by Siobhan Kenney

Aug 24, 2020

The current pandemic can make it difficult to determine actions we, as individuals, can take to make a positive impact. One way to influence our future and that of our communities is by participating in the census and encouraging others to actively engage in the effort.

By participating in the census, your entries influence the allocation of congressional seats and Electoral College votes. It helps determine how the federal government spends more than $600 billion on critical services like building roads, providing medical supplies for hospitals and supporting education in your community.

Census data informs and influences our nation’s most important decisions; it’s all about resources, representation and inclusion. If people are not counted, their communities receive less representation in government and less federal funding for services like public schools, mass transit and housing.

The 2020 Census—a count of every person living in the United States, which is conducted every ten years—is underway but its accuracy threatens to be undermined by COVID-19 and a revised timeline.

Traditionally, when households do not respond to census mailings, workers go door-to-door to gather information. This year, there are two specific challenges: hiring and training staff to meet with residents at their homes during the pandemic is difficult and the time allowed for data collection has been shortened by a month to meet a September 30, 2020 deadline.

The Basics

The census is based on individual addresses not family units, so everyone in a residence—no matter the relationship—counts. That includes relatives, roommates, domestic partners—each person who shares the address.

It takes just 10 minutes for each of us to participate in this fundamental pillar of our democracy and help build a stronger community. Please carve out time to complete the survey today.

Confidentiality

It is important that every person living in the U.S. be counted. The information you provide when completing the census is kept confidential. It is against the law for the Census Bureau to disclose or publish any private information that identifies an individual or their address.

Learn More

For additional information, please visit my2020census.gov which includes materials in many languages to encourage broad participation by all those in our community. Please share the information with family, friends, neighbors and others who may not be aware of this critical opportunity to impact the future.

Tags: Census, 2020Census, community, CSR