Census=trouble, quite possibly.

I have not filled out my census from yet, and I will not until after April the 1st. The census form ask how many people will be living at your address on April the 1st. Well how do I do that? I cannot see into the future. Even after the 1st I am not going to fill out any more than my name and my hubby's name. Nothing else is their business. I have thought about not filling it out all together. When they want to start respecting me I will start respecting them.

Nope. I am not filling it all out there. And I don't blame you either. What is my race? HUMAN...but that is not one of the options so i will leave it blank. My birthday...none your business...but I will tell my age. My phone number...none your business. Weather I own or rent...none of your business. I will tell them the names and ages of each person in my house..that is it.

I think that your name, birthdate, place of residence, occupation (and, of course, who else was at your address on the date of the census) are all that they need to know. Most people use the census for tracing their ancestors - and that is many years hence when the details are released to the general public. Your phone number would be of no practical use then. The statistics, of course, are collated and used before that but there are (or should be) adequate controls so that you can be confident that no personal data is traceable to you (for example, your SSN should not be on the form at all and your name connected with that address should be unobtainable by anyone for at least 50 years). Censuses are good things (in the long run) because they allow us to trace our ancestors and, eventually, to find out where we come from and what our genetic make up may be. The danger is that, in the short term, the data may be used for purposes other than what is stated. In Europe I believe that we have sufficient safeguards in place. I am not so confident about the United States, which I am beginning to think is beginning to behave like a right wing dictatorship, even though Obama is a puppet rather than a leader.

hi dragon44u I have not got my form yet but yes I will fill it out as someday some kin maybe doing their family tree on myfamily and it willhelp them a lot. we use census forms from way back to do our genealogy research and it really helps. I do not mind them knowingmy birthday at all, why should I? also my phone number as every telemarketer in the world already has it even though I am on a do not call list. my friend said really this census form is really not that hard to fill out. why is everyone so uptight over the census anyway,it is done for a number of purposes none of which are bad in my eyes. i suppose since they blame everything but global warming on our new president this is also supposed to be all his fault, this gets tiresome to me. pick on someone else for awhile people.

I filled out everything but my phone number. I had no problem indicating my race because it's used for demographic purposes and to fund programs which is why they also want to know your age. I couldn't remember if they asked for your birth date the last time around but I went ahead and put it down because I don't want someone coming to my door asking for that information. I have to balance what is in the best interest of myself and my husband in many areas of my life and this was one of them. When the nice man with the GPS thingy stopped by my husband became very irritated and threatened to shoot him if he stepped foot on our properties. My husband has PTSD and he has issues. I doubt they will send someone here over a phone number since some folks don't have phones but they might. As far as that Communtiy Survey thing...I will let WWIII start over that one if we get it because I'm not handing over that much personal and private information to a government agency without a fight.

I have not filled out my census form yet, but when I do, I will fill out every question. I personally don't see what the big deal is about filling out all of the questions. I'm not offended by it, nor do I view it as offensive. They're simply trying to gather information. Any survey that one participates in now requires the user to fill out age and race. It has never hit me as being personal or offensive on any level.

Unfortunately, I am pretty compliant, but I figured that everything they asked for on the census was a matter of record somewhere. Probably online, as everything else in my life is. I will not, however, fill out that other long one, even if I get one.

I did. I just wanted to be done with it. I bet if you skipped questions, they will come a knockin. I really do not want them knockin!

We don't have this kind of thing in Sweden as far as I know, but don't they already know this information about you? If so, how does it hurt you to tell them?

I did put birth dates. I figured that a bazillion other people were born on those days too. I left out names and other information.

I filled it out. But you know I think an age as they requested & maybe year of birth rather than acutal date should be sufficient. I didn't understand if you owned or rented made any difference.... they can tell if you own or rent most of the time by your address it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

Other than number of people in the household all other questions should be voluntary. If you've ever done any kind of research on humans you understand how valuable this other data can be. Research professionals in marketing, sociology, environmental science,etc. etc. all use this data, so there are valid reasons for getting it.

My mom actually recieved three copies of it. (We bought a house that we are converting from a triplex to a home (like it was built as.)) So I get my own copy :P Not that I can send it in, but I looked at it. I don't understand. In the beginning it asks like how many people are in your home, But it doesn't ask their ages except for in individual boxes later in the letter, which suggests you have to fill out all the information. She is determined to give them only the legally demanded amount, but it's kind of confusing. Is she just going to fill in My brother's and mine ages in two other boxes and not tell anything else? If so I feel bad for the guy that handles that one :P I also feel bad for the people with more than 12 people in their households (and you know there are households like that.) Because they only give space for 12 personal information spaces. :P

a phone number is one thing, i wouldnt want them bothering me, but i dont see how any of that other stuff can really hurt you just because they know that there is another person of a certain age and a certain color in a certain area...its just statistics, really, and it does affect political stuff, but it doesnt really hurt to tell the truth

Your post just reminded me to fill mine out. I don't want the census bureau contacting me, so all they got was the number of people in my household, their names, and their ages. Why, I wonder, is it necessary to ask first if the people are Hispanic, and then ask what race they are? Isn't it sufficient just to ask for race once?

Over here they prosecute you if you don't complete the form properly or return it. I am torn on this. As a keen amateur genealogist I find the census returns incredibly useful. Increasingly they are asking questions that are intrusive. My race is fine by me - but my telephone number? Why? Most of what they ask they have already. Yes I comply with the law, but as Mr Bumble said.. “the law is a a$$—a idiot." Our census is next year.

I wouldn't have, but my husband took charge of the census form and answered all the questions...