Research and analysis

Attitudes to equalities: the British Social Attitudes Survey 2017

Published 1 February 2019

Attitudes to equalities: the British Social Attitudes Survey 2017

Research brief February 2019

Aimee Huchet-Bodet, Muslihah Albakri and Neil Smith

NatCen Social Research

Introduction

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has commissioned questions on NatCen’s British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey on a number of occasions since its inception in 1983. In 2017, as part of a joint contract with the Department for Education (DfE), GEO commissioned a set of questions measuring public attitudes in relation to the following topics: transphobia, marriage and homosexuality, gender division of labour, occupational segregation, self-image, and harassment. A list of the questions referred to within this report is provided at Annex 1. This briefing paper presents headline analysis of the results to these questions.

Carried out annually since 1983,[footnote 1] BSA is an authoritative source of data on the views of the British public. It uses a random probability sampling methodology to yield a representative sample of adults aged 18+ living in private households in Britain.[footnote 2] The majority of questions are asked by an interviewer face-to-face in the form of a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI), while a smaller number are answered by respondents in a self-completion booklet. Questions commissioned by the GEO were included in both sections of the survey, but a greater number were included in the self-completion section, due to the sensitivity of the question topics and the risk of social desirability bias.

Data collection was carried out between July and November 2017 in England, Wales and Scotland, with a response rate of 45%.[footnote 3] The achieved sample for the face-to-face questionnaire was 3,011, and, of this, the achieved sample for the self-completion booklet was 2,474.[footnote 4] The data has been weighted to account for unequal selection probabilities and non-response bias, and calibrated to match the population profile on the basis of age, sex and region. All differences described in the text (between different groups of people or survey waves) are statistically significant at the 95% level or above, unless otherwise stated.

Executive summary

NatCen’s annual British Social Attitudes survey (BSA) is an authoritative source of data on the views of the British public. It uses a random probability sampling methodology to yield a representative sample of adults aged 18+ living in private households in England, Wales and Scotland.

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has commissioned questions on NatCen’s British Social Attitudes survey (BSA) on a number of occasions since its inception in 1983. In 2017, the GEO commissioned a set of questions measuring public attitudes in relation to transphobia, marriage and homosexuality, gender division of labour, occupational segregation, self-image, and harassment. Key findings from the GEO- funded questions on the 2017 wave of the survey are summarised below.

Transphobia and gender transitioning

A majority of respondents (61%) disagreed that transgender transitions were based on a superficial or temporary need, while 15% of respondents agreed with the sentiment.

While a majority (84%) of respondents said they were not at all prejudiced against transgender people, fewer (52%) said that such prejudice was ‘always’ wrong. Women, younger respondents, and those with higher levels of education, household income and socioeconomic status were more likely to say that prejudice against transgender people was ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ wrong.

Pre-marital sex and same-sex relations

Three-quarters of the respondents (75%) said that premarital sexual relations were not wrong at all.

Around 7 in 10 respondents (68%) thought sexual relations between two adults of the same sex were ‘not wrong at all’, with a similar proportion (71%) saying this of two adults of the same sex being in a relationship as a couple.

Younger respondents were more likely to say that same-sex relations were ‘not wrong at all’.

There has been a steady decline in the proportion viewing same-sex relations as ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ wrong, down from 74% in 1987, to just 17% in 2017.

Gender division of labour and childcare

When asked whether a woman should work when there is a child under school age, 38% of respondents said women should work part-time, with 33% saying that she should stay at home. Respondents were more likely to say that women should work when their youngest child was of school age, with 49% of people saying they should work part-time, and 27% saying they should work full-time.

In terms of taking shared parental leave when a child is born, more than half of respondents (54%) said that the mother should take all or most of the leave. Young people were most likely to think that paid leave should be split evenly between both parents, with almost half (48%) of 18-24 year olds saying this compared to 17% of those aged 75+.

Almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents agreed that both men and women should contribute to the household income, with younger people more likely to agree with this compared to older people. Attitudes have shifted significantly over time, up from 53% agreeing with this sentiment in 1989, and 62% in 2012.

