During the next few weeks the U.S. Census Bureau will mail questionnaires to every household in the country to obtain an accurate enumeration of all residents.
This is the 23rd U.S. census. The U.S. has conducted a census every ten years, as required by the Constitution, beginning in 1790.
The Census Bureau is asking people to spend 10 minutes to answer the 10 questions on the form and mail it on or before April 1.
If people don’t fill out the form they can expect a temporary census employee knocking on their door.
The goal of the census is to count everyone residing in the U.S. – not just estimate the number.
Five UW-Oshkosh students are helping the Census Bureau. These five created and implemented a public relations campaign as a project for their Public Relations Campaign class.
“We compiled a 50-page research report that focused on the attitudes and misperceptions that students have,” Shane Arman, a public relations major, said.
According to Arman, students did not realize that the census results would affect the annual distribution of $400 billion of federal money to the states.
“And students felt that the census was a process that took forever and was hard to do,” Arman said.
The Census Bureau’s Web site states that the 2010 questionnaire is one of the shortest ever. The form includes four general questions: How many people are living or staying with you on April 1, 2010? How many additional people are staying with you on April 1, 2010? Do you own or rent? What is your telephone number?
Then there are six questions to be answered for each of the people counted in the first two questions: Name? Sex? Age and date of birth? Are you Hispanic? Race? Do you sometimes stay somewhere else?
Information on sex, age and race are important, according to the Census Bureau Web site, because “federal, state, and local governments need data about age to interpret most social and economic characteristics, such as forecasting the number of people eligible for Social Security or Medicare benefits. The data is widely used in planning and evaluating government programs and policies that provide funds or services for children, working-age adults, women of childbearing age or the older population.”
Three examples of programs that are dependent on population distribution are Medicaid, the Title I Education program and the Federal Highway Program, according to Zach Lowe of Sen. Russ Feingold’s press office.
The major reason for this enumeration is that it is required by the Constitution to guarantee equal representation in Congress.
The U.S. House of Representatives has 435 members. These representatives are apportioned to the 50 states based on the population of each state. If, over time, the distribution of the population changes significantly, the representatives must be reapportioned.
For instance, over the past 10 years, the population of Texas has grown more quickly than the population of the country as a whole. The Census Bureau projects that the change will give Texas three or four more representatives in Congress.
Ten years ago, Wisconsin had 10 representatives in Congress. After the 2000 census, Wisconsin lost one representative.
“Last time around we lost a congressional district,” Mike Boerga, legislative assistant for Sen. Mike Ellis, said.
Even though it is unlikely that Wisconsin will neither gain nor lose a representative, the state will still be affected by the census. After the census, the boundaries of the eight congressional districts will be changed so that each representative has approximately the same number of constituents.
The same process is used to redistrict the 33 state senate districts, which are not related to the congressional districts in any way. Then, the boundaries of the three assembly districts in each senate district are redrawn.
“It won’t happen this year,” Boerger said. “It’ll affect the 2012 elections.”
It isn’t an easy process, however.
“The last three or four maps have been challenged by the courts.” Boeger said. “The courts can influence the ultimate map.”
After the census, the 36 districts will be redrawn so that each has approximately the same population.
The census will affect us all, even if we are not fully aware of it.
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