we developed and tested the questions for Census 2021.

Comparability with the 2011 Census

Broadly comparable

We have increased the upper age limit to 66 years and above.

What does broadly comparable mean?

A variable that is broadly comparable means that it can be generally compared with the same variable used in the 2011 Census. However, changes may have been made to the question or options that people could choose from or how write-in answers are classified.

England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland comparisons

Find out more about variables produced for Census 2021 in Northern Ireland and Census 2022 in Scotland.

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