2020 Census begins in March
Strudents from Lee’s Bateman team are planing and executing a public relations campaign to increase local awareness of the 2020 Census. Photo by Taylor Baker.
This month marks the beginning of the 2020 Census as the Unites States government seeks to collect data on its citizens. Beginning in mid-March, the Census Bureau will mail instructions to each household on how to respond to the census; options include submitting online, by phone or by email.
Bureau Director Dr. Steven Dillingham said in a press release that the bureau is anticipating responses to ensure an accurate count.
“The Census Bureau is ready for the nation to respond,” said Dillingham. “Millions of Americans are applying for 2020 Census jobs, more than 270,000 local and national organizations are engaged, and in less than 30 days, the majority of U.S. households will receive an invitation to respond to help ensure that every person in the U.S. is counted.”
Why is it important to have everyone counted?
Perhaps the most essential purpose of the census is to determine the distribution of federal funds to public institutions for the next decade.
“The 2020 Census is on mission, on schedule, and on budget to promote an accurate count,” Dillingham said. “Response is important because statistics from the census are used in distributing where hundreds of billions in funding for school lunches, hospitals, roads and much more. The invitations will remind respondents to include everyone living in the household, whether they are related or not. This includes young children. Your response will impact communities for the next decade.”
For many college students, this is the first census in which they will participate. But for senior public relations majors Jake Cash and Brittney Peek, the census presents an opportunity for further involvement.
Cash and Peek are part of Lee’s team for the national Bateman PR Competition. Working with the Census Bureau, this team is planing and executing a real public relations campaign to increase local awareness of the 2020 Census.
“The census highly affects the demographic data for local government, national government and local institutions to better understand and serve those areas. It is a clear snapshot of an area,” said Cash. “I think it’s worth it to go all out … it affects every community in the United States for 10 years, so it’s super important to get it right because there isn’t another shot.”
Later this semester, the team will compile their results in a book to be judged against other Bateman teams from across the nation.
“From our research, we found that a lot of college students didn’t really know the benefits of [the census],” said Peek. “Once we educated them on those benefits, we asked again what they thought. Most of the responses came back that they now know it is important.”
Why is it important for college students to participate?
While the census already accounts for students who live on a college campus, those who live off-campus will have to respond to the census questionnaire. Cash believes students should consider their responsibilities as citizens when receiving the questionnaire.
“Cleveland is not my permanent residence. So for a student to take it, I think you have to have a slightly deeper sense of responsibility,” said Cash. “It won’t have a profound effect on my life if Cleveland has an accurate count or if they don’t, so I have to care about this area and my duty as a citizen.”
The Census Bureau has uploaded a sample copy of the 2020 Census, containing nine questions for the first member of a household, and seven for each following member.
“If you drive around Cleveland and you get annoyed with all the potholes in the road, that’s something the census directly affects and can fix. You can really see those changes just by filling something out,” said Peek. “It’s a chance for everyone’s voices to be heard. The funding goes for schools and their specific programs, for hospitals and also the federal scholarships for students.”
Census controversies
“[The census] is important because it’s required by the Constitution. It’s crucial to make sure the United States Government is doing a good job representing people,” said Dr. Mark Scully, professor of political science. “One unified methodology is important, and you need the federal government to do that.”
Many organizations are taking important steps to help create the most accurate count of the American people. Recently, Facebook and Instagram began removing posts that misrepresented the intentions of the census.
Much of the current political controversy concerns whether the census will affect those without U.S. citizenship status. Last year, the Trump administration pushed to include a question involving citizenship on the 2020 Census, but the U.S. Supreme Court did not allow it. Courtrooms across the country are still discussing whether the question should be included, and rallies in opposition are still being held.
“Trump is the executive of the Census Bureau, and that’s his elected responsibility,” Scully said. “He has a right to set bureau priorities and bureau policy. On the other hand, there are legal requirements as to how much freedom he has to change bureau policy, so the courts have to decide whether he’s in his legal rights.”
The U.S. Code Title 13 ensures the protection of all information collected by the census, but Scully believes there is still great concern among the communities affected.
“The concern is that by asking a politically motivated question, you could seriously corrupt the data provided to the census bureau. You need good data, and if a question could obscure or confuse that data, that’s a serious problem,” Scully said. “Protect minority voters. If they’re not being counted for the sake of population, that means they’re not getting represented.”
The census ensures every voice is heard
Advocates of the census believe it is a critical component for accurately giving a voice to every person and community across the nation — especially for college students who likely to have their first chance to participate.
“It only happens once every 10 years, and we need everybody’s help to get an accurate count to help ensure federal funds and resources are spent where they are needed most for the next decade,” said Dillingham.
For more information on how to participate in the upcoming census, visit www.2020census.gov. To learn more about how the census impacts the local community, check out the Bradley County Counts page on Facebook.
