The UK censuses took place on 21st April 1991. They were run by the Census Office for Northern Ireland, General Register Office for Scotland, and the Office of Population and Surveys for both England and Wales. The UK comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.Statistics from the UK censuses help paint a picture of the nation and how we live. They provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics, and underpin funding allocation to provide public services. The 1991 Individual Sample of Anonymised Records for Great Britain (SARs) represents a 2% sample of individuals enumerated in households and communal establishments in the 1991 Census. It consists of almost 1.2 million individual records. The SARs were drawn from the fully coded set of census records returned by households and institutions. They therefore omit wholly imputed households and also households that were missed by the Census. In total, 278 geographical areas are identified on the Individual SAR and include all large local authority districts with a population of at least 120,000 in the 1989 mid-year estimates. Smaller local authorities have been grouped together to form areas with populations over 120,000. The Individual SAR was selected from the 10% sample of the 1991 Census from the remaining households after the removal of the Household SAR. This ensured that there were no overlapping cases in the two samples. Individuals in the remaining households were stratified into groups of nine, and two individuals were selected from each group at random. Individuals in communal establishments were stratified into groups of five, and one individual was selected at random from each group. The records were then scrambled to prevent the geographical tracing within a SAR area. In the Individual file there are two potential sources of clustering which arise in the sampling process. First, individuals are clustered into households in the selection of the 1% sample and second, the removal of the household SAR from the 1% sample implies a further clustering into households. Nonetheless, the Individual SAR approximates to a simple random sample. Further information, including guides and other documentation, may be found on the Cathie Marsh Centre for Survey Research Samples of Anonymised Records website. Variables included in the 1991 Individual SAR are: age, sex, marital status, employment status, occupation, industry, social class, accommodation, bath/shower and indoor toilet facilities, tenure, economic position and social class of family head; and some limited information on other members of household, e.g. number of persons with long-term illness, number of pensioners and number of earners.