Small rant

[DuckLady]

Quote:
The lady who came to my door braved the geese (who are barkers, not biters) and Hugo the Duck who loves to deflower shoes.

When I went to the door, I could tell she was scared, so I took pity on her for being so brave on her first day on the job and I filled out the form (not as invasive as I thought it would be) and mailed it that day.

As for asking personal questions, I have seen more personal info put out here on BYC than the forms ask for.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

the pre-census asked for not only how many people living here, and their names, jobs, but also, my income, and even what time I left for work.

 

[DuckLady]

Really? Are you sure it was legit?
I have heard warnings not to fill out and return anything but the official census form as it might be a form of phishing.

ETA, I just looked at the census site and they have various mandatory and non mandatory surveys.
http://www.census.gov/survey_participants/household_surveys/

 

[beckt]

We have already filled out and sent ours back in January. Then last week we got one of those letters saying we will be getting a form and to please fill it out. Now what?

 

[Kazzandra]

I'm confused as to why people think the census is invasive. My ancestors, who hermitted in the mountains to keep a sense of privacy, let census workers evaluate the approximate value of their property and personal belongings, ask them if they could read or write, if they owned their house or rented it, where their parents were born, how long they had been married, if their kids were going to school-- you get the point.

In the 1900 census (if I remember correctly) it asked women how many children they had had, and how many were still alive. I believe you had to include miscarriages. That's a fun topic, and I'm sure recent deaths made it easy to answer.

If some of my ancestors hadn't filled out their census, I wouldn't know ANYTHING about them. So please, guys. Just fill it out. America was on the cutting edge with their census, and it is, in essence, part of being an American to fill it out.

The 2010 census has stupid questions, but I don't see anything that nears "invasive." In my opinion, it's way too short. Those invasive questions say quite a bit about what life was like.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Quote:
yeah, it came in an official census envelope, with an official government address. Then, when I didn't return it, they sent another one, saying, I was required by law to fill it out. Then, when I didn't, I can't remember if they threatened a fine, but they had someone call by phone, and ask me a ton of questions, and they were definitely going down the form line by line, because I had it in my hand when they asked them. I threw out the forms that I never sent, or I could go back and check for an official government publication number. I'm usually pretty good at spotting scams, and this looked legit.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
yeah, it came in an official census envelope, with an official government address. Then, when I didn't return it, they sent another one, saying, I was required by law to fill it out. Then, when I didn't, I can't remember if they threatened a fine, but they had someone call by phone, and ask me a ton of questions, and they were definitely going down the form line by line, because I had it in my hand when they asked them. I threw out the forms that I never sent, or I could go back and check for an official government publication number. I'm usually pretty good at spotting scams, and this looked legit.

I will fill it out within reason. I am not going to say when someone is home or not. And I rarely answer the phone, much less plug it in, anyway. Area of house? It's all public knowledge, so why not repeat it. Income? Well, it all depends on what Congress has done in the past week. Not being snarky and I DO understand the value to people researching their genealogy. But I'll be darned if they can get too personal. I will always obey the law, within reason and no, they won't have to come to the house to ask questions. Because it will be a waste of there time, I don't answer the door either.

And as Terrie said, I see far more personal information on BYC. (not so subtle hint to those who give TMI- the WORLD reads BYC.)