A couple of days ago the U.S. Mail delivery to the LeftWingCapitalist household included a mailing from the U.S. Census. It had an "Occupant" sort of addressing, not a name. Inside the envelope was a brief letter providing an an introduction to the 2020 United States Census, with directions for how to respond via an on-line service. Responding would require about 10 minutes, according to the letter.
We did it in five minutes. Not because of anything special -- no super-fast internet connection; no extraordinary keyboarding skills; no skipping of questions. The questions were few, they were clearly stated, and the "user experience" (business-oriented buzz-words) was clean. It was quick and easy.
There was no question about citizenship.
Here are a few census-related factoids. You probably have plenty of time to read these while you are waiting out the coronavirus Covid-19 restrictions on normal activities.
The first known census (many years before the first U.S. census) was conducted so long ago that the Egyptian pyramids still reflected the bright sunlight in the Valley of the Nile. About 3800 years past (around 1800BCE) a Pharaoh of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom required a census of the realm's population. The era of great pyramid-building was past, but at least some of the pyramids would have still been covered in their finish of polished limestone to provide a mirror-like reflection of the daily sunshine.
In the U.S., we do a census every ten years. This is a Constitutional requirement. The first was done in 1790, and they have been conducted every ten years since. The results of the census will determine each state's number of representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives (and therefore also presidential electors) as well as allocations of hundreds of billions of dollars of Federal funding each year (probably growing to trillions of dollars annually within the next decade).
The 1790 U.S. census reported a total population of 3,929,214; New York was the nation's largest city with a population of 33,131, or about .8% of the total. This year's census will reveal a population of about 330,000,000; New York City remains the nation's most populous city, with about 8.5 million residents, or approximately 2.6% of the total.
April 1 is the official "census day." The census questions are asked with respect to who is to be living where on April 1. If the occupant(s) of a residence has/have not responded to the census invitation by or soon after April 1 (yes, the invitation letter includes a code linked to each address that must be entered as part of the on-line user experience mentioned above) then whoever lives at that address should expect to see one or more reminders showing up in the mailbox.
Anybody who totally blows this thing off should expect a U.S. Marshall to. . .no, that's not going to happen. Responding to the census is required by law -- it's in the Constitution, that can't be changed without an Amendment -- but no law enforcement agency is tasked with compliance actions. Instead, the extremely friendly, patient, understanding (and unarmed) employees of the Census Bureau -- mostly seasonal hires, just for this one job -- get to make the visits. (However, the first U.S. census was conducted by U.S. Marshalls.)
The 2020 census began on January 21 in the small Alaska village of Toksook Bay. This one was done in person, not through the internet; about 5% of U.S. households are expected to be done in similar ways. About 95% of U.S. households will respond via the internet (hopefully so, anyway).
People who don't want to respond are going to have to be really determined because the Census Bureau intends to keep pestering them (both by mail and in person) at least into August.
This is the first time that the Census Bureau has used satellite imagery to verify addresses that have been added or changed since the last census.
Individual responses -- in other words, personal identification -- are confidential by law for 72 years; this information cannot be disclosed, and cannot be shared with other government agencies.
The census is conducted in multiple languages; the on-line version provides toggles for the languages. It will be interesting to hear how well this works.
Five to 10 minutes. That's all it takes.
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