EMBARGOED UNTIL 12:01 A.M. EDT, APRIL 25, 2000 (TUESDAY)
Decennial Media Relations CB00-CN.37
301-457-3691/301-457-3620 (fax)
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: 2000usa@census.gov
Census Workers Ready to Contact Households That Did Not
Respond to Census 2000
More than a half million temporary workers prepared today to begin the
difficult and costly part of census-taking trying to count all the people
in the nation's housing units who did not mail back their Census 2000
questionnaires.
Census 2000 is the largest peacetime mobilization in the nation's
history, and its largest field operation, the door-knocking and
telephone-calling phase called "non-response follow-up," is scheduled to
extend from Thursday, April 27 through July 7, about 10 weeks.
Non-response follow-up is supported by the third and final phase of the
Census Bureau's approximately $170 million paid advertising campaign and
the "Because You Count" phase of its promotional campaign. Both of these
alert people to the enumerators' presence in their neighborhoods and ask
the public to cooperate with them.
The Census Bureau began hiring enumerators on March 13, mostly from the
neighborhoods where they will be working. Included in the qualified
applicant pool of 2.5 million people were about 190,000 noncitizens, who
can be hired in the tight labor market thanks to a first-time Commerce
Department rule exemption announced last year. Many of them speak
non-English languages needed in areas they will enumerate.
The enumerators had the choice of undergoing either three daytime or
five nighttime training sessions, whichever was more convenient. About
23,000 concurrent training classes were scheduled around the country. The
training, focusing on interviewing skills and how to deal with the
concerns of people who may be reluctant to provide personal information,
will continue through the end of the operation so that the Census Bureau
can replace any workers who may leave their positions.
The enumerators will make up to three telephone calls and three
personal visits to housing units believed to be occupied but for which no
questionnaires have been received. After that, the enumerators are
instructed to seek out proxy sources, such as a neighbor, a rental agent,
a building manager or some other knowledgeable person 15 years old or
over, to obtain basic data.
The main challenge of the enumerators will be to complete the count of
the U.S. population within the allotted time frame while keeping down
dependence on proxy data, which generally are considered to be less
reliable than those obtained from a household member.
The enumerators, who carry official census badges, initially will be
assigned 40 cases each. When they finish, they will receive new
assignments. Most cases are expected to be assigned in the first two or
three weeks.
Although most enumerators will work alone, some, faced with safety
concerns, will work in teams of two each, or in daylight "blitz"
operations in areas considered dangerous. The enumerators, who have
flexibility in their 40-hour weeks, will work on weekends and holidays,
which are considered to be good times to find someone at home.
The Census Bureau will conduct quality checks on the work of its
enumerators, whose pay ranges between $8.25 and $18.50 per hour.
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