Thursday, April 29, 2010

Census participation

Remember the recent "movement" by the anti-government establishment to boycott the census? While some popular conservatives promoted answering only the question regarding the number of people in a household, others took it a step further by suggesting that people ignore the census altogether as a sign of civil disobedience (many immigrant groups oppose participating in the census for other reasons). Interestingly, many of the groups boycotting the census are the ones who wrap themselves in the Constitution as they decry the continued degradation of individual liberties.

In addition to the irony that taking the nation's headcount is mandated by the Constitution, higher participation rates translate to taxpayer savings. Each percentage point increase in the response rate is estimated to save taxpayers $85 million by reducing census workers' efforts to physically count individuals. So boycotting the census not only obstructs carrying out a Constitutional mandate, it wastes taxpayer dollars.

I applaud any person's (or movement's) principles when they have a solid foundation that supports a consistent view on a wide range of issues; the libertarian Cato Institute is a fantastic example of that type of organization. Unfortunately, many of those who propose boycotting the census are caught up in a contradiction that is difficult to unravel.
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3 comments:

  1. Jenni SmithApril 30, 2010 at 4:01 PM

    Amen! I also remember hearing that the census form costs the equivalent of a postage stamp (or less), but that if you don't return the form, there is a HIGH cost associated to tracking your info down!

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  2. Brian SmithMay 3, 2010 at 6:13 PM

    Interesting. That's new to me. Of course, with the way the cost of a postage stamp keeps going up, that soon might not be a great comparison!

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  3. Jenni SmithMay 4, 2010 at 12:28 PM

    I hear that! The official census website says they are looking into internet-based census options for the future. Here's some interesting info I found in their FAQ:

    "To ensure that the public is aware of importance of mailing back the 2010 Census questionnaire when they receive it, and the millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money saved by doing so, the Census Bureau is spending about $1 per person on our combined promotion and outreach efforts. It costs just $.42 cents to mail back the census form in a postage paid envelop. It costs taxpayers $57 per person to send a census taker door-to-door to collect the same information if they didn’t mail it back. Promotional and outreach efforts are heavily focused on increasing the number of households to mail back their form when they receive it this March. For every one percentage point increase in the national participation rate by mail, taxpayers can help the Census Bureau save about $85 million in operational costs.”

    Source: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/about/whole.php

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