Why Census
2020?
With so many
other immediate priorities it is easy to question the necessity of a census this
year. Let’s look at some of the reasons the government continues to make
this a priority and how it affects each of us in our daily lives. Every
ten years (since 1790!) the United States sets forth to count each person
living in the country and where they currently reside. Citizens and
non-citizens are counted alike and all information is kept confidential and
anonymous with only the data for an area being released and not the individual
addresses.
Representation
and Funding
A key purpose
for all this time and money and effort is to determine how many representatives
each state will have in the House of Representatives. The count today will
affect the next ten years of representation. More localized counts help
adjust district boundaries so that there is equal representation for
individuals across the state.
Census
numbers also inform the distribution of both federal money and programs like
the Community Development Block Grant. These funds help support
infrastructure such as roads, utilities, parks and other projects that benefit
everyone. The count determines the monies that states receive for disaster
assistance, school lunch programs, etc.
Government
and Planning
The decennial
census allows governments to plan for emergencies and infrastructure.
This can help them prioritize projects to help the most people. It also
lets them distribute resources appropriately by neighborhood size during a
disaster.
Data for
Research and Business
The
demographic data and numbers are a big help not just to the government, but to
others in the community as well. Business can project whether an area can
support a new facility or franchise. Hospitals can use the numbers to
determine how many rooms to build. Universities can use the data to look
at how demographics affect various aspects of development and compare areas of
similar demographic to study the impact of more isolated variables. It is
amazing what you can learn and project looking at basic data.
Stillwater
The city of
Stillwater is working to achieve a count of 50,000 in Census 2020, so the count
is very important this year.
To find out more about the Census:
Response rate: https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html
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