72% of people disagreed that ‘a man’s job is to earn the money; a woman’s job is to take care of the home and family’. Women, younger people, and those with higher levels of education and income were more likely to disagree with this statement. The proportion of people agreeing with the statement has decreased significantly over time, from 48% in 1987, to 12% in 2012, and 8% in 2017.

Occupational segregation and gender norms

More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents said that men and women were equally suited to doing all, almost all, or most jobs.

The majority of respondents said that neither girls nor boys were naturally better at maths or computing than the other (72% maths, 73% computing). Although there was no difference in perceived gender differences in maths, more people believed that boys (12%) were naturally better at computing than girls (3%).

Body image

Over half of respondents (58%) reported feeling much better about themselves when they thought they looked good. Half of the respondents (50%) said that they thought how they looked did not really affect others’ opinions of them.

A majority of respondents (73%) agreed that society puts too much pressure on girls and women to appear sexualised, while only 6% disagreed with this statement.

Harassment

More than half (57%) of respondents said that street harassment of women by men was ‘always’ or ‘usually’ wrong whereas 8% disagreed. Views on cyber harassment of women were much stronger, as the vast majority of respondents (93%) believed it was wrong.

Almost half (45%) of respondents said that street harassment of men was wrong, in contrast to 16% who thought otherwise. A majority (85%) of people believed that cyber harassment of men was wrong while 1% disagreed.

In terms of who should be responsible for dealing with online sexist bullying, a majority (68%) of respondents believed that it should be the police/law enforcement, followed by 63% saying it should be the provider of the service on which it occurs.

1. Transphobia and gender transitioning

Respondents were asked a number of questions about transgender people using the following definition: “People who are transgender have gone through all or part of a process (including thoughts or actions) to change the sex they were described as at birth to the gender they identify with, or intend to. This might include by changing their name, wearing different clothes, taking hormones or having gender reassignment surgery”.

Perception of the transition process

Respondents were asked about the extent to which they felt transgender transitioning was based on a superficial and temporary need. A majority of respondents (61%) disagreed, while 22% neither agreed nor disagreed and 15% agreed. In 2016, when the question was first asked, 12% agreed with the statement, but the difference between waves did not appear to be statistically significant.

Women (67%) were more likely to disagree with the sentiment that transitioning was due to a superficial and temporary need than men (54%). Younger respondents were also more likely to disagree than those aged 65 and over. For example, 35-44 year olds were twice as likely (70%) to disagree that wanting to transition was due a superficial and temporary need compared to people aged 75 and above (35%).

Level of education was also related to views on transgender transitioning, with those who had attained a higher qualification level more likely to disagree that transitioning was based on a superficial and temporary need (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Disagreement that transgender transitioning is based on a superficial and temporary need, by highest educational qualification

Highest education qualification Percentage                 
Degree                          76%                        
Higher education below degree   65%                        
A level or equivalent           67%                        
O level or equivalent           58%                        
CSE or equivalent               46%                        
Foreign or other                36% (small base size, n=54)
No qualification                37%                        

Unweighted base: 3,011 respondents

Own prejudice against transgender people

A majority of respondents (84%) said they were not prejudiced at all against transgender people. About one in ten (13%) said they were a little prejudiced while 2% said they were very prejudiced. These proportions did not appear to have changed significantly since the question was introduced in the previous year (2016).

The likelihood of believing oneself to be prejudiced against transgender people varied by gender, with women (88%) more likely to say they were not prejudiced compared to men (80%). Respondents with higher levels of education were also more likely to say they were not prejudiced (e.g. 87% of those with degrees) compared to those with no educational qualifications (76%).

Views on prejudice against transgender people

As observed in the previous question, the majority of respondents did not view themselves as prejudiced against transgender people. However, fewer people viewed the prejudice itself as wrong. While 84% said they were not at all prejudiced against transgender people, only 52% said that such prejudice was ‘always’ wrong. A further 18% said that it was ‘mostly’ wrong, while 15% said ‘sometimes’ wrong, and 6% said it was ‘rarely’ or ‘never wrong’.

As was the case for perceptions of their own prejudice against transgender people, women (74%) were more likely than men (67%) to say that prejudice was ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ wrong. Attitudes towards prejudice also varied by age. More than three- quarters (77%) of 18-24 year olds said that prejudice against transgender people was ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ wrong while less than half (48%) of people aged 75 and above shared this view.

