CHS likes very much the intersection of life and stats so we’re looking forward to a special delivery in the coming week — 2010 census questionnaires are on the way. The Census Bureau also makes a compelling argument for not procrastinating and sending in your response by mail:
It costs the government just 44 cents for a postage-paid envelope when a household mails back the 10-question form, which should take just 10 minutes to complete. It costs the Census Bureau $57 to send a census taker door-to-door to follow up with each household that fails to respond.
On the other hand, considering the economy, maybe we should create all the census work we can.
From the 2010census.gov site, here’a map showing the by-mail questionnaire participation for the Capitol Hill area in the 2000 census. Below, you’ll find more details from the Census Bureau on this week’s mailing.
2010 CENSUS FORMS ARRIVING IN MAILBOXES ACROSS WASHINGTON NEXT WEEK
The once-in-a-decade census count has arrived. Households throughout Washington State can expect to receive the much-anticipated, 10-question form in their mailboxes as soon as Monday, March 15. A small percentage of rural areas received hand-deliver forms earlier this month.
Census officials hope that people will fill out their 2010 census questionnaires and mail them back as soon as possible, saving hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. It costs the government just 44 cents for a postage-paid envelope when a household mails back the 10-question form, which should take just 10 minutes to complete. It costs the Census Bureau $57 to send a census taker door-to-door to follow up with each household that fails to respond. In 2000, the nation reversed a three-decade decline in mail rates, achieving a mail-participation rate of 72 percent.
Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census takes place every 10 years. Census Day is April 1, 2010. Census data determine boundaries for state and local legislative and congressional districts. More than $400 billion in federal funds are distributed annually based on census data to pay for local programs and services, such as schools, highways, vocational training, emergency services, hospitals, unemployment benefits and much more.
Language-assistance guides and translations of the form are available online in 59 languages at www.2010census.gov. Telephone assistance is available in Spanish (1-866-928-2010), Chinese (1-866-935-2010), Vietnamese (1-866-945-2010), Korean (1-866-955-2010) and Russian (1-866-965-2010) in addition to English (1-866-872-6868). Deaf and hard-of-hearing persons can call the TDD number: 1-866-783-2010.
The US Constitution requires that everyone living in the United States be counted every ten years. All census information collected, including addresses, is confidential and protected by law (Title 13, U.S. Code, Section 9). By law, the CensusBureau can’t share respondents’ answers with any government agency such as the FBI, the IRS, welfare and immigration. No court of law or law enforcement agency can find out respondents’ answers. All Census Bureau employees — including temporary employees — take an oath for life to keep census information confidential. Any violation of that oath is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.
I’ve been obsessed with the census since I was like 10 and can’t wait to do mine for the first time! And it’s good to know that all the data is private!
Marley, what makes you think the information is private? In 1942, the Census Bureau handed over records to the U.S. military so soldiers could round up Japanese Americans to take them off to prison camps. As recently as 2003, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was found (via FOIA request from EPIC) to be mining the data for the locations of Arabic people living in the United States.
I’ve been asked for more detailed and personal information on a credit card application, so I’m not overly worried about the privacy issue. I AM bothered, however, that the same taxpayers who are conscientious and return their census information will be paying $57 for every household that does not. If the government wants to hand out money, why not offer a $20 incentive to every household that DOES return the census, and FINE those who don’t. Ridiculous, as always.
Laura, could you describe some of the personal information you’ve provided to banks? I suspect it’s related to your finances, not to your ethnicity.
The Constitution calls for a head count. That’s all. The rest of the information the Census collects may be useful, but they’ve repeatedly shown themselves untrustworthy with regard to safeguarding that information.
It’s my understanding that the maximum fine for someone who chooses not to participate in the Census is $100, and that this is very rarely enforced.
The Constitution calls for a head count, but also gives Congress the authority to to conduct the census in whatever way it wishes via statutory law. In fact every census, from the first one in 1790 until now, has asked for more info than just the number of people in the household.
If these extra questions aren’t Constitutional, then the census hasn’t been Constitutional for 220 years.
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_cens.html