I got my census yesterday and it was all very straighforward until I got to question 23 - Are your day to day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months?
My first problem with this question is that health problems and disability have been lumped together. Having a disability doesn't necessarily mean you have a health problem and visa versa.
My second problem was the utter subjectivity of the answer options:
yes, limited a lot
yes, limited a little
no
Well I knew no wasn't the right answer but does my disability limit me a lot or a little? I found that impossible to answer. Am I just supposed to use my own judgement, am I supposed to be comparing myself to others or should I be answering with a view to the fact that they are supposed to be using the results to plan services?
Why on earth couldn't they just be direct about it as they were with the ethnicity and religion questions?:
Do you have a health problem, yes or no?
If yes, is it heart related, asthma, cancer etc?
Do you have a disability, yes or no?
If yes, it is a mobility, visual, learning etc disability?
It just makes me think that they aren't in the slightest bit interested in collecting any useful information or statistics about disability at all because given the question they just won't get any useful/accurate information it's just too woolly and subjective.
