Got a letter in the USPS telling me to complete my census form -- or else -- online. Took about four minutes. Names, birthdates, address and gender and race....surprising for gender they only had two choices, but lucky one choice fit my wife and the other choice fit me... Seems the last time I did this they wanted LOTS more information, but, then again, I don't really recall...
I did fill mine out online, otherwise I might have to deal with humans. The only question that was hard was describing my wife's ancestors in one word.
Yeah did that yesterday too Took about 10 mins since I have 4 kids. Did age, but no birth date. But I did a copy paste with the "irish, german, italian, french, english, etc"
If they send you an invitation number and you don't respond they will followup later and mail you the paper version. You also don't have to wait for the invitation. Just go to the site, enter your address and start.
On-line is the first stage. After that, paper forms for those who didn't do the on-line version. After that, in-person visits for those who didn't mail in the paper forms, or at least that was the plan before the pandemic. They have long had multiple levels -- the basic simple stuff from everybody, a larger and more detailed form for a smaller random sample, and an even more detailed version for an even smaller sample.
Yeah I just get the feeling: the less connected folks are more likely to get missed. Up here there was a form we had to fill out, to declare we're living in the house we own. They're taxing empty homes more. Anyway: the only option was online. Not even a mention of alternatives.
In at least one other country with which I am familiar, the census data is specified for a particular time and date, e.g., midnight on such and such a date, and the form must state the number of people living (or staying, no matter how temporarily) at that address at that time. Suppose I fill out my census return now, and our child returns home unexpectedly because his college dorm is now closed. He's not on our census form, and he isn't on the census form for the dorm. Does he exist? How large is the undercount on a national basis?
That has always been a major problem. Then add in the people who don't want to be counted (for perceived or actual fear of deportation, incarceration, internment, or discovery by entities they are hiding from), or don't believe the required answers are the government's business. Then add in how the results are used to divy up resources and representation, with all the ramifications to various political interest groups. Some people will always be missed, estimates of past undercounts have been quite variable.
My letter was to a dwelling address, not to any named person. I had to add every resident's name, even my own. If you have questions, start the on-line version now, and read the supporting information, it tells you what to do. If you are uncertain about major non-temporary residence changes between now and April 1, then don't do the final submission yet, wait until then. (In-process work will be deleted, you'll have to restart the on-line version next time you go in.)
But if people (never mind whether they are identified by name or not) are not counted either at the place where they normally live or at the place where they happen to be, then the census is inaccurate.
The one word that I used to answer that ridiculous question was: unknown And you might STILL have to deal with a human. I have two houses. One I live in and the other is a guest house/fishing cabin/short term rental. I made the mistake of doing the online questionnaire for my full time house first. When I tried to do the other one and properly report that there is NO full time resident, the online system insisted that it would not accept that answer unless I proceeded to fill out information for the place that I DID live. Since I already DID that, the sequence for the 2nd home refused to let me do it again. So I called them. The answer was: Don't worry about it. When the human being comes to your door, they can fix that. But there is nobody living there. "No, I mean that a person will still knock on your door where you DO live to verify the online answers." Wth. More Government stupidity at work. And is anyone giving odds that this person will NOT be able to do anything about a house outside their "orbit" ? I am still fuming over this.
What are you, and he, doing to make sure he gets counted? At least somewhere, if he is in the middle of transition and uncertainty? The Census is always inaccurate for a variety of reasons, that are mostly but not entirely fixable. The Census Bureau is doing its best, given the limitations of its available resources and our civil rights and the (mostly but not entirely) irrational reasons some people have to remain invisible and uncounted. The Bureau and other entities also use several methods to estimate how many people in each jurisdiction are missed, but these are clearly estimates, not accurate counts in themselves. The Bureau will canvass both your home, and his college dorm. If your son gets missed, it is because he or you is somehow not cooperating with the count.
The online form specified residency on April 1. It also asks if anyone named might be staying somewhere else at the time, in order that they not be counted twice. (Which is not to say there are not multiple ways such a count can fail to be accurate.) So if you list your child as residing at your address but also say they may be at the dorm on April 1, you should be OK. No foolin'.
