Anyone work as a Census Taker?

[coveredbridge]

Coming up on 3 years FIRE'd, and thought it might be interesting to get a temporary job working for the Census. Anyone with Census taking experience that would care to share their thoughts?

 

[Nemo2]

No, but I understand their motto is "You can count on us".

 

[Tekward]

I've applied in the off chance that it fits. My main motivation is to ensure a fair and accurate count.

 

[pj.mask]

Any specific questions? Not me but I’m aware of work done by an older woman. Rural area means lots of driving, heard they changed reimbursement there so look at that. A few ani-gov people with minor threats.

What are you looking for and I can ask.

 

[Just_Steve]

I knew someone who did it back in the early 80's in NYC, they were sent to the most Godforsaken areas taking their life in their hands.

 

[davebarnes]

I've applied in the off chance that it fits. My main motivation is to ensure a fair and accurate count.

I applied this morning for similar reasoning.
But, the application form is very intrusive. It has a series of psycho test questions.

 

[Aerides]

I would honestly consider doing this as a short term gig (pays $18 an hour, not terrible), just to get involved and because I think it's a worthy cause.

But I don't see myself knocking on doors in Florida...never know what you're gonna get.

 

[braumeister]

Not interested myself, but I certainly applaud anyone considering doing this.

Having done quite a bit of genealogical research on my family, looking at old census forms, it's pretty clear that in the past there were many census enumerators who were barely literate. So your efforts will be appreciated in the future.

 

[coveredbridge]

Just curious to see how others experiences compare to my expectations. I'm in a rural area so I have no concerns about being sent to unsafe neighborhoods, though I can forsee encountering a few residents that are hostile to government intrusion into their lives. Should that be a major concern? Will nearly everyone I encounter be hostile? I wouldn't expect that, but what have others experienced? Also, from what I've read, scheduling is very flexible and mainly evenings and weekends, which is fine for me. But what have others experienced in regard to flexibility in scheduling?

In my area the pay is 16.50/hr and .58 per mile for mileage. The person I spoke with said to expect about 20 hrs/week for eight weeks plus training time. So, maybe $3k plus mileage. Not doing it for the pay, I really just think it may be an interesting way to meet some different people in the community while providing a necessary service that won't unduly interfere with my life. If at any point it becomes inconvenient for me I plan to walk away. I'm not looking for a career; that part of my life is behind me.

 

[kaneohe]

Anyone recall what happened in the past? Seems like I should have gone thru a bunch of those in the past and I don't recall people at the door asking questions or self-filling out any forms.

 

[RetireBy90]

Anyone recall what happened in the past? Seems like I should have gone thru a bunch of those in the past and I don't recall people at the door asking questions or self-filling out any forms.

I always wondered if they want to count everyone, why don't I remember doing any of the surveys ? Perhaps part of it is cause I was overseas in 1990, on base in 1980 should have been counted. Perhaps my memory and fact it is only every 10 years. Article I read this AM said the workers only knock on homes that don't fill out survey and return so perhaps I did a couple of them and don't remember.

 

[Amethyst]

My Mother was an enumerator for the 1970 Census; her job was to find and interview people who hadn't turned in their forms. Kind of like a process server, except you're not threatening people.

In retrospect, it's amazing my Dad let her do it; he was suspicious of strangers, and disliked putting extra miles on our cars. Probably we needed the money.

Anyway, Mom liked people and seemed to enjoy the job. She was assigned to an area where she'd lived once, about 10 miles from our house. She interviewed reclusive, often lonely people, and was especially interested in their pets. One man lived with a number of small tame monkeys, and she ended up with a "dear little monkey" in her lap while taking notes. Evidently it behaved itself during her visit.

 

[Winemaker]

A retired fellow winemaker has been working for the census department for the past two years. He drives all over the place checking out addresses, and residences in rural areas. He will go up dirt roads to see how many living quarters may be up a road, and to see if those living quarters match with mailboxes/addresses/ postal routes and IIRC, IRS records to make sure they are sent the census forms. Physical counting doesn't occur unless you didn't send in your form and requires a friendly visit. He has been run off and threatened with bodily harm several times. Not something I would want to do, for whatever noble reason i would have.

 

[pj.mask]

You’ll probably get at least one empty threat (like people showing up to the door with a gun) but never heard of anything actually happening. Just move along to the next one and realize from their perspective they probably just want to be left alone. Maybe more friendly in the era of trump vs Obama in rural areas.