Views on prejudice towards transgender people also differed by sociodemographic characteristics including education, household income, and socioeconomic status. Degree holders (81%), those from the highest income group (81%) and people in managerial and professional occupations (78%) were the most likely to say that prejudice was wrong, in contrast to those with no qualification (56%), people in the lowest two income groups (64-67%) and those in semi-routine and routine occupations (61%).

2. Pre-marital sex and same-sex relations

Respondents were asked about their views on sexual relations before marriage, with three-quarters of respondents (75%) saying they thought it was not wrong at all.

Attitudes towards homosexual relationships were also explored, with respondents randomly assigned to a different version of the questions, one asking about sexual relations between two adults of the same sex, and the other asking about same sex relationships with no mention of ‘sexual relations’.[footnote 5] The aim was to assess whether the question which did not mention “sex” received higher approval ratings.

When asked about “sexual relations between two adults of the same sex”, nearly seven in ten (68%) said that it was not wrong at all, with 12% of people saying it was always wrong. A similar proportion (71%) said it was not wrong at all if “two adults of the same sex are in a relationship as a couple”, with 8% saying it was always wrong. Attitudes to same sex relationships do not appear to be significantly influenced by the wording of the question on the topic, specifically whether there is a mention of sexual relations or not.

As shown in Figure 2, views on homosexual sex and relationships varied significantly by age, with younger people more likely to say that sexual relations and a relationship between adults of the same sex were not wrong at all. For younger age groups, there appeared to be little difference in acceptance of same-sex relationships, whether or not the question was framed in terms of sexual relations. There did appear to be some difference for respondents aged 65+, who were more likely to accept relationships between two same-sex adults when framed in a non-sexual way.

Figure 2: Respondents viewing same-sex relations and relationships as ‘not wrong at all’, by age

Age group   Same-sex relationships (%)  Sexual relations between two same-sex adults (%)
18 to 24    83% (small base size, n=50) 80%                                             
25 to 34    80%                         79%                                             
35 to 44    77%                         75%                                             
45 to 54    73%                         74%                                             
55 to 64    69%                         70%                                             
65 to 74    61%                         53%                                             
75 and over 38%                         29%                                             

Unweighted base: 984 respondents [SSRel], 3,004 respondents [HomoSex]

Attitudes towards same-sex relations over time

The question referring to sexual relations between two adults of the same sex has been asked as part of the British Social Attitudes Survey since 1983. Changes in attitudes to same-sex relations are shown in Figure 3

Figure 3: Attitudes towards same-sex relations from 1983-2017

Unweighted base: 3,004 respondents (2017)

Since 1987, when 74% said that same-sex relations were ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ wrong, there has been a steady increase in acceptance of same-sex relations among the British public, and this trend has continued over the last decade. Ten years ago, in 2007, the proportion had fallen to 36%, then 28% in 2012, and further still, to just 17% in the latest wave of data from 2017. This has been mirrored by a steady increase in the proportion of people viewing same-sex relations as ‘not wrong at all’, with just 11% saying this in 1987, up to 39% in 2007, 47% in 2012, and 68% in 2017.

3. Gender divisions of labour and childcare

Respondents were asked a number of questions relating to gender divisions of labour and childcare, including whether women with children should work, how paid parental leave should be divided, and ‘traditional’ gender roles.

Women with children and work

Respondents were asked whether they thought women with children should work outside the home full-time, part-time or stay at home. In both circumstances, people were most likely to say that women should work part time, but attitudes varied depending on whether a child was under school age or had started school (Figure 4). When asked whether a woman should work when there is a child under school age, 38% of respondents said women should work part-time, followed by 33% saying that she should stay at home, and 20% who couldn’t choose. Respondents were more likely to say women should work outside the home when their youngest child was in school. Only 2% of respondents said that the woman should stay at home in these circumstances.

Figure 4: Should women with children work outside the home?

