We finished our Census Bureau survey and it seems like we just did this not long ago. It’s taken every 10 years but it seems like we got this form a few years ago.
They say it takes about 40 minutes to complete, but it sure felt like there were many more questions on it this time and the questions asked about a lot of things like income, taxes, etc. that we don’t remember from before.
Did anybody else get this feeling? I mean we really had to do things like get data from records and do math and sweat the details.
We asked ourselves what would happen if we just refused to do it. So, I looked it up. It turns out that there is a $5,000 penalty the bureau can impose if you refuse to do it or give false information.
On the other hand, Census Bureau officials have said nobody’s been prosecuted since 1970. I wonder what happened to that person? Is he still paying off the fine? Is he in jail because he couldn’t pay it? Was he abducted by extraterrestrials and is he still trying to get them to pay it?
There are other questions I had that led me to search the web. It looks like the best place to start might be the Census Bureau website itself. The section Census Bureau 101 for Students looks like a good place to start. The census has been around since 1790 and back then it was only a six-question survey:
What is your gender? (There are more choices nowadays)
What is your race? (It was not the 40-yard dash)
What is the name of the head of the household? (It’s always the wife!)
What is the relationship to the head of the household? (It’s always the husband!)
How many slaves do you own?
What is your occupation? (Tea party activists didn’t count)
There’s an interesting section on the web site PRB, entitled “Hard-to-Count Populations.”:
Decades of research have shown that the decennial census is very accurate, but (like population censuses in other countries) it is subject to both undercount and overcount errors that differ by age, sex, and race. The 2010 Census was no exception. Despite the best efforts and careful planning of Census Bureau staff, the direct, physical enumeration of the U.S. population is imperfect.
Part of the challenge in counting the population accurately is that some people are harder to count than others. People who lack a permanent address are less likely to complete a census form than people who have a permanent address. Similarly, language barriers, distrust of government, and frequent moves tend to make certain groups harder to count. On the other side of the spectrum, some people may be counted more than once. For example, those who own more than one home may submit a census form for each address, and children away at college may be counted at both their college and parental home.
If you decide not to complete the Census Bureau survey, they probably won’t fine you or throw you in jail. They could visit your house up to six times though. And if you manage to slip them every time, they could check with your neighbors to get the skinny on you.
You might as well do it.
Go Retire Psychiatrist 