In the next few months, more information will be sent out on the 2010 Census. The 2010 Census questionnaire asks only a few simple and confidential questions of each person — name, relationship, gender, age and date of birth, race and whether the respondent owns or rents his or her home. This simple, short questionnaire takes just a few minutes to complete and return by mail. The Census Bureau does not release or share information that identifies individual respondents or their household for 72 years.
Every year, more than $300 billion in federal funds is awarded to states and communities based on census data. That’s more than $3 trillion over a 10-year period. Census data guides planning for new hospitals, schools and other services. Census data is used to determine the most need for additional social services, including who receives community development block grants and other grant programs essential to many communities.
The U.S. Constitution requires a national census once very 10 years. The census is a count of everyone residing in the U.S.: in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, both citizens and non-citizens. The 2010 Census will also create thousands of temporary jobs across the nation.
For more information go to www.census.gov.