Reponse        When there is a child under school age (%) After the youngest child starts school (%)
Work full time 7%                                         27%                                       
Work part time 38%                                        49%                                       
Stay at home   33%                                        2%                                        
Can’t choose   20%                                        19%                                       

Unweighted base: 2,474 respondents

Attitudes towards women working varied by gender. When a child was under school age, 36% of men said that the woman should stay at home, compared to 30% of women. However, men (29%) were more likely to favour women working full-time when their youngest child started school than women themselves (26%). There was also a significant difference in preferences for women working part-time once a child reached school age, with women (52%) more likely to support this option than men (46%).

Older people were more likely to say that women with children under school age should stay at home, with 49% of those aged 75+ saying this, compared to 26%-35% of those aged 18-64. They were also least likely to say that women with children should work full time, with only 14% of those aged 75+ saying this for women with school-aged children, and 1% for women with children under school age.

Household income and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with supporting part-time work for women with school going children. People from the lowest income group (60%) and those in semi-routine and routine occupations (57%) were more likely to favour women with school-aged children working part time than those in the highest income group (40%) and those in managerial and professional occupations (43%).

In terms of supporting full-time work, the opposite relationship exists- people with the highest household income (32%) were more likely to favour a woman with school-aged children working full time than those with the lowest household income (20%).

Attitudes towards women with children working vs staying at home do not appear to have changed significantly since the first time the questions were asked in 2012.

Attitudes to division of paid parental leave

Respondents were asked to “consider a couple who both work full time and earn roughly the same amount, and now have a new-born child. Both are eligible for paid leave if they stop working for some time to care for their child. How should the mother and father divide the paid leave period between them?”

A little over half of respondents (54%) said that the mother should take all or most of the leave, while 30% thought that the paid leave should be split evenly between mother and father. Less than 1% of respondents said that the father should take all or most of the leave.

Young people were most likely to think that paid leave should be split evenly between both parents, with almost half (48%) of 18-24 year olds saying this compared to 17% of those aged 75+.

Contributing to household income

Respondents were asked how far they agreed or disagreed that “both the man and woman should contribute to the household income”. Almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents agreed that both men and women should contribute to the household income though there were significant differences by age. Younger people aged 18-24 years were most likely to agree with this sentiment (83%) compared to 66% of those aged 75+.

The proportion of people agreeing that both men and women should contribute to household income has increased over time, from 53% in 1989, to 62% in 2012, and 72% in 2017.

Gender roles

Respondents were asked about the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement “a man’s job is to earn the money; a woman’s job is to take care of the home and family”. Nearly three quarters (72%) of people disagreed with this statement while only 8% agreed with it. The proportion of people agreeing with the statement has decreased significantly over time, from 48% in 1987, and 12% in 2012 (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Agreement/disagreement that “a man’s job is to earn money; a woman’s job is to look after the home and family”, 1984-2017

Unweighted base: 2,474 respondents (2017)

Although the majority of people in 2017 did not agree with these gender roles, differences in responses between genders were observed, with female respondents (74%) more likely than men (69%) to disagree with that a man’s job is to earn and the woman is in charge of the household. People aged over 65 were less likely to disagree with the statement compared to younger people (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Disagreement that “a man’s job is to earn money; a woman’s job is to look after the home and family”, by age

Age group   Percentage
18 to 24    76%       
25 to 34    74%       
35 to 44    77%       
45 to 54    79%       
55 to 64    72%       
65 to 74    67%       
75 and over 47%       

Unweighted base: 2,474 respondents

Additionally, degree holders (82%), those with the highest income (84%) and respondents in managerial and professional occupations (80%) were the most likely to disagree with the statement of traditional gender roles compared to people with no qualification (55%), those with the lowest income (60%), and respondents in semi- routine/routine occupations (63%).

4. Occupational segregation and gender norms

Given that a majority of people supported the concept of equal participation in work, respondents were asked if some jobs were more suited for one gender over the other. More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents said that men and women were equally suited to doing all, almost all, or most jobs.

Attitudes varied by age, with younger people more likely than older people to say that men and women were equally suited to doing all, almost all, or most jobs (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Proportion of respondents saying that men and women are equally suited to doing all, almost all, or most jobs, by age

Age group   Percentage
18 to 24    93%       
25 to 34    81%       
35 to 44    82%       
45 to 54    81%       
55 to 64    74%       
65 to 74    69%       
75 and over 56%       

Unweighted base: 2,474 respondents

Those with the highest household income (86%), level of education (87%) and socioeconomic status (83%) were the most likely to say that men and women were equally suited to all, almost all or most jobs.

