Other White

The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, Scottish, Romani or Irish ethnic groupings.

This article is about one of the white ethnicity classifications used in the United Kingdom census. For the broad racial group, see white people in the United Kingdom.
See also: White British, White Irish, White Gypsy or Irish Traveller, and White Polish

The category does not comprise a single ethnic group but is instead a method of identification for white people who are not represented by other white census categories. This means that the Other White group contains a diverse collection of people with different countries of birth, languages and religions. In 2011, the Scottish Government introduced the category White Polish to differentiate Polish Britons, and Polish residents, living in Scotland from this broad grouping.

The categorisation was primarily intended to cover people with ancestry from Continental Europe, with the largest represented ethnic groups being Poles (except in Scotland since 2011), Germans, Romanians, Italians and the French.[1][2] It also appears that people with European ancestry (or who otherwise identify as white), born outside of the continent, are significantly represented in the White Other category. In 2001, the United States, South Africa and Australia were in the top ten birthplaces, together representing over 15 percent of the category.

Along with White British and White Irish, the category does not appear in Northern Ireland, where only one single "White" classification was presented to respondents.[3]

Demographics
Birthplace of "Other White" in England and Wales as of the 2001 Census[4]

Birthplace

In the 2001 UK Census, the majority of people living in England and Wales ticking the 'Other White' ethnic group specified their ethnicity as European.[4] Four out of five of the 'Other White' category (i.e. not British or Irish) were born overseas. A third were born in a Western European country other than the UK, and one in seven were born in an Eastern European country.[4]

Outside of Europe, countries derived from former British colonies such as the United States, South Africa and Australia were among the top ten birthplaces (which included the UK itself). This suggested that, in 2001, significant numbers of American Britons, South African Britons, and Australian Britons, such as those born abroad to British parents and returned to the UK as minors, identified as White Other. It may also be that those who identify as white Americans, white South Africans, or white Australians have migrated to the country as adults.[4]

Economic status

The Other White group is largely of working age, with only one in ten aged over 65 and one in seven under 16 at the time of the 2001 census. This does vary according to the stated country of birth, with people born in the UK being disproportionately young. Polish and Italian respondents had a larger proportion of over 65s,[4] which reflects the migration of Poles and Italians to Britain after the Second World War. A wide number of religions are represented in the Other White group.

Religion

In the census, the largest faith group, 63 per cent, identified themselves as Christian, with 16 per cent defining themselves as without religion, nine per cent as Muslims, and two per cent as Jewish.[4]

See also

References
  1. 2011 Census: KS202EW National identity, local authorities in England and Wales, Accessed 22 December 2012
  2. "Population of the UK by Country of Birth and Nationality: 2015". Office for National Statistics – Table 2: Five most common non-UK countries of birth and non-British nationalities for usual residents of the UK, 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  3. "Harmonised Concepts and Questions for Social Data Sources: Primary Standards – Ethnic Group" (PDF). Office for National Statistics. April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  4. Gardener, David; Connolly, Helen (October 2005). "Who are the 'Other' ethnic groups?" (PDF). Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
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