The 2020 census is in big trouble. Heres how we got here.

[turbinetree]

The 2020 census is in trouble.

A lot has changed since the first national census was conducted back in 1790, during the first term of the United States’ first president, George Washington, when the country’s population numbered around 3.9 million. But the need for the decennial census has not.

Conducted in every year ending in zero, the census serves several important purposes. It ensures that citizens are granted the correct number of representatives at the state, local, and federal level, and allows lawmakers and researchers to fairly lobby for them in Washington. It also reflects the overall, diverse makeup of the U.S. population and gives analysts the data they need to accurately prioritize people’s needs.

But the Census Bureau has found itself in increasingly dire straits in recent years, leaving the future of the decennial survey in question — which could spell disaster for communities that rely on the census for important representation.

As ThinkProgress’ Elham Khatami previously reported, a Sunlight Foundation survey published on October 23 found that 74 percent of city officials nationwide trust and rely on the results of each decennial survey to adequately serve their citizens. Specifically, they said, the information was “important” or “very important” for planning, development, innovation, and analytics purposes.

https://thinkprogress.org/census-it-programs-stalled/

[Orrex]

1. Funny story: I worked for the census in 2010

Covered a lot of remote-ish areas in western Pennsylvania, places with poor cell coverage and where they take down road signs (seemingly?) to discourage outsiders.

In the course of my work, I was frequently yelled at by anti-gubmint types, some of whom howled about their tax dollars wasted by sending people door to door--a waste that would have been avoided if only they'd bothered to return their census forms via postage-paid mail...

At least ten people answered their doors either with gun in hand or with a gun clearly visible within reach.

Despite my famous online ferocity, I'm actually quite personable face-to-face, so I was able to handle these situations with no shots fired.


It's sad that many of the people so strongly opposed to the gubmint's census are the very ones who stand to benefit from the government maintaining accurate population data.