With right people count, governments can plan better

Collection of population data is essential for planning and governing. From time immemorial, societies have counted and registered people for a variety of purposes, including taxation, military service, employment, voting, consumption, representation, immigration, education, public health, research, benefits and more. The methods, what meanings and rights or obligations are ascribed and who should have access to these statistics, continue to be relevant and controversial in the modern world. Countries generally estimate populations by censuses, registration systems and large-scale sample surveys. Controversies over census counts emerge due to the consequences of under- or overcounts, which can influence political power and the allocation of government funds and services.

Beyond the absolute totals of people, the two most commonly enumerated characteristics of human populations are sex and age. Sex ratios offer useful insights about a population’s past and future. For example, sex ratios are useful in measuring the extent of sex-selective abortion or female feticide.

Virtually all countries measure age in years, with birth designated as age zero.

Age is a critical measure, frequently utilised as the basis for activities, rights, obligations and entitlements, including schooling, driving, military service, employment, age of legal consent, voting and retirement. Age structure also provides useful insights about a population’s needs, capacities and demographic future. For example, the median ages of Angola, Chad, Mali, Niger and Uganda, the world’s youngest countries, are below 17 years, suggesting that more government funds can be devoted toward education. The median ages of Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Spain — the five oldest countries — are above 40 years and so retirement planning is emphasised.

Age is immutable, unlike most individual characteristics. Recently, however, a 69year old man took legal action to change his age to 49 to avoid discrimination. Arguing that people can legally change their names and gender, he hoped to decide his own age. The court ruled that he could not change his age.

Governments regularly collect other data across a broad spectrum of individual characteristics, including education, occupation, income, marital status, ethnicity, race, religion, language, housing, birthplace, origin of immigrant country, citizenship and disability. While some such as education or marital status are relatively straightforward, others are less clear. Inaccuracies or outright lies defeat the purpose of the census and disrupt effective governing and meaningful planning. So, every question should have a legitimate public purpose to promote well-being and reduce problems. Other concerns about the collection, use and dissemination of data that can erode accuracy include: Privacy and confidentiality: International guidelines the necessity of safeguarding confidentiality of government data and impose penalties for violations. Representation: Large-scale census and registration systems often impact political representation, allocation of funds and cultural identity.

Diversity: Governments typically use data on ethnicity or race and religion for planning and funding services for those enumerated groups. Such categorising can raise questions about ensuring equity, eliminating discrimination and promoting diversity. Abuse and inequality: Most governments rely on data to address differences, inequalities and discrimination in such areas as education, employment, wages and voting.

The counting of individuals and compiling meaningful information about them can enhance good governance and the well-being of a country’s population. However, as history has shown, government-compiled demographic data can be used for nefarious purposes, including abuse. Citizens need to understand the purposes behind any data collection, and governments must also articulate the reasons for any question. Census organisers must also apply caution, safeguards and monitoring of data-collection activities to protect privacy, ensure representation, recognise diversity, address inequalities and secure public trust. —Yale Global

Joseph Chamie is a former Director of the United Nations Population Division

Census organisers must apply caution, safeguards and monitoring of data-collection activities to protect privacy, ensure representation and address inequalities