2010 U.S. Census: 10 Questions, 10 Minutes

 This year’s magic number is 10. Not only is this the 10^th year of 2000, it is also the year that citizens must fill out the U.S. Census. The 2010 Census is one of the shortest census forms in history. Only 10 questions are asked and about 10 minutes are required to complete the form.

Although censuses have been around for 220 years, many are still unaware of what they are. A census is an official count of various types of information, taken ev­ery 10 years about a country’s population. The United States has been conducting censuses since 1790, after the American Revolution. The population was about 3,929,214 at that time.

Just as people are required to attend jury duty, get a driver’s license in order to drive, pay their taxes and report their in­come, participating in the census is essen­tial and also required by the law. Failure to fill out and send in a census form will result in a fine of up to $5000. Additionally, com­pleting and returning the census form is the most efficient way to participate. If citizens fail to turn in their forms, a home visit from a census employee will be in order.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves, this task can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. However, this task can also be seen in a positive light: the U.S Census Bureau may hire job­less people, who will be making money. “We know that there are a lot of people out there hurting for work right now,” said Clyde Kemp, census manager for the Canton office. “If we can get local citizens employed, that is really our goal.” Accord­ing to the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio, the government started hiring 1.2 million temporary workers for the Census Bureau in March.

While some people complain about how the government mandates that they fill out the census, they must keep in mind that this year’s census is only 10 questions. In addition, they do not realize that those who count the tallies for the survey (The United States Census Bureau’s employees, which included 5,593 employees as of 2006) have a much harder time. Some data from censuses do not come out until three years after they have been taken.

Filling out the census is beneficial to everyone, as well as to the country. The Census spokeswoman of south Louisiana, Jenna Steormann, said “The Census is about two things: power and money. It’s your voice in Congress, and it’s how the federal government allo­cates over $300 billion annually in federal funds to communities.” Data that is col­lected from censuses can affect the House of Representatives (as the number of mem­bers per state is based on the population obtained from the census), state redistrict­ing, Electoral College representation, fed­eral program funding and state and com­munity planning.

For example, the federal government distributes more than $400 billion to state, local and tribal governments every year based on the information collected from censuses.

Conducting censuses helps the govern­ment with numerous tasks, such as decid­ing the location of new housing and public facilities, examining the demographics of communities, planning new transportation systems (buses, roads, etc.), determining how many pub­lic workers (police, firemen, etc.) are needed. The list goes on and on. In addition, the government is not the only organization that uses data collected from census­es. Businesses use censuses to predict which products will be in demand in the fu­ture, determine locations for new businesses or compa­nies, decide whether or not more caring facilities (nurs­ing homes, day care centers, hospitals, etc.) are needed and estimate how many new employees must be hired.

As the U.S.’s popula­tion continues to skyrocket, the census is as important as ever.

According to Tom G. Palmer, a se­nior member of the Cato Institute, “The first census in 1790 asked just six ques­tions: the name of the head of the house­hold, the number of free white males older than 16, the number of free white males younger than 16, the number of free white females, the number of other free persons, and the number of slaves.” As a population changes, so must the way in which it is ac­counted for. While the 2010 United States Census still counts the people by sending a questionnaire to every household, the questions themselves have changed nearly every year.

In years past, every sixth household would receive a long form to fill out. Ac­cording to the Population Reference Bu­reau, this form included 50 additional questions about socioeconomic and hous­ing statistics. In the 2010 Census, how­ever, it was decided that simply giving everyone the short form and adding two more questions was the best alternative to sending out different forms.

            All changes made to the census in various years have been made to increase the accuracy of the population count. 2010 is no exception. This year, two more questions were added to the test from 2000.

The first new question asks the household if there were “any additional people staying there April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1,” (in which households were asked how many people were living in the house). Some choices include newborn babies, cousins, adult children, roommates or live-in babysitters. According to census.gov, the government uses the information from this question to “ensure response accuracy and completeness.

Another entirely new question has been added to the 2010 census questionnaire: “Does this person sometimes live or stay somewhere else?” America is notoriously the “land of the free,” the land where anything is possible. This is brought about by the fact that the “economy continues to promote upward absolute mobility” (economicmobility.org). Unlike the denizens of any other country, Americans move often from house-to-house and maybe even to another state. This phenomenon is represented through Question 10, in which for the first time, the government is recognizing the reality of American life – it is not as simple as a single home. Some reasons for other places of abode include: in college housing, at a seasonal or second residence, for child custody, in the military, in a nursing home and in jail or prison. The census taker is told to mark all that apply.

There was one final change made to the 2010 census compared to years past. However, this change was not made to a question, but rather an answer. In Question 2, which is about additional people in the home, the household is asked how this person is related to Person 1. Previously, one choice was “foster child.” As of 2010, this is no longer the case.

While there is much anger over this by some involved in the foster care system, such as Miriam Krinsky at the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles, the reason for its removal has nothing to do with the accuracy of the test itself. According to the John Burton Foundation, “Census officials explain that the reason that foster children will be eliminated from the Census is that the extra line for respondents to report on foster children would have extended into the page fold and tripped up scanners that read the answers!”

