23rd Sep not a statistically useful date
@AC said "The actual deadline for completing the census is 23rd September, so anyone who fails to do it today will not get fined and can complete it in the next 4 weeks or so."
Which is true. But not useful. The whole point of a census is that it provides an accurate baseline for other statistics. That means the "hours worked last week" figure really needs to be completed on or shortly after 9 Aug, when the hours are clear in the respondent's mind. Not on 23 Sep when the respondent's recall will be inaccurate.
The original intent of six weeks was to allow for postal and other delays for a small group of respondents, not for a significant proportion of the population.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
