March 19, 2010 4:06 PM

Census Overkill? Why Census Bureau Sends Letters Saying Census Form is Coming

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
In The News

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Thursday night, and he was asked the question on the minds of many Americans: Why does the census bureau send letters telling people that they are going to be receiving their census form in the mail?

Locke came prepared. "Past research has shown that if we send this advanced mailing, we can actually increase the response rate -- the percentage of households sending back the census form -- by six percent to twelve percent," he told Stewart.

Locke explained that if people don't mail back the form by the first of May, the census bureau has to send employees to a person's residence to try to get the necessary information. If there is no one home, the census taker has to return multiple times.

"It would cost us a lot of money, and for every one percent improved mail-back response, we save the taxpayers $85 million," he said, prompting applause. (Quipped Stewart to the audience: "You don't get to keep that.")

"Despite all the publicity, the TV ads, the radio commercials and newspaper and magazine advertisement, still a lot of people in the country don't know about the census," Locke said. "Or if they do know about the census, they don't know exactly when the census form is arriving."

The census determines, among other things, how many representatives each state will have in Congress, as well as representation in state legislatures.

Other notable comments by Locke (here's part one of the interview; part two is embedded above):

  • Everything in the census for is confidential and "will not be shared with local, state or other federal law enforcement agencies";

  • The first census was in 1790, and Thomas Jefferson was the head of the first census bureau;

  • The ten questions in this year's census are "very close" to what was asked in the first census, when there were six questions. Two questions that have since been eliminated: Are you the head of the household, and how many slaves do you have.

Dollars and Census - Why It Matters

Add a Comment See all 11 Comments
by MrsMcDuck March 20, 2010 2:36 PM EDT
In some areas like a small town with only PO boxes and no house to house mail delivery the forms were delivered by hand, in person to each house or apartment. Some of this was also in rural areas that required expert map reading skills to make sure we had the correct form for that living quarters.
We actually started last spring to get ready for the mailing by updating addresses. This is a huge undertaking and takes more than a day or two to prepare and execute.
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by ge556 March 20, 2010 2:21 PM EDT
Why did they send out the census more than 2 weeks early? I went ahead and took care of it because I didn't expect any changes, and didn't want to have to keep track of the form. But it makes no sense. It should be received around census day.
Reply to this comment
by MrsMcDuck March 20, 2010 2:08 PM EDT
Hey democracy, how about making the census forms an attachment with your annual tax return every 10 years.
I am somewhat of an expert on the US.Census. I have worked for the Census Bureau for 30 years, starting with the 1980 Census, 1990,2000,2010. The reason that the census cannot be attached to your tax refund is because of confidentiality. No information taken by the Census Bureau can be given to another branch of government. So having your census attached to your tax refund would be in violation of Title 13 http://www.census.gov/geo/www/luca2010/luca_title13.html
Census workers take this very seriously and believe that all citizens have a right to be counted and their information guarded. If you do not wish to be counted, then don't fill out your form and return it. Someone will be visiting you at a great expense to all the other taxpayers.
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by MADDAT52 March 20, 2010 1:01 PM EDT
The armies for liberty are gathering strength all over the nation, some political some militant. The advance of communism is going to be met with a wall of resistance that will form after the Sunday vote. This will be the straw that breaks the camels back. We will not be ruled over by an oppressive central power and they should expect to meat with a strong resistance wherever they attempt to force their will upon us. The government has gone out of control with a lust for power; we must and will stop the enemies advance against our liberty.
Reply to this comment
by pasmalltown March 19, 2010 10:27 PM EDT
Before someone else critical of the census costs blabbers on, here is something to think of if you have thrown your census form in the trash:

?If everybody filled out the census document they would save the taxpayer $1.5 Billion,? 2010 Census manager Brian Kennedy said.
Reply to this comment
by bumpedoff1 March 19, 2010 4:46 PM EDT
obozo likes spending tax money it's not his
Reply to this comment
by jgg000101 March 19, 2010 6:51 PM EDT
democracy, you believe that? That's a trumped-up load of BS uttered by someone who is scrambling to save his job. Save $55M? You honestly believe that? There are so many other ways to get the message out without mailing something to tell people you're going to mail them something.
by pasmalltown March 19, 2010 10:18 PM EDT
by jgg000101 March 19, 2010 6:51 PM EDT
"..There are so many other ways to get the message out..." Care to name a few? Didn't realize you're a certified "census expert".

You can't even read this article and get the number correctly. "..we save the taxpayers $85 million.." Where the he11 did you get $55M?

by bumpedoff1 March 19, 2010 4:46 PM EDT - Maybe you believe "obozo" likes sending tax money, but in this case it's not the President's call - the census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Who's the bozo now?
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