State Demographer Explains Value of Census

State Demographer Explains Value of Census: From the RedTape Blog
"Ken Darga, State Demographer, explains how the census brings money to Michigan:



1) Why are census counts important to communities such as the city of Detroit, Wayne County, inner-ring suburbs, outer-ring suburbs?



Census counts are important for several reasons.



The financial reasons are most prominent in the current economic climate: over $1,000 of federal money PER PERSON is distributed to state and local governments each year on the basis of census counts. That adds up to over $10,000 over the course of a decade, which is how long data derived from the 2010 Census will be used for this purpose. That figure does not include money distributed to local governments by the state, and it does not include direct federal or state spending that is targeted or allocated on the basis of census figures. When some of a community's residents are missed by the census, that community does not receive its fair share of state and federal spending.



Census data is also used in apportionment and redistricting. Michigan is projected to lose one seat in Congress and one electoral vote after the 2010 Census, but that would not happen if everyone was counted correctly. The margin by which we are projected to lose that congressional seat is smaller than the estimated number of Michigan 'snowbirds' who are counted in the Sunbelt instead of in Michigan. The metro Detroit area would also have more representation in the Michigan House and Senate if all of its residents were counted.



Census data is also used by planners, businesses, researchers, journalists, and just about everyone else to understand what is happening in our communities. Knowledge is better than ignorance, and accurate knowledge is better than false knowledge. For example, an undercount in the Census can lead to fewer business deciding to locate in an area. It also reduces the accuracy of economic statistics, health statistics, and other social indicators that are based on calculations involving census figures.



(2) What advice would you offer to groups that wish to promote full counts, such as those in Detroit?



The most important single message for Michigan is that snowbirds and other people with more than one residence should be counted only at the address where they spend the largest part of the year. Many people who spend most of the year in Michigan are counted in the Sunbelt when they receive a census form there in March. Each census form asks how many people are 'living or staying' at the address to which the form is delivered. Unless people are experts on census terminology, they may not realize that 'living' at a certain address means 'having it as your usual residence,' and 'staying' at an address means 'staying there while having no usual residence elsewhere.'



If no one spends the largest part of the year at the winter residence, the form should be returned with 'zero' entered as the number of people living there. The rest of the form should be left blank. The snowbirds should find a form waiting for them when they return to their residence in Michigan, or a census worker will come to their door in May or June.




Another important message is that your census form should include all of the people who are 'usual residents' at your address, even if they are somewhere else on Census Day. For example, you should include absent snowbirds, people in the hospital, or people away temporarily on a trip. Long-distance truck drivers should be counted at their homes if they spend more time there than at any other specific address, even if they are only home for a small part of each month.



You should also include people staying temporarily at your address if they have no 'usual' place of residence where they will be counted.



An important message for people who might be afraid of the government is that it is safe to fill out your census form and to include everyone in your household. Census responses are not shared with other government agencies. Information is published for geographic areas like cities, townships, zip codes, blocks, and so on, but not for individual households.



There are some other messages that are important for small segments of the population. For example, even though students in college are supposed to be counted at their college residence, other students away from home should be counted at their 'home' address. This includes students at boarding schools, military schools, and even schools like the Michigan Career and Technical Institute that serve college-age adults.




(3) Do you think the Census Bureau does a good job? Please explain.



The Census Bureau receives a lot of criticism from people who do not understand how hard it is to conduct a census. Counting people sounds easy, but a nation as large as ours has a huge variety of different living situations that pose problems for census workers. The instructions on the census form have to be simple enough to understand, yet they are relied upon to cover a huge array of complex situations. The Census Bureau does a very good job at a very difficult and very important task, and it is probably one of the best bargains in the federal budget. My biggest criticism of the census is that it does not have clear instructions for snowbirds who move back and forth between

different residences.


Shared by Ken Darga via MichLib-L.
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