At 28 pages, the form asked for the Israels’ income, their heating costs — even the number of bathrooms in the house. “We started to think it was a fraudulent thing because the questions got so personal,” Israel, 68, said. “They really have no right to ask these questions.”
As it turns out, “they” — the U.S. Census Bureau — do.
Each month, the bureau mails the questionnaires, known as the American Community Survey, to 250,000 randomly selected households across the nation.
The information, compiled and released once a year, helps determine how more than $400 billion in federal and state funds should be distributed.
Launched in 2005, the annual demographic exercise is not as well-known as the decennial census, but has quickly become a hit among businesses, researchers and policy makers for its data-rich snapshots of American life. Read full Story in Star Ledger.
Please correct the spelling of Cencus in your headline.
I don’t know about any one else ,I have a problem with the Gov snooping into my personal life to that extent. The census is a head count so I see no need for them to ask personal questions
to #1 – The headline is spelled right
I do not feel comfortable about giving my personal info to the gov’t. either. I didn’t even want to answer the questions about who lives in my household. They are getting too involved in our lives, we have no privacy left.
To # 1 Thanks for the correction.