The census is every 10 years, and it's largely done by mail. Every household gets a form in the mail that you're required to fill out and return. The only time I've had a census worker show up at my house was when I forgot to fill out the form and the deadline was approaching. If you return the form before the deadline, the census workers won't have you on their list because you've already been counted.
this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2024
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Okay but I don't even recall receiving a form in the mail in the year 2010 or the year 2020.
update, now that I think of it, in 2010 I was married and my husband at the time would have been the head of household and any such letter from the census would have been addressed to him.
In 2020 my circumstances were extremely vagrant so that's probably how I slipped through the cracks that year.
Vagrancy matters! The only reason I was counted in 2020 was because I broke my neck and spent about the first half of the year staying at a friend's house. The address I had wasn't legit so nothing like that would have been mailed to me.
Possibly. I haven't the foggiest idea of what determines where the forms get mailed. I've always assumed the list was compiled from whatever records the government has on people: tax filings, driver's licenses, etc. I only know I got both of mine in the mail.
The 2020 census was a clusterfuck thanks to Trump wanting to include a question about whether the person was an illegal immigrant or not.
Didn't they also drag it out in city centers in order to deliberately undercount the urban population? I seem to remember that it went on forever, and then they just quit without finishing some conveniently high-minority areas.
They sent a form to your house someone was supposed to fill out.
Doubts. I live alone and have never received such a thing.
Are you sure you aren't a ghost?
Good question. Sometimes people interact with me. But sometimes they don't. So how can I know for sure?
It's a tough question.
Do you often find yourself daydreaming of a life you never lived? Do you sometimes wonder if your accomplishments will be remembered? Are you able to pass through solid objects like doors or other people? Do you occasionally feel light headed or sleepy for no reason?
While this is giving me a chuckle, I can attest that I had to provide someone my passport and driver's license today and they were looking at me in the eyes and talking to me And I did a transaction with them and I entered another brick and mortar store today and paid for goods and services and I really think I'm a real human.
Was the store Booscovs? Home Creepot? Kruger? Was it a Big Pinebox store, or more of a Mummy and Pop store? Store puns are hard, I apologize.
Yes, but have you walked into a solid object like a wall to ascertain whether you can pass through it? I mean I check every once in a while to make sure I haven't gained any supernatural powers. I recommend head first for entertainment value. Please report back.
Ok, am at work right now and can attest that the walls feel solid and I cannot pass through any of them. I did try though.
Do you have a driver's license or other legal documents with your home address?
Do you tend to throw out mailed advertisements that you don't recognize? It is very possible that you threw it out thinking it was spam or a scam like I almost did in 2020.
2020 it was just a postcard. They don't send someone to your house unless there's a discrepancy or you didn't fill it out. Anyone could fill it out from your house too, but it should be head of household.
2000 was the last time they had people go door to door (I did it for an area in my city. It was pretty decent pay for an easy job). Since then, in 2010 they sent out a version of the questioner in the mail, and 2020 was basically just a postcard with a link to the online version.
The only way they really know if you should get a questioner is by taxes. If you haven't done taxes in the last years or whatever then you probably didn't get asked anything.
They had people go door to door in 2010. I was one of the people who did that. It was decent pay especially during the recession at the time.
Didn't know they had any in '10. Yeah I enjoyed the job.
I filled it out online in 2020
I get a census form in the mail every ten years. No matter how early I send it back someone still comes to my door trying to take the census again after that lol