By: Schuyler Ng and Taj Gadiraju
Every decade, the United States holds an event that gathers data about everyone living in the country. This is regarded as the Census. The Census helps with how much money and resources are given out to each state and city government. These resources include Medicaid, Public Education, and Housing Vouchers. On top of this, it decides how many people from each state can go to the House of Representatives. The Census application is a quick and easy form that doesn’t disclose if someone is of United States citizenship. More is discussed in the background briefing.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/article/census-2020.html
During this COVID19 pandemic, the Census Bureau is trying to get the data on nearly 330 million people. This proves to be a huge challenge because of all the obstacles COVID19 presents. A method that they are using is having people respond through the website, mail, or phone. This has worked very well, however, many people are yet to respond, and the Bureau isn’t able to reach them. Without an in-person confrontation, the amount of people that still need to respond is staying at a stand-still. “Billions of federal dollars and fair political representation are riding on the result”.
The Census started on April 1 and on May 27, Census takers usually track down people that have not turned in their Census application. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the trackers are not able to have an in-person confrontation. This leads to all sorts of implications, such as people not being fined for not turning in the Census. This year, only 38% of households have actually responded, leaving the Bureau with a staggering 62% to still receive. Apart from the households, a nationwide count of nearly half-a-million homeless people has been put off. Because of the hindrance that the COVID19 plays on the Census, the Bureau decided to push back the deadline to finish the count by 2 weeks, which is in mid-August.
Discussion Questions:
Because COVID19 is messing up the results, do you think that moving the Census would be a good idea? What are some of the implications of this?
Is the Census Bureau handling this properly? What else can they do to help bring in the Census applications?
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/article/census-2020.html
Because COVID19 is messing up the results, do you think that moving the Census would be a good idea? What are some of the implications of this?
ReplyDeleteI think that moving the Census is a good idea. If the Census Bureau can't get a hold of at least a majority of the population, it's probably best to wait until the situation cools down and society begins returning to normal. Although it's not certain that things will be returning to normal this year. However, if moving the Census back means that more people can participate, then I think that is best. I think that having to push the Census back implies that the Census may not ultimately be necessary. If people aren't turning in applications, that either means that they cannot turn them in or that they do not think it is important. While the Census is useful, I think the current situation reveals that most do not think the same.