Census Question

[mom2aandj]

This is what I really don't understand about people afraid of the census. The federal government already has all of this information about you in some form or another, what's the big deal about writing it on one simple sheet?

Sorry, I'm not trying to debate the OP here, I'm just genuinely curious as to why people are so scared of it!

yep, this is my question as well. To the person who said they wouldn't give their kids' names until the kids' were filing tax returns---don't your kids already have Social Security numbers (given by the government?) and don't you write BOTH the kids' names AND the SS number on YOUR tax return? So I honestly don't get the difference between that and the census form.

 

[disney1990]

I gave them everything on the form for myself and DW, but only the ages of my kids. They can have the other personal information when the kids start to file taxes. Just a personal preference.

The information that your children use to file taxes is NOT shared with the Census Bureau just like the information the Census Bureau collects is NOT shared with any other agency. A Census worker is sworn to NOT share anything that they find at a home. They can be hit with the smell of pot when the door is opened or they can see a child being abused, but they are NOT allowed to share that information with law enforcement. The Census will not even hire somebody that works in any form of law enforcement because of this. The sole purpose of the Census is to get a "picture" of the people that are in the United States.

Answer the question(s) you want to answer. Tell the worker that is all you are going to answer. And don't worry about it.

The constitutional purpose of the Census is to count the people in order to apportion representation in the House of Representatives. None of the other questions are needed for that purpose.

The Census Bureau does not prosecute for not answering. So again, no worries.

No they probably won't prosecute. But keep giving this advise and these people will NOT be counted. The information such as full name and birth dates are used to eliminate duplicates. Without the detailed information, the person will just NOT be counted. As I said before, several states are in danger of losing a Representative in Congress because of low Census counts in those states. Keep giving this advise. Once the Census is over and those states have lost that Representation, they have NO chance of getting it back until the next Census count in 2010.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

So my question is, what is the minimal amount of questions that we were required to fill out on the census?

All of them.

The Constitution does mandate a census but supporting federal statutes require that you answer more than just the number of residents in the home.

 

[wdwfan16]

OP, why does you mother want to only give out ages? What is her reason to not supply more information. As PPers said, your income tax return have far more personal information on it. We filled our out when we got it and now we won't be bothered by it for 10 more years. Your mom is in for more visits.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Maybe if the Census starting fining people for refusing to answer, we could recoup some of the HUGE expense they are costing us by attempting to get their information over and over.

 

[Planogirl]

I also wonder why people are so suspicious. I'll gladly tell the Census Bureau anything, it's no big deal to me so I can't relate to all of this concern.

Also, it angers me that Texas is one of the states where people won't cooperate in such huge numbers. It's ridiculous that we could LOSE representation or funding.

 

[SunnyP4Disney]

I'm a crew leader that is about to go out in the field with a team of enumerators and I will let the OP that yes, ALL QUESTIONS are required to be answered. We are sworn to protect the privacy of all information given or WE are subject to fines and jailtime. We just want to be able to do our job and make sure you and your family are counted so the things you enjoy everyday, schools, hospitals, roads, will be funded properly.

It is up to YOU. If you don't send it back, don't complain when your area loses funding...

 

[disney1990]

i'm a crew leader that is about to go out in the field with a team of enumerators and i will let the op that yes, all questions are required to be answered. We are sworn to protect the privacy of all information given or we are subject to fines and jailtime. We just want to be able to do our job and make sure you and your family are counted so the things you enjoy everyday, schools, hospitals, roads, will be funded properly.

It is up to you. If you don't send it back, don't complain when your area loses funding...

well said!!

 

[lpereira]

With someone's name and birth date you can come up with their social security number. This problem has been fixed in kids social security numbers but not in adults. Socials are no longer geographically based numbers but are pulled centrally making it almost impossible to determine a social from a birthdate. Once you have someone's social security, name and birthdate you have free access to their id. This information is not kept secret for X number of years but is available with names removed almost immediately to anyone. ie female age X homeowner, birthdate.... Hello new thieve's charge card. In a large number of areas ( rural) the population is so small that you can determine who someone is based on their census reports. Census workers who sign confidentiality forms give me no comfort. Government employees take sneek peaks all the time: passports, medical records, etc. I put down number of people, sex and age of people but no names or birthdates. I don't put race because that just irritates me. The maximum fine is $100 for failure to answer with no enforcement mechanism in place. But I am willing to give them their $100 if it makes them happy. It's $500 to falsify. Side note is you will get fined, The Constitution gives Congress the power to determine what information it wants and you have to answer. I just don't happen to like the governments already demonstrated inability to safeguard data. BTW I'm not a nut- I don't do credit cards or store discount cards either. I also don't give my zip code when making purchases from stores. When I purchased my home I literally had a zero FICO score. Guess what- You are treated like a high FICO score when you have a 0. Low interest rate, good terms.

