The 2021 census takes place this weekend. Preliminary results will not be available for at least a year, so Metric Views has looked at the results of the last census, held exactly 10 years ago, to assess two government decisions relating to metric education and the use of metric measures.
On the website for the 2011 Census there is a table of usual UK resident population by five-year age groups. This may be found using the link below – go to table 1a.
If these figures were rolled forward by 10 years, errors would be introduced – there is definitely a bulge of those aged in their forties – but these would not, we believe, invalidate the conclusions.
As we are looking about issues relating to metric education, there are two matters that should be borne in mind:
- All school students received some metric teaching during their science lessons at secondary school. UK governments appear to think that this should be ignored – perhaps they assume students were not paying attention or forgot what they learned.
- The teaching of imperial measurements ceased in primary schools no later than 1974-75, and was replaced by teaching of decimals – both currency and measures. Accordingly, everyone born from 1970 onwards would have been taught metric measures. Governments have referred to this as ”metric education”.
In 2002 the Government said, as a reason for not changing road traffic signs to metric, that “Drivers who have not received metric education at school would be confused by a change to metric units.” Then late in 2005 the Government made clear that the principal reason for not changing traffic signs was the cost, for which it produced a hugely inflated estimate. This has remained so ever since.
Assuming all those aged 20 and over are drivers, the 2011 census figures in table 1a rolled forward to today give the following:
Aged 20 to 49 today 26 193 000 people 60%
Aged 50 and over 17 797 000 people 40%
If the Government wished to persuade the UK population to retain imperial measurements on the country’s road signs then it was wise to drop the “metric education” argument – even if it was a valid reason in 2002, which many dispute, it would eventually have become an argument FOR changing rather than against.
Secondly, we looked at the recent decision to use metres for Covid social distancing. Assuming those over the age of 10 and under 50 “have received metric education” and those aged 50 and over not, the 2011 census figures in table 1a rolled forward to 2021 give the following:
Aged 10 to 49 today 37 377 000 people 68%
Aged 50 and over 17 797 000 people 32%
Clearly, the Government was right to provide social distancing guidance in metric for this reason alone, though it is probably not the only reason why it did so.
As previously mentioned, the 2021 Census figures will not become available until next year. By then, social distancing will, hopefully, be a distant memory, but the estimate on how many drivers have “received metric education” might be worth updating.