Attitudes to maths and computing ability of boys and girls in school

Respondents were asked whether they thought boys or girls were naturally better at two subjects at school, maths and computing. The majority of respondents said that neither girls nor boys were naturally better at maths or computing than the other (72% for maths, 73% for computing) (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Perceived gender differences in maths and computing ability in school

Response                    Maths (%) Computing (%)
Girls are naturally better  8%        3%           
Boys are naturally better   8%        12%          
Neither is naturally better 72%       73%          

Unweighted base: 2,474 respondents

Female respondents (6%) were significantly less likely to think that girls were naturally better at maths than male respondents (11%). However, they were more likely (76%) than men (67%) to believe that neither boys nor girls were naturally better at maths.

Attitudes towards perceived maths performance of boys and girls varied by education and income. Those with the lowest incomes (12%) and educational levels (11%) were nearly twice as likely as those from the highest income (7%) and educational backgrounds (5%) to think that girls were naturally better at maths.

Only 3% thought that girls were naturally better than boys at computing. Those with no qualifications (8%) or from the lowest income group (7%) were more likely than those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds to think that girls were better than boys at computing.

5. Body image

Respondents were asked about how their appearance affected the way they thought about themselves and the way other people thought about them.

Over half of respondents (58%) said they felt much better about themselves when they thought they looked good, while just over one-third (36%) of people said that their looks did not really affect how they feel about themselves.

In terms of how they thought their appearance affected how other people thought of them, one in two (50%) said that how they looked did not really affect others’ opinions of them, while 34% believed that others had a much higher opinion of them when they looked good.

Younger people were more likely to associate their looks with how they felt about themselves and how others perceived them and were also more likely than older people to say that others had a higher opinion of them when they looked good (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Effect of appearance on self-perception and perception by others, by age

Age group   I feel much better about myself when I think I look good (%) Others have much higher opinion of me when I look good (%)
18 to 24    72%                                                          47%                                                       
25 to 34    62%                                                          41%                                                       
35 to 44    61%                                                          39%                                                       
45 to 54    59%                                                          34%                                                       
55 to 64    49%                                                          27%                                                       
65 to 74    48%                                                          22%                                                       
75 and over 53%                                                          23%                                                       

Unweighted base: 2,474 respondents

Those with the highest educational qualifications (43% of degree holders) and the highest incomes (40% of the highest household income group) were the most likely to think that people had a higher opinion of them if they looked good, compared to 23% of people with no qualifications and 31% of those in the lowest income bracket. Similarly, people in higher income groups were more likely to feel better about themselves when they thought they looked good than people from lower income groups.

There was a significant association between gender and body image. Women (67%) were more likely to say that they felt better about themselves when they looked good than men (48%).

Sexualised appearances

Respondents were asked whether they thought society puts too much pressure on girls and women to have a sexualised appearance. A majority of respondents (73%) agreed with this statement, while only 6% disagreed. The proportion of respondents agreeing appeared to have fallen since the question was first asked in 2013 (77%)

Attitudes varied by gender, age, education, income and socioeconomic status. Women (77%) and younger people (77% of 35-44 year olds) were more likely to agree that society puts too much pressure on girls and women to have a sexualised appearance than men (68%) and older people (57% of those aged 75 and above).

Additionally, degree holders (82%), those with the highest household income (80%) and people in managerial and professional occupations as well as employers in small organisations and self-employed (77%) were more likely to support this statement than people with no qualification (59%), those with the lowest household income (65%) and those in lower supervisory and technical occupations (63%).

6. Harassment

A range of views on harassment were assessed using a random split-sample design, with a random two thirds of respondents asked about harassment of women by men, and a random one third asked about harassment of men by women.

