Census Needs Help for Accurate Count

Counting heads in an urban high rise or suburban cul-de-sac isn’t the challenge of Census 2000. The real work is finding the homeless family living in a broken-down car, the migrant farm worker moving from job to job, the John Doe in a hospital ward or a prison cell.
It’s an epic task, the federal government’s largest peacetime undertaking, and its results will help set the country’s political agenda for the next decade. CWA is encouraging members to take part.
“We proudly endorse and support the U.S. Census Bureau’s plan for a complete and accurate count in Census 2000,” CWA President Morton Bahr said. “Especially important to us is a full enumeration of the poor and minority populations that have been traditionally undercounted.”
The census, done every 10 years, decides how many seats a state gets in the U.S. House of Representatives and can be used to draw new lines for electoral districts, based on population. The results also help the government choose where and how to spend your tax dollars. A community of young families may need funds for schools, another area may need services for seniors or job programs for native Spanish speakers
Census data is published collectively and anonymously. Federal law bars the Census Bureau from sharing specific answers with anyone, including immigration officers, the IRS, courts, police and the military.
A resolution supporting Census 2000 was passed at the 61st annual CWA convention in July, urging members to cooperate with the count by returning census forms by April 1, two weeks after they’re scheduled to be delivered nationwide. If forms aren’t back by April 26, census workers will start knocking on doors.
The CWA resolution encourages members and retirees to apply for some of the 860,000 temporary census jobs. Much of the work can be done part-time on nights and weekends. The jobs will generally last four to six weeks and pay $8.25 to $18.50 an hour, depending on a community’s prevailing wage rate.
Prospective workers must take a 30-minute test with 28 questions measuring skills, abilities and knowledge required by various census positions.
“It’s a comfortable, pleasant job,” said Don Bishoff, a retired member of The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 194, in Eugene, Ore., who was hired last fall to verify addresses for the upcoming count. “You kind of work at your own pace, with informal quotas. I certainly enjoyed it.”
Bishoff said he earned about $8.50 an hour, plus mileage, confirming that certain addresses did — or didn’t — exist. One day he spent more than two hours trying to locate a distant home in Oregon’s Coast Range. “I think they’re genuinely trying to find everyone they can,” he said.


Questions about Census 2000? Want to work as a census taker?

Check the Census Bureau’s website at www.census.gov or call one of the 12 regional offices:

Atlanta 404-331-0573
Boston 617-424-4977
Charlotte 704-344-6624
Chicago 312-353-9759
Dallas 214-655-3060
Denver 303-231-5029
Detroit 248-967-9524
Kansas City 816-801-2020
Los Angeles 818-904-6522
New York City 212-620-7702
or 7703
Philadelphia 215-597-8312
Seattle 206-553-5882