PEOPLE in Denbighshire will join millions of others across the country this weekend in filling out the 2021 census.

Just once every 10 years, UK households sit down to complete the questionnaire to help paint a picture of who we are, how we live, and what we do.

The vast hoard of information is used by councils, central government and charities to help run vital public services such as hospitals, housing and schools.

The next one in Wales takes place this Sunday (March 21) and is likely to reflect some of the most seismic shifts in society for generations - from Brexit to the Covid-19 crisis.

What has changed

According to 2011’s census, Denbighshire had a population of 93,734.

It was slightly more female at 51 per cent to 49 per cent male.

For the first time this year, people aged 16 and over can answer additional voluntary questions about their gender identity and sexual orientation.

The Office for National Statistics, which runs the census in England and Wales, says the answers will help shape services for the LGBT+ community and promote equality.

People in the area were also a little younger than others across Wales with an average age of 39.8 years – slightly lower than the national average of 40.6.

Religion and ethnicity

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted harsh inequalities among different parts of the population, including between different ethnic groups.

In the county, 97.4 per cent described their ethnicity as white in 2011, while 1.6 per cent were Asian, 0.9 per cent said they were of mixed ethnicity and 0.1 per cent black.

Of the major world religions, Christians formed the largest community in Denbighshire, comprising around 60,100 people in 2011.

The next top religions included Islam (469) and Buddhism (266).

“Information from the 2011 Census has already been crucial in our understanding of mortality for different groups during the pandemic,” said Pete Benton, census director of operations.

“With fresh data from 2021, we will be able to update the analysis we have already done to give us the richest data we have ever had.”

The world of work

Few aspects of our lives have been changed as much by Covid-19 as how we work, and for many of us, where we work.

About 5,300 people aged 16 and over in Denbighshire said they worked mainly at or from home at the last census, amounting to roughly nine per cent of the working-age population – similar to the Wales average of eight per cent.

“We know that about half of the UK workforce worked from home during the first lockdown in 2020,” said Christina Marriott, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health.

“This suggests that we can expect a significant rise in home-based working from the 2021 census results,” she added.

And while the charity’s research suggested there are many benefits to home working, such as saving time and money normally spent commuting, people can also feel isolated from colleagues and find it more difficult to switch off from work.

The RSPH is calling for employers to support staff to make home working a more positive experience.

What you need to know

The census should take about 10 minutes for the household questions and a further 10 minutes per person for the individual questions, says the ONS.

Every householder is responsible for completing it for their household, either by answering the questions for all household members or making everyone answer their own.

If you do not complete the census, you could be fined up to £1,000.