US Will Get Short Census, Backed by Additional Surveys

The U.S. Census Bureau has passed to Congress plans for subject areas for the 2010 survey, which it says will be one of the shortest and easiest to complete in its 220 year history. The bureau also released more information about the forthcoming American Community Survey (ACS) and a new study of consumer spending.

Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon says the proposed subjects represent the necessary balance between the need for data and the Bureau's commitment to eliminate redundant questions and reduce completion time. Estimates suggest the form will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Subjects include gender, age, race, ethnicity, relationship and ownership or rental of homes.

By law, a summary of subjects to be covered in the decennial census must be submitted to Congress three years before Census Day, which is April 1, 2010. The deadline for submitting actual questions is a year later, March 31, 2008.

Every ten years since 1940, a sample of nearly 20% of US households have received an additional long-form questionnaire with considerably more detail: this is now being replaced by the yearly American Community Survey (ACS), which was fully implemented in 2005, and for which subjects were also submitted today. The ACS provides key socioeconomic and housing data about the nation's rapidly changing population on a more regular basis, giving decision-makers more timely, current and detailed data.

Kincannon says the new combination of the two surveys gives an accurate and cost-effective count of the nation's population. 'It is important to realize that decision-makers need ACS data to make choices that affect our daily lives, such as where to build a school, place a new road, improve public health care and provide services for the elderly. Our goal is to provide a questionnaire that is quick and easy to complete to ensure that respondents fill it out and mail it back.'

Census data directly affect how more than $200 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to local, state and tribal governments, and are a key input to other planning decisions, such as emergency preparedness and disaster recovery.

The Bureau has also announced that its field representatives will collect information about spending on groceries, clothing, transportation, housing, health care and other items from a sample of households across the country, beginning in April. The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program consists of the Interview Survey — which interviews about 15,000 households every three months regarding larger and regular expenditures - and a Diary Survey in which another 12,500 households will keep two consecutive one-week diaries of all purchases — including small, frequently purchased items difficult to recall later.

Results feed into projects including the compilation of the Consumer Price Index, and assist policymakers in making informed decisions about the impact of policies on families.

The Bureau is online at www.census.gov .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.