Americans don’t like it when the government comes knocking on the door. But once every 10 years, there really is some advantage to letting Uncle Sam into our living rooms, figuratively speaking.
Starting last week, the Census Bureau began sending advance letters, questionnaires and reminder cards to households around the country ahead of the April 1 enumeration date — the day on which we are all supposed to tell about ourselves, our racial and ethnic backgrounds, our incomes and family sizes and the value and type of houses in which we live.
The 2000 census is being hyped by any number of units of government, all of which have a stake in the outcome; most tax revenues are apportioned according to census records. Cook County has been especially active in promoting the census, forming a “Complete Count Committee” to get the word out in order to minimize undercounting, which has been most problematic among minority groups.
But the 2000 census will tell us a lot more than just how many people live where. It will help define migration patterns, establish where the lines of growth and development are headed, show the changing faces of our neighborhoods and give us a basis of comparison for our various standards of living across the country.
That makes it an invaluable tool in real estate, not to mention a boon for newspaper reporters who rely on the data to buttress stories about communities.
There are two versions of the census form that households will be asked to complete. The short form asks how many people are in the household, whether you are an owner or a renter and, for each member of the household, a name, age, gender, race and relationship to the person filling out the questionnaire.
The long form, which goes to one in every six homes, adds about 40 more questions, which include things such as ethnicity, ancestry, employment, education, income and housing.
The Cook County Complete Count Committee and the Illinois Ethnic Coalition have produced a number of public service pieces to ease the fears about the census and to spur more households to participate. Here is a sampling of the questions and answers from those announcements:
Q–What is the census used for?
A–It determines how many congressmen a state has, how districts are drawn for state and city government and how federal money is spent for things like schools, transportation, social services and economic development. If areas are undercounted, they will get less political representation and fewer services than they deserve. Census data are used for planning and policy decisions — such as where more housing, health care or bilingual services are needed.
Q–Some of the questions are very personal. What if I don’t want anyone to know our income or who lives in our home?
A–No one other than the census workers will know and they are forbidden by law from sharing your personal information with anyone else. They will enter your information into a database and then destroy your questionnaire.
Q–How do individual businesses depend on census data?
A–They use census data for planning, hiring employees, forecasting the demand for their goods and services and marketing their products. Knowing the demographics of each neighborhood helps them determine where to locate a new store, bank, supermarket, restaurant, movie theater or other retail or service business.
Q–I’m in the construction business. How does the census apply to me?
A–You probably use demographic information to decide where to put your shopping center or office complex. If you’re in residential construction, you use the extensive housing information to select sites for construction or rehab and know how much people will spend.
Q–How important are census data for marketing and advertising?
A–Census information helps businesses track consumer trends and know where to find the demographic groups most likely to buy their goods and services. Socio-economic and housing data are used by a lot of marketers and advertisers. A newspaper, for example, sells advertising by telling clients what audience they will reach with their ad.
As you can see, those census forms are critical. Please, do your part. Our country, our way of life and, yes, our newspaper profits — thus my job — depend on them.
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e-mail: skerch@tribune.com