Respondents were asked about their attitudes towards the following:

  • Street harassment of women by men
  • Street harassment of men by women
  • Cyber harassment of women by men
  • Cyber harassment of men by women

Street harassment was described using the following vignette, “imagine a [woman/man] is walking down the street. [She/he] passes a [man/woman] who [she/he] does not know and [he/she] comments loudly that [she/he] looks gorgeous today”. Cyber harassment, was described as “imagine a [man/woman] writes a crude, sexual comment on the internet about a [woman/man] [he/she] does not know. The comment can be seen by anyone”. A random two-thirds of the respondents saw the versions of vignettes about men harassing women, while a random third saw versions about women harassing men.

Overall, respondents were more likely to say that cyber harassment was ‘always’ or ‘usually’ wrong compared to street harassment. In addition, people were less likely to think that harassment of men, on the streets and online, was wrong in comparison to the harassment of women (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Proportion of respondents reporting that the following types of harassment were ‘always’ or ‘usually’ wrong

Type of harassment Towards men (%) Towards women (%)
Street harassment  45%             57%              
Cyber harassment   85%             93%              

Unweighted base: 1,662 respondents [towards women], 812 respondents [towards men]

A large majority (93%) of respondents thought that a man writing a crude, sexual comment on the internet about a woman was wrong, while 57% said that a man calling a woman he sees on the street ‘gorgeous’ was wrong.

This trend was similar for the harassment of men by women; 85% of respondents felt cyber harassment of men by women was wrong in contrast to the 45% who felt street harassment was wrong.

Harassment of women by men

Respondents with no qualification (13%) and those from the lowest income group (12%) were more likely to say that street harassment was never or rarely wrong than degree holders (4%) or those from the highest income group (3%). Similarly, those in semi- routine and routine occupations (11%) were more likely to express this view than 5% of respondents in managerial or professional occupations.

These socio-demographic patterns were far less marked when it came to cyber harassment of women by men, with a clear majority of all respondents seeing cyber- harassment as wrong.

Harassment of men by women

The likelihood of thinking that street harassment of men was wrong varied by gender and age. Men (26%) were more likely to say that harassment was ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ wrong, compared to women (7%). Younger respondents were more likely to say it was ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ wrong, with 23% of 18-24 year olds saying this compared to 9% of 75+ year olds.

As was the case for cyber-harassment of women by men, there was little variation in views on cyber-harassment of men by women, with a clear majority viewing it as wrong.

Responsibility for dealing with cyberbullying

Respondents were asked who should be responsible for dealing with online sexist bullying, which was defined as “putting or writing something on the internet which deliberately aims to hurt or upset someone, because of their sex or gender.”

Respondents were able to select multiple answers. Respondents were most likely to say that the police/law enforcement should be responsible (68%), followed by the provider of the service (e.g. website or social media platform) (63%). About one in five (22%) thought it should be another official body such as an independent regulator.

Annex 1 – Questionnaire

See the questionnaire for the British Social Attitudes Survey 2017 (PDF).

© NatCen Social Research

Reference: GEO-RB-006

The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government Equalities Office.

Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: geo.correspondence@geo.gov.uk.

  1. Apart from in 1988 and 1992 when its core funding was used to fund the British Election Study series. 

  2. For more technical details of the survey methodology see: http://bsa.natcen.ac.uk/latest- report/british-social-attitudes-35/technical-details.aspx 

  3. This is the lower limit of the response rate, which is calculated as a range from a lower limit where all unknown eligibility cases (e.g. address inaccessible, or unknown whether address is residential) are assumed to be eligible and therefore included in the unproductive outcomes, to an upper limit where all these cases are assumed to be ineligible and therefore excluded for the response calculation. The upper limit of the response rate for BSA 2017 was 46%. 

  4. The total sample size for British Social Attitudes 2017 was 3,988 for the face-to-face questionnaire, with 3,258 of these completing the self-completion booklet. Respondents were randomly allocated one of four versions of the questionnaire and self-completion booklet, labelled A to D. Questions commissioned by GEO were included in versions A, B and D (3,001 face-to-face respondents, 2,474 self-completion booklets returned), with the exception of two face-to-face items, [PMS] and [HomoSex], which were included in versions A, B and C (3,004 respondents). 

  5. The question about sexual relations [HomoSex] was included in versions A, B and C of the CAPI questionnaire (3,004 respondents), while the same-sex relationships question [SSRel] was only included in version D of the questionnaire (984 respondents).