Some Answers About Those Census Questionnaires

Here are some common questions about the 1990 U.S. Census, and some answers:

Q. How long will it take to fill one out?

A. The questionnaire comes in two forms. One of every six U.S. households receives a copy of the “long form,” which takes about 43 minutes to complete. But the rest are getting the “short form,” which takes an average of 14 minutes to fill out.

Q. What if I don’t get a form in the mail or lose it?

A. Just call one of the bureau’s local district offices and ask for a replacement. Orange County has four district offices, in Irvine, Santa Ana, Buena Park and Fullerton. All are listed in the phone book.

Q. Why is the government taking the census?

A. The census is conducted at the start of each new decade to determine the nation’s population so seats in Congress can be properly apportioned. The population counts are also used to divide $73 billion in federal money for a variety of government programs--transportation improvements, social services, health care. Statistics derived from the census are used by academic researchers, business marketeers, civic planners and others for a variety of purposes.

Q. What kinds of questions are on the census?

A. The short form asks seven questions about you and your family--including gender, ethnic origin and race, age and marital status. It also has seven queries about your household, such as how much your home is worth and how many rooms it has.

The long form includes all those questions and more--59 in all. It asks about your home’s plumbing and kitchen facilities, whether you have a telephone, how many cars you have, the cost of utilities, how much you pay for insurance. It also inquires about your schooling, job, income, how well you speak English, military service, whether a health condition makes it difficult to get around and how long it takes you to get to work. And a lot more.

Q. Aren’t some of those questions kind of personal?

A. It’s important to remember that all the information is, by law, confidential. The Census Bureau does not release information on an individual for 72 years (the average American’s life span). Each respondent’s questionnaire can only be viewed by authorized census personnel. It cannot be released to other government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service or FBI.

Q. What happens if I don’t mail in my census questionnaire by today’s deadline?

A. Eventually, the Census Bureau will come after you. A few weeks after Census Day, the bureau begins its follow-up operation, visiting people who have not returned a form. The census takers will have red, white and blue briefcases and plastic identification tags. You can’t miss them. They’ll be the ones asking all the questions.

Q. Do I have to participate?

A. Census officials say participation is the patriotic thing to do. It’s also the law. The same federal regulation that makes the census confidential also requires a U.S. resident to answer the questions to the best of his or her knowledge. The penalty is a $100 fine.

But some people refuse to participate, either out of an unfounded fear or a dislike of prying surveys. It rarely seems to matter. Census officials could not cite one case where they have prosecuted someone who refused to participate in the national survey.

Q. How soon will we get census results?

A. The nation’s population and congressional apportionment counts are not expected until the end of 1990. Other statistics will be released between 1991 and 1993.