The envelope came from the United States Census Bureau. The card inside (English on one side, Spanish on the other) said American Community Survey, and, “Go to https://respond.census.gov/acs to complete the American Community Survey online.”
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The American Community Survey (ACS) is a mandatory, ongoing statistical survey that samples a small percentage of the population every year.
respond.census.gov
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The ACS is an on-going collection of data with surveys completed each month all across the country. Each year the government updates state and local population estimates, median family income, poverty rate and all sorts of other important stuff based on response to the ACS.
Too bad the envelope wasn’t for me.
As many know, I’m Conservator and Guardian for an elderly friend with medical issues. Obviously, I completed his survey. I got through the long list of questions in about an hour, counting time needed to pull bank statements, home title info, his birth certificate, Social Security paperwork, and items in my bulging 2019 tax return file.
When I reached the end of his survey I was really, really pissed…
- On-line Survey Completion Low-income households and disabled folk, such as my friend, are most likely to not have on-line access. While the card had a ‘Help’ number (1-800-354-7271), I doubt if the call center takes the time to go through all the questions and wait while callers scour their homes looking for numbers.
- Way Too Much Math The survey wants data ‘from the past 12 months.’ In my friend’s case that meant numbers from two calendar years including two years with different Social Security payments and two partial years of income. That’s a lot of numbers to find and add.
- Poorly Worded Questions After completing the income section the screen asked me if my friend’s total income was ‘X’ – a number almost twice the actual! I had to click on Previous a couple of dozen times, re-read the “Help” sections to determine what counted as Pension, what was ordinary investment income, and so on. The definitions don’t mesh with the Internal Revenue Service.
- No Place For Comments Or Explanations My friend requires 24/7, in-home care. That’s around $9,500, twice a month. To keep that money flowing, well, you recall the way they imploded the Arena? Based on the survey answers it looks like my friend lives like a king. In reality that on-going implosion of his nest egg keeps him in a nice (but not exceptional) ranch home.
Each fall I report Missouri’s median income and all sorts of other data derived from the American Community Survey. Now I have serious doubts about the veracity of that report.
Worse, very soon the census bureau will ‘count’ all Americans. And, like the ACS, the census expects most people to complete their profiles on-line.
Uh-oh.
Of course, no census is perfect.
Still, what I’m seeing scares me. Especially that bias against the old and the poor.
What would work better? How about sending out paper forms with free return envelopes, and, offering the option of completing the profile on-line?
Yes, the government will still need to send workers to knock on millions of doors…or, rather they’re supposed to follow-up on each address. As I’ve noted before, the census isn’t hiring the workers it needs, they’re way behind in their preparations and many of us question the Trump administration’s dedication to counting non-rich and non-white people.
Still, if would be encouraging if they quickly tried to fix stupid.
Glenn