How many people will simply toss their census request in the trash?

[kentuck]

Rather than go online and fill it out?

I don't think this is going to work that well?

Some people don't have computers and some don't know how to use them.

Some people will see it as "junk mail" and throw it in the trash.

The government can do very little right nowadays.

[Skidmore]

1. Good point.

Not exactly an accurate enumeration.

[onenote]

10. Bad point. The OP wasn't aware of how it works

It is not only online. Around 25 percent of homes will receive a paper form to mail back (along with the option of responding online). And those homes that get the online invite and don't respond will get a follow up mailing with the paper form that they can fill out and mail back. (There also is a respond by phone option). And there will be multiple reminder post card mailings.

It probably is a better system than one that relies only on mail in responses.

[katmondoo]

2. I mailed mine. It came with an post paid envelope.

[still_one]

3. +++

[True Blue American]

4. Online is simple

Type in Census on Google, the form comes up, asks basics, done

[kentuck]

5. Mine did not.

It came with a 12-digit code to use after signing on to the site.

[onenote]

8. Initially, around 25 percent of homes get the mail in form along with the online ID

And if homes getting only the online ID don't respond, they will get a follow up mailing with the paper form for them to complete and mail back.

It actually is a better approach than one that relies only on a single option.

[kentuck]

9. Thanks for that info!

[2naSalit]

6. It's being suspended...

for one thing but a lot of people do just that, ignore it. What the process is after that is enumerators going out to each address to investigate whether someone lived at the address on 4/1/2020. They will ask neighbors or landlords etc.. And they'll go back a few times. It's not a matter of catching you but more of getting an accurate count. One pass over the subject matter is not the end of it.

People need to understand the purpose of the census and what it does for their community.

[onenote]

7. Probably better than past years.

It is not online only. Not by a long shot. Everyone will get an initial invitation to respond online. But around 25 percent of the recipients also will get the paper, mail in questionnaire (targeted to areas where Internet access is known to be low). And even for those addresses that only getting the invitation to respond online (or by phone), if there is no response, they will get a follow up mailing that will include the mail in form. There also will be multiple reminder postcards.

Seems to me that the approach that is being taken is at least as good and in many ways better than past census approaches.

[Maeve]

11. My mom's came with the whole form--mine did not

I completed both on-line last week after the second mailing arrived for both households (that was probably wasteful, to send a reminder within the week of the original, but )

It will probably cut down the number of census workers having to go door to door. Altho some people...Hubby worked the census in 1980 and had at least one household pull a gun on him. In Columbus, OH.