Every ten years the U.S. federal government is required to count every man woman and child in the country. This massive undertaking requires the work of more than a million people to count everyone living in the country.
Census participation is safe and easy and the Better Business Bureau encourages everyone to fill out their census form when it arrives in the mail.
However, a Pew Research Center survey shows that 12 percent of U.S. residents are unlikely to fill out census forms and another 6 percent are either unlikely to return the form or definitely will not return the form.
The BBB offers five reasons why everyone should participate in Census 2010:
It’s safe - By law, the Census Bureau cannot share your answers with anyone, including the IRS, FBI, CIA INS or any other government agency. All Census Bureau employees take the oath of nondisclosure and are sworn for life to protect the confidentiality of data. The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.
It’s easy - The mail-in census form is only 10 questions long and shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes to answer. If you don’t return the form, you’ll be visited at your home by a census taker at least three times. Avoid the hassle and just fill out the form.
It allocates money and resources to help you - Census information helps determine how more than $400 billion dollars of annual federal funding is spent on infrastructure and services that go to benefit the public including hospitals, job training centers, schools, bridges and roads.
It saves you money – For every 1 percent increase in mail response, the government — and ultimately taxpayers — save $80 to $90 million.
It helps your voice be heard - Redistricting is the process of changing electoral district and constituency boundaries, usually in response to periodic census results. Census information affects the numbers of seats your state occupies in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Start With Trust. For more advice on filling out your census form and identifying a census employee, visit www.2010census.gov. And for more consumer tips, visit www.wynco.bbb.org or call 970-484-1348 or 800-564-0371 for reliable consumer tips and information.
About the BBB
The Better Business Bureau, founded in 1912, is a champion for ethics and trust in the marketplace. Only businesses that meet the high BBB standards are invited to become BBB Accredited Businesses. Today, 128 BBBs across the United States and Canada rate more than 3 million local and national businesses and charities with scores ranging from A to F. Only a BBB Accredited Business may elect to participate in BBBOnLine, one of the most trusted and recognized Internet seal programs in the world.
The BBB serving northern Colorado and Wyoming reported nearly 1 million instances of service to consumers and businesses in 2009. These services include reliability reports on local companies and charities, access to companies that can be trusted by industry, help with dispute resolution, and trustworthy information on consumer and business topics.
Barbara Read, VP Communications Director, 970-488-2035, bread@wynco.bbb.org