It unites members of our community and serves as a rallying point for all of us to do something that helps us, our families, our community, and our nation. Furthermore, it offers each of us the opportunity to demonstrate pride in our culture, our community, and our contributions to the greater society. The information you provide in the census is held in the strictest confidence. Individual responses cannot be shared with agencies or organizations at the Federal, State, or local levels and are held confidential for 72 years. High-level security measures protect the privacy of census data, as well as the requirement that employees swear oaths to keep information confidential.
Employees face harsh penalties for violating the law or their oaths.
Despite the importance of the census and the protections afforded, the number of residents who have completed and mailed back their census forms has been declining steadily for the past few decades. The national mail response rate dropped from 78 percent in 1970 to 75 percent in 1980 to 65 percent in 1990. Plus Five challenge, which challenges elected officials to increase their communities' mail response rates by at least five percentage points above their 1990 rate. HUD has told Housing Agencies, Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and residents of low-income housing that income earned for such work can be excluded from eligibility determinations. HUD encourages residents to become census takers in their own communities, which is temporary, paid employment.