 

[disney1990]

With someone's name and birth date you can come up with their social security number. This problem has been fixed in kids social security numbers but not in adults. Socials are no longer geographically based numbers but are pulled centrally making it almost impossible to determine a social from a birthdate. Once you have someone's social security, name and birthdate you have free access to their id. This information is not kept secret for X number of years but is available with names removed almost immediately to anyone. ie female age X homeowner, birthdate.... Hello new thieve's charge card. In a large number of areas ( rural) the population is so small that you can determine who someone is based on their census reports. Census workers who sign confidentiality forms give me no comfort. Government employees take sneek peaks all the time: passports, medical records, etc. I put down number of people, sex and age of people but no names or birthdates. I don't put race because that just irritates me. The maximum fine is $100 for failure to answer with no enforcement mechanism in place. But I am willing to give them their $100 if it makes them happy. It's $500 to falsify. Side note is you will get fined, The Constitution gives Congress the power to determine what information it wants and you have to answer. I just don't happen to like the governments already demonstrated inability to safeguard data. BTW I'm not a nut- I don't do credit cards or store discount cards either. I also don't give my zip code when making purchases from stores. When I purchased my home I literally had a zero FICO score. Guess what- You are treated like a high FICO score when you have a 0. Low interest rate, good terms.

Really? So you think that if I give you my name and birth date, you can come up with my social security number?

No, the data is NOT released the way that you are giving. It is given in areas, the population of Orange County Florida is xx% Age xx, xx% Age xx. Orange county is xx% Female and xx% Male. Orange County is xx% White, xx% African American, etc. You make it sound like they are going to give you address and say that a white 35 year old female lives at this address in Goose Creek, South Carolina -- and the data is definitely not given out like that. So how big is Goose Creek, South Carolina, a little over 29,000. I could probably do a little research, go talk to people in Goose Creek, and find out where you live a lot quicker than you can find out my Social Security Number. You have already posted right here on the Dis Board (to thousands of people that you don't know) the exact birth date of your daughter who is turning 4 in August, but you wouldn't give that information to a Census worker? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2457463

Stop trying to scare people.

The way you have completed your Census form will probably not be counted, so you will not be included in the 2010 Census.

 

[Wall-E1]

With someone's name and birth date you can come up with their social security number. This problem has been fixed in kids social security numbers but not in adults. Socials are no longer geographically based numbers but are pulled centrally making it almost impossible to determine a social from a birthdate. Once you have someone's social security, name and birthdate you have free access to their id. This information is not kept secret for X number of years but is available with names removed almost immediately to anyone. ie female age X homeowner, birthdate.... Hello new thieve's charge card. In a large number of areas ( rural) the population is so small that you can determine who someone is based on their census reports. Census workers who sign confidentiality forms give me no comfort. Government employees take sneek peaks all the time: passports, medical records, etc. I put down number of people, sex and age of people but no names or birthdates. I don't put race because that just irritates me. The maximum fine is $100 for failure to answer with no enforcement mechanism in place. But I am willing to give them their $100 if it makes them happy. It's $500 to falsify. Side note is you will get fined, The Constitution gives Congress the power to determine what information it wants and you have to answer. I just don't happen to like the governments already demonstrated inability to safeguard data. BTW I'm not a nut- I don't do credit cards or store discount cards either. I also don't give my zip code when making purchases from stores. When I purchased my home I literally had a zero FICO score. Guess what- You are treated like a high FICO score when you have a 0. Low interest rate, good terms.

Census workers -I feel for all of you. You must need a lot of patience to deal with some people.

Is this poster aware that various agencies of the Federal Government already possess our names, birth dates and social security numbers? Again I wonder how these people file their taxes yearly. Do they just leave out the portions that "irritate" them and attach a post it note claiming that they are "not a nut?" Do these people realize how illogical their reasoning appears to most people?

 

[disney1990]

Census workers -I feel for all of you. You must need a lot of patience to deal with some people.

Is this poster aware that various agencies of the Federal Government already possess our names, birth dates and social security numbers? Again I wonder how these people file their taxes yearly. Do they just leave out the portions that "irritate" them and attach a post it note claiming that they are "not a nut?" Do these people realize how illogical their reasoning appears to most people?

Boy, I wish I could pick and choose which laws I wish to obey, but I know better.