 

[CardsFan]

Just curious to see how others experiences compare to my expectations. I'm in a rural area so I have no concerns about being sent to unsafe neighborhoods, though I can forsee encountering a few residents that are hostile to government intrusion into their lives. Should that be a major concern? Will nearly everyone I encounter be hostile? I wouldn't expect that, but what have others experienced? Also, from what I've read, scheduling is very flexible and mainly evenings and weekends, which is fine for me. But what have others experienced in regard to flexibility in scheduling?

In my area the pay is 16.50/hr and .58 per mile for mileage. The person I spoke with said to expect about 20 hrs/week for eight weeks plus training time. So, maybe $3k plus mileage. Not doing it for the pay, I really just think it may be an interesting way to meet some different people in the community while providing a necessary service that won't unduly interfere with my life. If at any point it becomes inconvenient for me I plan to walk away. I'm not looking for a career; that part of my life is behind me.

I actually know a woman that made it a career. She worked full time, year round, and then had temp help for the 10 year cycle. She enjoyed it, but there were times when she went to questionable areas, and most of them were very rural.

The Long form can be very time consuming and intrusive. Personally, I would not complete it. TMI.

 

[jollystomper]

I've applied in the off chance that it fits. My main motivation is to ensure a fair and accurate count.

I also applied months ago out of curiosity. Youngest DS who is in college did so as well. I also attended a local workshop where they discussed some of the potential assignments, but not in detail. In addition to talking to people, they were also hiring people to validate addresses - just drive through an area and verify that an address on file exists. There is also an office not too far from where I work where they also mentioned things like data entry and some supervisory positions. 20$ an hour in our area,, and for the field jobs reimbursement for driving and complete flexibility to fit the time to accomplish the tasks around your other activities.

I received an email earlier this week saying they would be contacting people soon, so if I am contacted I will see how it goes.

 

[frank]

I did it before and it was kind of interesting. meet a lot of people in my own area. I didn't have any trouble with questions. I will do it again and signed up for this round. something to do for a short span, decent pay and a change of pace for a while.

 

[Amethyst]

This jogged my memory. I now recall that a major reason Mom had to visit people was that they lacked the literacy or English skills to properly fill their forms. Meaning - most were not actually dodging the Census.

Being an immigrant herself (albeit an English-speaking one) she empathized with them, especially the old ones living alone. She enjoyed helping them fill out their information correctly.

The Long form can be very time consuming and intrusive. Personally, I would not complete it. TMI.

 

[candrew]

 

[molly312]

I did this in the last census. I was very lucky as they assigned my subdivision and the one next door. The weather was nice, I rode my bike, and everybody was very receptive. Frankly, I had fun! I met new residents in our neighborhood. I felt like I was participating in the system and had lots of extra time on my hands. Had they assigned "iffy" territory, I am not sure I would have gone forward.

 

[GrayHare]

The Long form can be very time consuming and intrusive. Personally, I would not complete it. TMI.

Those who don't are repeatedly hounded for years by census workers, which generally doesn't improve the reception those census workers get.

 

[GravitySucks]

Old GF did it in 2010 before I met her. It was good money for her, but she said she'd never do it again and felt endangered at least once a week. We would be driving around out in the country and she'd point out houses and farms where she said she was threatened with guns or told she'd get a thrashing if she didn't leave ASAP.
Most of the people that didn't fill the forms out and she had to visit didn't much care to have the government poking about.
Me? I'm not knocking on strangers doors period.
https://youtu.be/EfBxxwZy9J4

 

[gretah]

I worked for the census in 2009 and 2010.

2009 work was mostly verifying addresses against government electronic maps and GPS coordinates to get ready for the 2010 census. Lots of new residences in my county. Walking in dense neighbourhoods, driving in rural ones.

It was fun.

2010 work was awful. I quit early. People do not want government workers on their land. Lots of big growling, snapping dogs. (I love dogs but these dogs were trained to guard property.)

Both years I worked Monday - Friday, daytime. I would NEVER work nights and weekends. Too many guns and guard dogs in the bad parts of my town and all over the county. Let alone whatever drug lab I might run into.

 

[Mmm Rrr]

There's another SNL census skit with Betty White, but this one by Christopher Walken is a classic...

https://www.moddb.com/members/moxbestro/videos/christopher-walken

 

[Amethyst]

Complying with the Census is Federal law, although I don't think it is enforced too sternly (if at all). I'm surprised, though, that those who actually threaten Census workers aren't eventually "hounded" by somebody with a gun and a badge.

Those who don't are repeatedly hounded for years by census workers, which generally doesn't improve the reception those census workers get.