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.

[Zen]

Does this mean that guy who came to my door wanting to know what kind of underwear I had on wasn't really from the Census?

[OakLeaf]

LOL Zen!


I think a lot of people have never been taught, and never bothered to think on their own, what it means to be a citizen. And that's not only sad, it's very scary for our future (our present, really).

[Cataboo]

I always find it ironic that the crowd that is usually anti-census are usually the same crowd that are clinging to their constitutional right to bear arms - point out that taking a census is in the constitution and you get a blank stare.

[shootingstar]

What amazes me is that some of the strong negativity came from university/college educated folks.

Maybe they work in jobs all their lives that didn't require understanding their community composition or sections of the population.

[Pax]

I don't mind answering questions that help provide data needed to accurately enumerate the population. I do question why they need to know my name and date of birth. They already asked my age on the form, and I'm not sure why they need my name?

For those interested in the wording in the Constitution:
Constitution's census clause (Art. 1, Sec. 2, Clause 3) is not limited to a headcount of the population and "does not prohibit the gathering of other statistics, if 'necessary and proper,' for the intelligent exercise of other powers enumerated in the constitution, and in such case there could be no objection to acquiring this information through the same machinery by which the population is enumerated."

[Biciclista]

If it weren't for the census, I would not have been able to find details about our families who are long gone. I have sat in dark rooms looking at microfilm to find ancestors that way starting with the 1790 census. (husband's family). The census is a wonderful thing! And yes, what salsabike says is true, we get so many benefits from what they find out in the census! it's a way to keep track of who we are, and what we need; we americans.

[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.

[Possegal]

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.

Of course reliability is relative with the older census info. I had a fleeting moment when researching my family, where I went from being 1/4 Swedish, to being 1/4 Dutch. I actually gasped, and then a stranger doing research also, asked me why. When I told her, she looked at the info and pointed out that my grandfather was a boarder in the home, and so likely the door-to-door survey was answered by the wife of the owner of the house, who knew he wasn't from the US, but didn't really know where he was from. It was also a shock when the 1880 census listed my great-grandmother as "bedridden" and "insane".

I love the census as a genealogical resource! I sure wish the 1890 one had survived, it is vital to 2 of the 4 branches of my ancestry.