This is how Census Information is released:

Goose Creek is located at 32°59′44″N 80°1′44″W / 32.99556°N 80.02889°W / 32.99556; -80.02889 (32.995522, -80.028915).[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 32.5 square miles (84.1 km²), of which, 31.7 square miles (82.1 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.0 km²) of it (2.37%) is water.

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 29,208 people, 8,947 households, and 7,443 families residing in the city. The population density was 921.6 people per square mile (355.9/km²). There were 9,482 housing units at an average density of 299.2/sq mi (115.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.50% White, 14.22% African American, 0.59% Native American, 2.66% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 1.56% from other races, and 2.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.05% of the population.

There were 8,947 households out of which 49.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.9% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.8% were non-families. 12.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.6% under the age of 18, 18.2% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 15.4% from 45 to 64, and 4.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females there were 115.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 120.3 males.

 

[lpereira]

One presumes I am rude to Census workers. I am not. I also acknowledge it is law breaking and stated I am willing to pay the fine. No I don't like paying taxes and it makes me very unhappy- but that is a different story. However the "price" for breaking that law is higher than I am willing to pay. If there is one thing Americans do well it is break the laws. We are a nation founded on it. I'm not the original member of that club. Also having a portion of my daughters name and birthday doesn't give you the in for getting her number like it does me. The system has been changed since I was born. The first 3 numbers were the state, the middle 2 were the geographic area in the state, and the last 4 were the order in which the request was received. Now the first 3 numbers are still the state but the middle 2 and last 4 are randomly assigned. You probably assume I am some right wing conservative Republican or Tea Partier. Hardly. I've been almost thrown out the local Republican party so many times I can't count. I don't think Obama is a socialist, I'm sure he is legally the President (and a natural born citizen) and honestly wants the best for this country. I believe he may be one of the more intelligent people to ascend to the presidency in a long time. I just disagree with many of his policies- but not all. Many of his ideas are the same as Bill Clinton's ideas but I don't remember this level of animosity. But that could be because Clinton kept giving the other side so many easy targets.
Oh I digress again- yes Congress has every right to make a law that I give this information. No I'm not going to give it and yes if they ask I'll pay them their fine. I don't believe in being rude to people on your doorstep- they're just people trying to do a job. However, you can't know which ones are identity thieves in waiting so they don't get it. I'll be polite and friendly to someone sitting beside me on a bus but I'm not inviting them back to my house. And a side note the ethnicity question on the census: I've been actively involved in politics for almost 25 years. I've seen census data used in redistricting to actually dilute minority voting strength- in effect disenfranchising them. So it isn't for racist reasons I don't answer. My family could start their own little United Nations with the different ethnic groups you can find in it.

 

[mnrose]

You cannot put this out there and not expect a debate. This has been debated on this board since before the first forms were mailed out.

You are required to completely fill out the Census form. Unless you did that on the original form, you will be visited by a Census worker. If you do not give that Census worker the complete information, they will say you refused and you will then be visited by another Census worker -- this will happen up to 6 times.

Simply providing the number of residents in a home does not provide the detailed information that is needed to make future decisions for your neighborhood. How many schools need to be built and for what grades; how many people are driving age and will be using the road; how many people will be attending college in the next 10 years. Also businesses use this data to determine exactly what stores to put in the shopping centers that are built in your area -- are the people mostly shopping for elementary school aged students or are they shopping for the elderly. How many senior centers will need to be built in the next 10 years. These numbers also determine the number of representatives in Congress that your state receives. Right now, several states are in danger of losing representatives in Congress -- those states include California, New York, Texas, Arizona and Florida -- I see you are from one of those states.

Read more: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36883884/#ixzz0miGwkd2X

The information you give is totally confidential and is not released for 72 years -- except as STATISTICS. The number of residents of which ages. The race of those residents -- because people of different races sometimes shop differently.

Each time a Census worker is sent to your home to try and get this information, it cost money. And each completed Census form provides xx amount of dollars to your county and/or city. Your incomplete Census form means that your city/county will NOT receive that money.

I'll just say that it makes me angry when people won't complete this form. It costs us taxpayers a postage stamp if it is filled out correctly and sent back, and $69 if it isn't. Arrgggghh. So frustrating!

 

[IDoDis]

I'll just say that it makes me angry when people won't complete this form. It costs us taxpayers a postage stamp if it is filled out correctly and sent back, and $69 if it isn't. Arrgggghh. So frustrating!

I agree! It really shows a lack of common sense. It will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and will cost communities a lack of representation and needed services.