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WASHINGTON, March 15 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Asking just 10 questions and taking about 10 minutes to complete, 2010 Census forms began arriving in 120 million mailboxes across the nation today -- just the 23rd time the country has undertaken the constitutionally mandated population count that dates back to 1790.
The only civic event that includes every person in the country, the Census is the basis for America's representative democracy, ensuring that Congress is fairly reapportioned every 10 years between the states. Census counts are also used to redraw state and local legislative boundaries so that political representation is fairly distributed across their changing populations.
"When you receive your 2010 Census, please fill it out and mail it back," Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves said. "It's one of the shortest forms in our lifetime with just 10 questions very much like the questions James Madison and Thomas Jefferson helped craft on the very first Census."
As America has grown and become more complex and more diverse, it has become more challenging over the decades to get a complete count of the population. The 2010 Census faces special challenges during the current economic downturn, including the housing crisis which has resulted in higher rates of vacant housing that must be visited to ensure a complete count.
The Census Bureau today estimated that if every household completed and mailed back their census form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of taking the census by $1.5 billion. The Census Bureau saves about $85 million in operational costs for every percentage point increase in the nation's participation rate by mail.
"Here is something every family can do to help their government save money, and get an accurate Census at the same time. Mailing back your census form when it
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