Anybody Else Thinking of Not Filling Out Whole Census Form?

[Anonymous]

This is probably a nutty question to ask in liberal DC, but I'll throw it out here, anyway. Just opened my census form, and there are lots of questions that don't have ANYTHING to do with the constitutional purpose of the census -- which is counting up how many people live in each jurisdiction so that members of the House of Representatives can be apportioned. All the government needs to know is how many people are living in my house. They don't need to know our names, our ages, our sexes, our birthdays, our phone number, our whether we own, have a mortgage or rent (why on earth would they want to know that??), or our races. They can only be asking because they want to use this information to pursue other government agendas that I may or may not support, and therefore I deeply resent being asked to provide the information. I know it is against the law not to provide it, and I could be fined a substantial amount of money, but I am tempted to engage in this act of civil disobedience just to make my little stand against big brother. Anybody else?

[Anonymous]

Funny you should ask, but the only people I know who are thinking of this are considering it for the one reason that you don't list - identifying whether their kids are biological or adopted.

[Anonymous]

Exactly! When I skimmed through the pages, I just thought of my friend with her adopted daughter, and how she must feel being asked to list the "provenance" of her own child!
Why?

[Anonymous]

Oh, yeah, I didn't mean to omit that one. I was in a hurry. That one is probably the most puzzling of all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly! When I skimmed through the pages, I just thought of my friend with her adopted daughter, and how she must feel being asked to list the "provenance" of her own child!
Why?

Weren't you asked to list the provenance of your child? Or is just that her "provenance" is different, so she was put off by it, and you weren't because yours are biological?

There are 4 people in my nuclear family, nobody is the same race. I filled out the census.--who really cares?

Frankly, I have more important things to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is probably a nutty question to ask in liberal DC, but I'll throw it out here, anyway. Just opened my census form, and there are lots of questions that don't have ANYTHING to do with the constitutional purpose of the census -- which is counting up how many people live in each jurisdiction so that members of the House of Representatives can be apportioned. All the government needs to know is how many people are living in my house. They don't need to know our names, our ages, our sexes, our birthdays, our phone number, our whether we own, have a mortgage or rent (why on earth would they want to know that??), or our races. They can only be asking because they want to use this information to pursue other government agendas that I may or may not support, and therefore I deeply resent being asked to provide the information. I know it is against the law not to provide it, and I could be fined a substantial amount of money, but I am tempted to engage in this act of civil disobedience just to make my little stand against big brother. Anybody else?

That's half the reason they do the census....

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but the Supreme Court has dealt with this question and ones like it since 1870. They have ruled that the government has the Constitutional right to ask them.

As for the questions, the government has been asking about home ownership for over 100 years. Age and DOB have been asked since 1800. They DO use it to pursue government agendas, of a sort. The questions are used to develop programs and distribute funds for those programs, which are often based on age, gender, minority status, etc.

I could see objecting under any other circumstances, but the constitution itself and the cases that examined the census. This is a real constitutional obligation. We don't have that many of them.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, 21:41. I will look up the precedents.

[Anonymous]

OP again, I checked your case, 21:41. It's not a ruling, it's only dictum. The Supreme Court has NOT HELD that the Constitution entitles the government to ask these questions or requires us to answer them. But you are probably right that there is way too much water under the bridge as a practical matter for anyone ever successfully to challenge these questions, which have a much longer heritage than I realized. Thanks again for the info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly! When I skimmed through the pages, I just thought of my friend with her adopted daughter, and how she must feel being asked to list the "provenance" of her own child!
Why?

Weren't you asked to list the provenance of your child? Or is just that her "provenance" is different, so she was put off by it, and you weren't because yours are biological?

There are 4 people in my nuclear family, nobody is the same race. I filled out the census.--who really cares?

Frankly, I have more important things to worry about.

Hi Government, your wish is my command.

[Anonymous]

The 1900 Census wanted to know:

Street Number & Name,
First & Last Name of all occupants and their relationship to the Head of Household,
color or race,
sex,
month/year of birth, age,
marital status, number of years of present marriage,
number of children a woman had & how many were living,
place of birth for person, their father, and their mother,
year of immigration, number of years in US, naturalization year
occupation or trade for everyone 10 years old and over, number of months not employed
education (number of years in school, can read, can write, can speak english)
ownership (own/rent, own free/mortgage, farm or house)


1890 wanted to know:
Whether suffering from acute
or chronic disease, with name
of disease and length of time

Whether defective in mind, sight,
hearing, or speech, or whether
crippled, maimed, or deformed,
with name or defect.

Whether a prisoner, convict,
homeless child, or pauper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is probably a nutty question to ask in liberal DC, but I'll throw it out here, anyway. Just opened my census form, and there are lots of questions that don't have ANYTHING to do with the constitutional purpose of the census -- which is counting up how many people live in each jurisdiction so that members of the House of Representatives can be apportioned. All the government needs to know is how many people are living in my house. They don't need to know our names, our ages, our sexes, our birthdays, our phone number, our whether we own, have a mortgage or rent (why on earth would they want to know that??), or our races. These are used to cross reference the data and validate trends in population growth and prevent gerrymandering. They can only be asking because they want to use this information to pursue other government agendas that I may or may not support. [b][i]Seriously? Like what?

[Anonymous]

21:19 I simply wrote son and/ or daughter were applicable on the side of the paper and refused to check adopted or biological. If they want to throw it out, so be it. We don't differentiate in our home.

[Anonymous]

Come on, folks! The questions were minimal, much less compared to censuses in history (I frankly was a little disappionted). Results about individuals are sealed for 72 years. It's a great tool for future historians and genealogists, say in 100 years, to be able to look us up and find out a little about us. As a genealogist, I LOVE looking back at all the rich details of my ancestors and their neighbors in the 1800s. Depending on the year, some censuses asked about literacy, birth countries of both parents, occupations and how many months unemployed in a given year, how many months attended schools in that year, whether or not a person is a veteran, what home is worth, how many years one had been married, how many children one has had and how many are living, etc.

The data gathered today is only able to be researched in aggregates for the next 72 years (i.e. no info. about individuals), so say for statistical research by sociologists. Of course the whole purpose is for congressional allocations. Beyond that, the info. is SO rich for learning about our society today, percentage of families with an adopted child (like mine!), nationalities, etc.

I filled mine out and sent it in the same day I got it! I find it very exciting to be able to do it, knowing how much fun I've had doing research on censuses of the past. Go onto ancestry.com or walk into the National Archives downtown and take a look at some 1860 census microfilm. Better yet, go find your family in the early census, and you'll see why it's so great to have this snapshot of a family in time. You can see addresses your great-great grandparents lived at, where they moved over time, who may have shared a home with them at various times, their occupations, etc.

[Anonymous]

whether you own or rent your house and if you have a mortgage is meant to gauge potential demand for housing programs, subsidies, etc.