BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The coronavirus has made in-person interaction difficult, which can make the job of a census reporter that much harder.
When the pandemic struck the bureau announced it was adjusting its plans to extend the deadline to October 31. On Monday the Census Bureau is shortening its counting operation. To be counted in the census, households must now complete the survey by September 30.
Officials with Kern County said they are seeing a low response rate from the community, and without going door-to-door, even smaller numbers for Kern's hard-to-count areas.
These areas include those in minority communities. Officials believe this low response rate may be the result of a misunderstanding about what happens to your information.
Officials want to ensure the community that information reported to the census is confidential.
The census, which happens every 10 years, determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress and how billions of federal funding is spent.
With the pandemic underway, the bureau ended its efforts to knock on doors of households that have not filled out the survey online, by paper form or by phone. This means individual reporting is even more important.
