# Presentation: 705741

## 
OVERVIEW OF 2010 CENSUS

PRESTON JAY WAITE
Acting Deputy Director
Associate Director for Decennial Census

**OVERVIEW OF 2010 CENSUS**
**PRESTON JAY WAITE**
**Acting Deputy Director**
**Associate Director for Decennial Census**

## Why A Census?

- Constitutionally mandated for apportionment
- Draw congressional, state, and local legislative districts
- Allocate federal funds for state, local, and tribal governments –                (over $182 billion annually)

## The Census is Big

- Must count everyone
- An estimated 309 million people
- 130 million households
- 50 states and DC
- Puerto Rico and the Island Areas
- 50+ different languages

## Many Challenges

- Mobile population
- Informal and complex housing arrangements
- Distrust in government
- The difficulty of hiring, training and mobilizing approximately 500,000 workers for over 860,000 jobs

## What It Took To Conduct Census 2000

- Rented and equipped 520 Local Census Offices (LCOs) and 12 Regional Census Centers (RCCs)
- Answered About 5.8 Million Telephone Assistance Calls
- 49 Languages for Questionnaire Assistance Guides
- 27,000 Local Questionnaire Assistance Centers and 520 Temporary Field Offices
- Tabulated Data for 9 Million Census Blocks and 39,000 Governmental Units
- Captured Data From *1.5 Billion Pieces of Paper*

## Slide 6

## The Census is expensive

- Must contain costs
- Increase mail response
- Most cost effective way to conduct a census
- Reduce non-response follow-up
- Very expensive to send enumerators to each household not returning a questionnaire
- Encourage cooperation with enumerators
- Less expensive if enumerator only has to visit once

## On the Right Track

- Census 2000 was an overall success
- First ever paid advertising program
- Most extensive national and local partnership program
- Halted trend of declining response rates
- Increased mail response rate
- Reduced undercount
- Still room for improvement

## Short Timeframe

- In less than 6 months, must count everyone
- Census Day is April 1, 2010
- Deliver apportionment count by December 31, 2010

## 2010 Decennial Census

- Short-form only census
- Only 6 subjects are covered
- - Name	- Age
- - Race		- Tenure
- - Sex		- Relationship

## Multiple-contact mailing strategy 
Based on research
Mailing strategy and materials set for 2010
Advance letter
Questionnaire
Reminder postcard
Replacement questionnaire

- Based on research
- Mailing strategy and materials set for 2010
- Advance letter
- Questionnaire
- Reminder postcard
- Replacement questionnaire

## Use of hand held computers
Address canvassing
Personal interviews
Non-response follow up

- Address canvassing
- Personal interviews
- Non-response follow up

## Other data collection operations
Operations developed to reach those without city-style addresses, with special living situations, or  with no usual residence.

Non-response follow up
Most expensive operation in the decennial
The smaller the workload the better
Enumerators will make up to 6 attempts to collect data from non-responding households
We want to encourage cooperation with enumerators, so we can get the data on the first visit

- Operations developed to reach those without city-style addresses, with special living situations, or  with no usual residence.
- Non-response follow up
- Most expensive operation in the decennial
- The smaller the workload the better
- Enumerators will make up to 6 attempts to collect data from non-responding households
- We want to encourage cooperation with enumerators, so we can get the data on the first visit

## Communications Can Help

- Requires a different kind of communications program
- A lot of research and testing has been done since Census 2000
- We have worked closely with our stakeholders, advisory committees, and oversight groups
- We think we’ve designed a good program and a good product – we now need your help in making our program relevant and meaningful

## An Integrated Communications Program Can:
Provide the right marketing mix (including grass roots) to help us meet our goals
Provide unifying themes and messages
Make residents aware of the Census
Motivate mail response
Encourage cooperation with enumerators
Provide informational support for field operations
Help reduce the undercount
Reach those populations historically hard to count
Help communicate who should be included on the form

- Provide the right marketing mix (including grass roots) to help us meet our goals
- Provide unifying themes and messages
- Make residents aware of the Census
- Motivate mail response
- Encourage cooperation with enumerators
- Provide informational support for field operations
- Help reduce the undercount
- Reach those populations historically hard to count
- Help communicate who should be included on the form

## Ultimate Success

- Count everybody
- Count them once and only once
- Count them in the right place