This month, between March 12th-20th, homes across the country will begin receiving invitations to complete the 2020 Census. Once the invitation arrives, response for your home can be one of three ways: online, by phone or by mail.
The census provides critical data that lawmakers, business owners, teachers and others use to provide daily services, products and support for the community. Every year, billions of dollars in federal funding goes to hospitals, fire departments, schools, roads and other resources based on census data.
The results of the census also determine the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives, and they are used to draw congressional and state legislative districts.
The count is mandated by the Constitution and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, a nonpartisan government agency. The 2020 Census counts the population in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
It’s also in the Constitution: Article 1, Section 2 which mandates that the Country conduct a count of its population once every 10 years. The 2020 Census will mark the 24th time that the country has counted its population since 1790.
Link to census website: https://www.census.gov/
Sample census questionaire:
All invitations will include a short phrase in English and 12 additional languages inviting people to respond online or by phone in their language. In areas where 20 percent or more of the households need Spanish assistance, the invitations will be in both English and Spanish.
