Federal census-participate or joke/privacy invasion??

[shootingstar]

Do you answer alot of the questions for your federal census when it happens every few years? (In Canada it's every 4 years.)

It never occurred to me until now (after being another non-TE forum), that some people treat the census as a joke or are offended that the govn't wants to know certain info. about them.

Seriously, do many people feel so negatively when the federal govn't administers a census in order to benefit long-term program planning for its own country? yes, of course the statistical summaries/analysis is used by private sector parties, etc.
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I do answer census questions for the survey that is administered nationally every 4 yrs. Depending on the year, I've done a long one, other years a shorter one.

[salsabike]

Yes, I answer the questions, and I don't mind at all. As a researcher, I've used census data to look at policy questions that are really important---how many people want a job but have given up looking? How many people are living in poverty? etc. Understanding that stuff helps drive good policy, policy that helps people.

[Blueberry]

Yes, I answer the questions, and I don't mind at all. As a researcher, I've used census data to look at policy questions that are really important---how many people want a job but have given up looking? How many people are living in poverty? etc. Understanding that stuff helps drive good policy, policy that helps people.

I didn't see any of that type of stuff on the census this year....

I don't particularly like answering the questions - but I do.

[Catrin]

The Census has been changed with the consequence that communities and planning agencies won't have nearly the information that we need. There is something else called the ACS (American Community Survey) that is sent to a sample of the overall population (approx. 1 out of every 32 households) on a much more regular basis that seeks to address this.

There may well be TE members who get both forms this year, please do consider filling both of them out - the information is far more helpful than many realize.

[tulip]

There is so much info about us out there from online use, credit card tracking, and other private data gathering mechanisms with questionable oversight.

I have no problem with the census. The data is really important in getting resources-private and public-allocated. My work is in aging, and it's very important to know aging and income and housing trends.

[crazycanuck]

As a planning student, i'm now fully aware of how local city councils utilize the info to plan future development etc. Very interesting data & is actually quite interesting to sit and ponder

I don't see any problems with the questions posed as per the ABS website & my local city council..

www.abs.gov.au
www.gosnells.wa.gov.au

No idea how it compares to what you have in the US.

[Bike Chick]

Census information is also very helpful for geneological purposes. After several decades (70 years I believe), data from the census is released to the public. Our family has used it as a very reliable resource to track down family members to trace our ancestry.

[ilima]

I didn't see any of that type of stuff on the census this year....

I don't particularly like answering the questions - but I do.

Most people just get the short form. There are a lot more questions on the long form.

[Blueberry]

Most people just get the short form. There are a lot more questions on the long form.

Interesting. I had heard that they shortened the form, so I just thought it was *that* much shorter. I've gotten the long form before and I remember spending hours filling it out.

ETA: After a little research, it looks like the census is short form only. They're relying on the American Community Survey for the remainder of the data. Apparently, the response to this is also required by law.

[Crankin]

I never considered not filling it out. What's the point of this type of protest? They really do use the data; i.e., we got new congressional districts, based on the census data.
Maybe I am naive about privacy issues, but I just don't worry about this stuff. For some reason, every few months DH's Amex card is used fraudulently. I think it's because he buys an incredible amount of stuff on line, instead of going to a store, especially things for home maintenance. He just checks his account daily, and if there is a problem Amex takes care of it.
Many, many years ago, before the internet, I went to get a credit report because I was turned down for a small loan from my credit union to finish my masters. It turned out, that they had one of my parents' bills on my credit record. My dad and I have the same first 3 letters of our first names and similar SSNs. That, along with having the same last name did it. Although it took a little screaming from dad to have the credit bureau fix this, it's the only time I've had an issue with identity.

[shootingstar]

I believe there is a federal legislation for Canada that defines the mandate, powers and range of authority of our federal agency, Statistics Canada (well, most federal departments actually each have a piece of corresponding legislation that defines their role and range of authority).

I am not aware of census being in our constitution. However one would need to dig deeper.

Interesting reminder that the census for genealogical research. There must be a statute of limitation to withhold release of person's name with birthdate for several decades...before it gets into the public archives.

Hey, no public library director can figure how to start up their libraries from ground up in terms of languages of materials, age, etc. if it weren't for census data. Otherwise the library would launch the data collection surveys which would be very expensive and not necessarily, still accurate. From our perspective, we need data right at the level of the knowing the range of a community's educational level. So money is properly spent on content understood by user groups.