What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
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What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
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Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#2tldr: nothing
(Can confirm, was Census enumerator. You probably will get an in-person attempt from a very-low-paid enumerator, though.)
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#3watch "The Census: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" on this topic.
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#4I got randomly selected for the long one in 2010. There were several questions I was not able to answer but providing incorrect information is a crime and not answering is a crime. So I did nothing. They sent one or two threatening follow ups. Then an in-person enumerator showed up and ran me through the short-form questions only, which was fine.
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#5Nothing. Nothing happens. You may get an in-person visit, and if you blow them off, nothing also happens.
As with voting, it only encourages them. They are passionate about getting you to participate because they want the appearance of legitimacy, so you get obvious fear-and-guilt-prop like this.
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#6They missed me in 1990 and 2000, when I was unconventionally housed (living in the office).
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#7Nothing. Nothing happens. You may get an in-person visit, and if you blow them off, nothing also happens. As with voting, it only encourages them. They are passionate about getting you to participate because they want the appearance of legitimacy, so you get obvious fear-and-guilt-prop like this.
> Nothing. Nothing happens.
Except for your area getting federally undercounted, which loses representation and tax dollars for you and all your neighbors.
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#8tldr: nothing (Can confirm, was Census enumerator. You probably will get an in-person attempt from a very-low-paid enumerator, though.)
The pay is actually pretty decent, and is cost-of-living adjusted. In Portland where I live, for example, it's $18/hour, which is way better than some temp jobs I've had.
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#9I got randomly selected for the long one in 2010. There were several questions I was not able to answer but providing incorrect information is a crime and not answering is a crime. So I did nothing. They sent one or two threatening follow ups. Then an in-person enumerator showed up and ran me through the short-form questions only, which was fine.
> providing incorrect information is a crime and not answering is a crime. So I did nothing.
The correct answer in this case is to say "I don't know". You can write in stuff on census forms and it's up to the local office to process those as special cases.
Re: What happens if I don't fill out my census form? (2019)
#10tldr: nothing (Can confirm, was Census enumerator. You probably will get an in-person attempt from a very-low-paid enumerator, though.)
The pay is actually pretty decent, and is cost-of-living adjusted. In Portland where I live, for example, it's $18/hour, which is way better than some temp jobs I've had.
Interesting. Back when I did it, it was piecework. Maybe one to three dollars per household, depending on whether it was a short or long form, and whether you managed to get someone to fill it out. That was around minimum wage, though if you hustled (or pencil-whipped things), you could probably make more.
Also, I think I heard that these days you have to produce your draft registration number in order to apply, which sucks.