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Census 2000 Education Kit

Facts And Figures On The Census

The first U.S. census occurred in 1790, when U.S. Marshals rode out on horseback to count the populations of the 13 newly united states.

The U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Sec 2) requires a census every 10 years for the purpose of reapportioning seats in Congress among the states.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's historic " one man, one vote" ruling in Baker v. Carr in 1962, census data have also been used for redrawing the boundaries of legislative districts to seek equal population in each one.

Census data determine the allocation of $180 billion in federal spending every year.

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, the 1990 Census contained as many as 26 million miscounts:

  • 4.4 million people were counted twice;
  • 8.4 million people were missed - mostly poor people and minorities; and
  • 13 million people were counted in the wrong place, made up, or included by mistake.

The 1990 national net undercount (those missed minus those counted twice) was 4 million people, or about 1.6 percent of the population. But the undercount of racial minorities was worse:

  • Blacks - 4.4 percent weren't counted
  • Hispanics - 5.0 percent
  • Asian/Pacific Islanders - 2.3 percent
  • Whites - 0.7 percent
  • American Indians - 4.5 percent

Children were missed more than twice as often as adults: at least 3 percent of them were not counted. Again, minorities were most neglected:

  • Black children - 7 percent weren't counted
  • Hispanic children - 5 percent
  • American Indian children - 6 percent

The 1990 census cost $2.6 billion. The single largest expense is paying enumerators to follow up with non-responding households.

In 2000, the Census Bureau's plan to augment traditional counting methods with scientific sampling would bring the total to $4 billion in current dollars.

The percentage of households responding by mail has been dropping steadily. In 1970, the mail response rate was 78 percent. In 1990, one-third of all households did not return a census form.

The most expensive part of the census is visiting households that don't mail back their forms. The 1990 census cost an average of $25 per household, compared to $11 in 19970, in constant 1990 dollars.

In 2000, every household will get 3 or 4 census mailings - first a letter announcing the census, then a census form, a reminder card later and perhaps a replacement form. The 1990 process used only questionnaire and a reminder/thank you card.

The Census Bureau plans to spend $240 million promoting and advertising the 2000 census, and $440 million in a quality-control check, re-examining 750,000 households in a detailed, face-to-face survey.

The decennial census is the largest peacetime mobilization of American resources and personnel. In 1990, about 500,000 temporary and 6,800 permanent Census Bureau employees took part in conducting the census. For the 2000 census, the bureau has 6,000 permanent employees and plans to hire 265,000 temporary ones.