census enumerators

What the Census Bureau actually bought with a $657M PR campaign

For the 2020 decennial count, the integrated communications campaign cost the Census Bureau $675 million, twice what it spent in 2010.

Workforce

FILE - This Sunday, April 5, 2020, file photo shows an envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident from continuing through the end of October. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Yes, Virginia, federal agencies can be agile

Tom Temin Commentary

FILE - This Sunday, April 5, 2020, photo shows an envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau has spent much of the past year defending itself against allegations that its duties have been overtaken by politics. With a failed attempt by the Trump administration to add a citizenship question, the hiring of three political appointees with limited experience to top positions, a sped-up schedule and a directive from President Donald Trump to exclude undocumented residents from the process of redrawing congressional districts, the 2020 census has descended into a high-stakes partisan battle. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Census Bureau stops layoffs for door knockers after order

Workforce

Many unknowns with the 2020 Census

Workforce

Abigail Hernandez, a staff member with the nonprofit group, The Concilio, helps prepare bags of food being distributed at a 2020 U.S. Census outreach event in Dallas, Thursday, June 25, 2020. In a collaborative effort, the nonprofit group partnered with the North Texas Food Bank, Catholic Charities Dallas and Bachman Lake Together, to hold the event where area residents were encouraged to report their family numbers to the U.S. Census. The outreach event was held in the Bachman Lake community which historically is one of many undercounted neighborhoods in Dallas County according to The Concilio. Due to COVID-19, the Census self-respond date online, by phone or mail has been extended to Oct. 31. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

2020 Census workers begin knocking on doors in 3-phased ‘soft launch’

Workforce

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019, file photo, a worker gets ready to pass out instructions on how to fill out the 2020 census during a town hall meeting in Lithonia, Ga. Because of the new coronavirus, the U.S. Census Bureau has postponed sending out census takers to count college students in off-campus housing and delayed sending workers to grocery stores and houses of worship where they help people fill out the once-a-decade questionnaire. The Census Bureau said in a statement Sunday, March 15, 2020, that the deadline for ending the 2020 census at the end of July could be adjusted as needed. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)

Census field operations restart this week on limited basis

Pay

This April 5, 2020, photo shows a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau needs more time to wrap up the once-a-decade count because of the coronavirus, opening the possibility of delays in drawing new legislative districts that could help determine what political party is in power, what laws pass or fail and whether communities of color get a voice in their states. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

2020 census internet self-response exceeds goals amid pandemic

IT Modernization

A man wearing a mask walks past posters encouraging participation in the 2020 Census, Wednesday, April 1, 2020, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Wednesday is Census Day, the date used to reference where a person lives for the once-a-decade count, as the U.S. is almost paralyzed by the spread of the novel coronavirus, but census officials vowed the job would be completed by its year-end deadline. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Census Bureau receives ’emergency’ approval to conduct pandemic survey

Big Data

In this Tuesday, March 24, 2020 photo, forms from the U.S. Census Bureau arrive at a home in Orlando, Fla. The coronavirus has waylaid efforts to get as many people as possible to take part in the census. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

2020 Census count keeps on moving despite pandemic

Federal Newscast

In this Feb. 8, 2020, photo, people volunteer to get people registered to vote and a booth offering employment for the upcoming 2020 census stands in the background, during the celebration of the town's 45th year since it was incorporated, in Guadalupe, Ariz. Today, nearly a third of Guadalupe's 6,500 residents say they are Native American and about 75% of all races identify as Hispanic. A third also struggle with poverty in a community where the median annual household income is around $32,000 and the average owner-occupied home is valued at less than $90,000. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-MIlls)

What are the implications of social distancing for 2020 census?

Workforce

U.S. Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham testifies before the House Oversight subcommittee on Beyond the Citizenship Question: Repairing the Damage and Preparing to Count 'We the People' in 2020', hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

House lawmakers fear Census IT ‘debacle’ similar to Iowa caucus fiasco

Cybersecurity

Census Bureau

Census Bureau: Same work, different pay

The Census Bureau pays enumerators less so for the work than for where they do the work.

Tom Temin Commentary