Making Sense Of The Census
By Harris Sherline
August 26, 2009
Every ten years we go through the process of counting the people in America. And, based on the results, the multitude of Congressional districts around the country are adjusted for the purpose of complying with the Constitutional mandate that the members of the House of Representatives be allocated on the basis of the population in the 50 states.
Not surprisingly, including illegal aliens in the census count could make a significant difference in the number of members allocated to the House of Representatives for various states.
Furthermore, beyond the specific requirement to adjust the Congressional districts based on population, taking the census has evolved into a detailed and intrusive series of personal questions that the government wants answered for its own purposes. And, those who refuse to answer them can be subject to heavy penalties.
Following are various facts about the census that you may find of interest:
All residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia must be counted.
Legally married gay couples will be counted as marriages.
Following the American Revolution, the first census was taken in 1790.
Census figures are based on counts of people who live in residential structures, where they live and sleep most of the year.
The count includes citizens, non-citizen legal residents, non-citizen long-term visitors and illegal immigrants.
Census counts are also used as the basis of apportionment of Electoral College seats for the presidential elections.
Census records and information specific individuals who are included in the census become available to the public 72 years after the census is taken, however, aggregate statistical data is released as soon as it is available.
Statistical information derived from the census is used as the basis for a wide range of planning by government and industry.
The census results are also used as the basis for distributing $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.
The first nine censuses (1790-1870) were not managed by the Executive Branch of the federal government, but were conducted by federal marshals who were assigned by the federal courts.
The results of the 2010 census must be submitted to the U.S. President by December 31 of that year
The census has generally been the responsibility of the federal Department of Commerce and the managers have reported to the Secretary of that Department who in turn reports to the president of the U.S. However, shortly after taking office, the new administration changed the reporting relationship to have the Director of the Census Bureau report directly to Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, in the White House.
Here are some highlights of the population figures that will be updated as a result of the 2010 census:
The 2008 estimate of U.S. population is a little over 304 million.
About 80 percent of the U.S. population is white, 12.8 percent are black, and 15.1 percent are Hispanic or Latino.
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