Returning that 'nosy' census form counts in many areas

Every 10 years, the governments goes about counting the people and asking questions about race, age, gender and homeownership.

And every 10 years, experts say, some people question why the government is so nosy.

This year's questioning started this week as census forms made their way to mailboxes across the country.

The short answer is that the government takes a census because the U.S. Constitution demands it. The head count determines which states gain more representatives in

Congress because of growth and which states lose representatives because they haven't kept up.

Of course, the census determines a whole lot more. Since a large number of federal programs give out money on the basis of population, there's a lot of money at stake.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, census information affects the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funding each year.

"The issue of 'why are they asking this?' comes up every decade," said Margo J. Anderson, a professor of history and urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
If it's any comfort to the disinclined, this year's census form is one of the shortest ever, with only 10 questions. Though the 2000 Census had seven questions, one out of every six households that year received a long form with 52 questions that covered everything from commuting arrangements to the number of bedrooms in the house.

This time around, the long form has been scrapped. The Census Bureau keeps up with such things as bedroom counts and heating methods through something called the American Community Survey, which surveys a sample of the population to get the answers to many social and economic questions.

Collecting detailed information door to door - as the Census Bureau once did - would be prohibitively expensive, Anderson said.

"It is cheaper and more efficient" to do a mail-out census, Anderson said. "If we wanted to go back to the old system, which means hiring enumerators to visit every household in the country, we could spend another $10 billion to $20 billion."

By now, most people have probably received their census forms in the mail. The Census Bureau estimates that it takes about 10 minutes for someone to fill out the form for the average household. Those who don't send back the form will get a visit from a census taker.

"Right now, we are pleased with the responses," said Tony Jones, a census spokesman in the bureau's Charlotte office. "We have been getting some calls from people who have questions about certain questions on the form. We have been very, very pleased so far with the buzz on the census."

The Census Bureau has put a lot of effort into making people aware of what was coming, Jones said. He believes that most people know "that the forms are on their way if they haven't received them yet."

Undercounts have been a problem in the past, especially among blacks. That led to legal challenges of the census in 1980 and 1990, when the bureau faced demands to make statistical adjustments to the counts.

This time around, the bureau is doing more to make the census "Hispanic-friendly," said Jane Martin, the president of a Hispanic marketing firm called Makin' it Work - Pronto!
Hispanics are another group that have been undercounted in the past. Some Hispanics, because they are undocumented, may not feel comfortable filling out a government form, Martin said.

Census officials stress that people don't have to worry about the information they provide becoming public. Under U.S. law, individual forms must be treated as private for 72 years.

The 1930 Census is the most recent one that has been made public, and from it people can find out all kinds of things about their forebears - where individuals were born and where their parents were born; whether they could read or write; what kind of job they worked; whether they were single, married or divorced; and, if an immigrant, when they came to the U.S.

The pared-down information on individuals in the current census could be a handicap to future researchers, said Betsy Hendrix, a genealogist.
"I always thought the more information, the better," Hendrix said. "When I was filling out (the 2010 Census) it took me less than a minute. I thought, 'That's not very thorough.'"

But, Hendrix said, people might not want to open their doors to such strangers as census-takers, as they had done in the past.

And she thinks that people are less likely nowadays to complete a long form.
"In the rush-rush society we are in, they aren't going to take time to fill out all that stuff," she said.

wyoung@wsjournal.com.