Proponents of keeping foster children in the census count argue that the Census is the only “data source on the economic status of children in foster care, the race and ethnicity of foster parents, and the overall living arrangements for foster children.” All this data, they argue, is necessary for lawmakers to make critical funding decisions, which they fear will be cut out or inadequate due to the change in the Census.

The 2010 Census has seen many changes. There are no longer two tests, but one that, with the enhancement of two questions, is able to more accurately portray the United States population. While there is no conflict over the two additional questions, foster care advocates vehemently oppose the change to Question 2 brought about by a lack of room on the questionnaire.

The 2010 Census questions have little in common with those in the first census in 1790. People are no longer counted as free males and slaves. As the population has changed, so has the way in which the people are counted. Now every person is counted for being a person, not their social status, just being; and the questions have changed to reflect this.

Health Care Update

In the health care debate, everyone can agree on only one thing: that reform needs to be made to the current system.  The question is: how much reform is necessary,  who will be covered and at what cost?  In the past two months Congress, as well as the public, has been bombarded with dozens of different proposals, most of which have been extremely partisan.

The most recent plan was proposed by Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who claims that his proposal was created by a bipartisan effort in the Finance Committee and is labeled a “common sense” plan.  Although this plan has commonalities with President Obama’s plan, the Baucus plan, or America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009, is a moderate proposal intended to appeal to as many Democrats and Republicans as possible.

The major difference between Obama’s plan and the Baucus plan is what’s called the “public option.”  The public option is an essentially government-run insurance option that a person can choose over an employer or private insurer.  A government-run option would be cheaper because it would be non-profit.

The public option tore Congress apart; those opposed to Obama’s plan claimed that private insurers would not be able to compete with non-profit health care and that the proposal would cause a huge deficit and an eventual government takeover of health care.

To replace the public option, Baucus proposed a Consumer Operated and Oriented Program (CO-OP), in which federal funds would be given to non-profit health care programs that meet certain requirements.  In his speech, Obama said that although he strongly supports and urges the public option, he would be willing to drop his contention and sign a bill without if it was necessary to unite the Democrats and pass the bill by the end of the year.

In order to better regulate the system, certain restrictions and motivations would be set up specifically aimed at consumers, employers, and insurers in the Baucus Plans.

Effect on Consumers

The major contention of debate in this field is the mandate to have a health insurance plan in both the Obama and Baucus plans; this is similar to mandatory auto insurance.  If a person does not have health insurance by 2013, they will be fined according to their income, unless it is deemed unable to pay by the government or a person is a Native American.

To be deemed unaffordable, people must make half of the poverty line which is currently at $10,991 for individuals and $22,025 for a family of four.  Those people who make 100 to 300 percent of the poverty line will be charged $750 to $1500, depending on how many people are in the family.

If a person makes above 300 percent of poverty and does not wish to purchase health care, they will be charged between $950 and $3800 per year.  Opponents claim that those who don’t want health care but can afford it should be allowed to continue without coverage.

Furthermore, even with the $464 billion in credits that would be offered to help people pay for insurance, a family of four that makes $63,000 per year  will still have to pay $7,110 out of pocket to pay for health care.  A family whose income is $90,000 or higher will receive no credits.  The mandate that everyone buy health care puts a restriction on how people can spend their money because a certain portion of it is tied to health insurance costs.

Though the goal of the health care overhaul is to provide everyone with affordable health care coverage, a report released from the Congressional Budget Office on October 8 says that 17 million legal American residents will not have coverage after the plan is fully enacted in 2019.

Effect on Employers and Health Industry

Although all employers will not be forced to provide coverage, those with 50 or more employees must provide affordable coverage or be fined $400 multiplied by the total number employees in the firm. Because the fine would still be cheaper than providing insurance, small businesses would receive $24 billion in credits as an inducement to offer insurance.

The main source of revenue for the $756 billion plan is a 35 percent excise tax on high cost insurance plans of $8,000 dollars for singles and $21,000 for families.  The concern of opponents is that as insurance increases in the years to come, more people will have high cost private plans on which the insurance providers will be taxed.  Economists predict that insurance providers will inevitably make up for the tax through employers, leading to further strain on businesses or no longer offer premium plans.  Furthermore, family is not defined by a certain number of people within the bill. Bigger families, who must have higher costing plans in order to pay for basic health insurance for all family members, will fall into the threshold of taxable plans.

The plan will also be paid for through fees from various markets within the health industry and eliminations of unnecessary programs within Medicare.  The fees include $6 billion from the health insurance provider market, pharmaceutical manufacturing companies would pay $2.3 billion, medical device manufacturers and clinical laboratories would pay a total of $4.75 billion annually.

There are currently several hundred points of contention in the Baucus bill.  Although this is significantly less than in other partisan plans, it is cause for much bickering in Congress which has slowed health care reform thus far.

Originally the President set a deadline for a bill before the August recess.  Since this did not happen, a bill is expected before the end of this year.  Hopefully by the time New Year’s comes around, the United States will have an added cause for celebration: a reformed health care system.