Family Comments: Tell me how you all wrote it.

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 1 1 (Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Jun) This year is the year of census in about 60 countries, including China. The United States, India, Indonesia and other populous countries have already started this work. The sixth national census in China will also be held in June this year 165438+ 10/.

More and more people are using it, more and more funds are invested, and the census means are more and more advanced and the work is more and more detailed, which has become the common feature of the census in all countries today.

India has assigned an unprecedented 2.5 million people to conduct a census this year, and stipulated that advanced technology should be used to collect fingerprint and iris data of citizens over10.5 years old. The United States and Indonesia used 700,000 people to collect information. The census in the United States used high-tech means such as electronic data collection, intelligent character recognition and global positioning system, and allocated 654.38+0.4 billion US dollars, which is called the most expensive census in American history.

Countries use "the power of the whole country" to conduct a census, which is not just as simple as investigating the total population and other figures.

In fact, the census is to find out the family background of the population, and it is a big survey of national conditions and national strength. Population, gender, age, occupation, education level, income and other information obtained from the census will become an important reference for the country to make decisions in social, political and economic fields.

How to allocate social resources effectively without knowing the family background of the population? Without understanding the family background of the population, how can we grasp the current difficulties and possible problems in the future? How to make a detailed national development plan without knowing the family background of the population?

What is the quality of our population? What's the sex ratio? What is the age structure? What is the situation of the employed population in the country? Is the aging society coming? How fast is this speed? Take precautions, and the country will not be able to formulate various development policies in the future without census data.

Without accurate census data, many principles, policies and development strategies lack sufficient scientific basis. For example, only by knowing the proportion of people with various educational levels can we formulate educational policies; Only by knowing the distribution of population in various industries can we formulate the employment policy of population; Only by finding out the industrial distribution of the employed population can we provide scientific basis for the formulation and adjustment of industrial policies. In addition, social security and welfare policies, ethnic policies and so on all need to be studied according to population data. It can be seen that the census is necessary for the country to formulate social, economic, scientific and educational development policies.

For individual citizens, complete population data is of great significance for formulating policies and ensuring that everyone can enjoy basic public services and everyone can be respected and valued. In addition, reducing poverty and hunger, promoting education, health and gender equality, and effectively responding to humanitarian crises all require reliable data. Therefore, the census benefits the country and the people and requires the active participation and cooperation of every citizen.

Work, with 2.5 million people to conduct a census of dozens of projects. This is also the largest census in Indian history, with the largest investment in manpower and material resources and the most detailed statistical data.

The details of this survey are amazing. Besides basic items such as age, gender and work, whether you have a telephone, mobile phone, computer, Internet access and bank account are also the contents of the survey. This is because the number of people with mobile phones, bank accounts and Internet access in India has increased dramatically, and the government decided to include these items in the census for the first time.

In addition, the government also stipulates that fingerprint and iris data of citizens above 15 should be collected, and intelligent symbol recognition software should be enabled to scan the census registration form at the fastest speed and automatically collect relevant data. This makes the information technology used in this census greatly exceed that used last time.

Other census contents include religious belief, birthplace, permanent residence and temporary residence, length of residence in a certain place, marital status, education level, parents' names, and relationship with family parents. Even the ownership of basic living facilities such as drinking water and toilets is also the content of the survey. Finally, respondents also need to leave facial image data. Considering that India has a population of more than 654.38 billion, which is widely distributed, such a huge and meticulous investigation work must be undertaken by the state, and it can only be completed with the help of the whole country.

Indian officials believe that a census of this scale will naturally encounter many challenges. The illiteracy rate in India is still very high, there are anti-government armed activities in some areas, and there are millions of homeless people. In addition, due to cultural reasons, people in some areas are not easy to be questioned by census takers. People in some areas are afraid of the census and are unwilling to provide relevant data. All these require sufficient manpower, door-to-door communication, explanation and investigation to obtain accurate information.

Fully aware of the necessity, importance and arduousness of the census, the Indian government appointed 2.5 million census workers, including teachers and government workers. Among them, 2,654.38+million people will carry 650,000 sub-regional satellite maps covering the whole of India for arduous field investigation. According to statistics, the paper used in this nearly one-year census alone will weigh 1100t, and the whole census will cost 70 billion rupees (1US$ 46 rupees).

Since 1872, India has conducted a population census every 10 year. But the scale of this census is the largest ever. The census is conducted in two stages. The first stage is the household registration and census from April to September this year. The main content is to collect detailed population identity information and photos, so as to establish a national population information database. The second stage is population statistics, which will be held in February next year. At this stage, the census takers will conduct a census based on the information collected in the first stage.

The population of India has been growing steadily. In 200 1 year, its population is10.28 million, most of them live in rural areas, and the urban population is only 286 1 10,000. Indian officials believe that finding out the overall population situation, including population structure and distribution, will be very beneficial to the country's decision-making in the political and economic fields.

According to Indian media reports, after the census is completed in March next year, all the data will be sent to the ID card making agency, and then every Indian citizen will get a numbered ID card as the only proof of his identity. This will be the first time that an Indian citizen has obtained an identity card issued by the government. It will change the chaotic use of driver's license, voter's card, passport and other identity documents in the past.

Full coverage

According to the US Constitution, a comprehensive US census is conducted every 65,438+00 years. Statistics are "permanent residents", not just American citizens. As long as people live in the United States, regardless of their status, even those who go to visit relatives and friends in the United States must fill out the form and send it back in a postage-paid envelope. The only exceptions are foreign ambassadors to the United States and embassy staff. Because as far as the law is concerned, embassies and consulates belong to foreign territory.

As Daniel Weinberg, assistant director of the Census Bureau in charge of the census project, said, all residents, regardless of their status, are included in the census to determine the seats in the House of Representatives. "Everyone must be counted." "The court has maintained this interpretation for hundreds of years."

Because many colleagues of the reporter thought that they were foreigners and went home in two or three years, they abandoned the census form directly. However, the US Census Bureau will not forget this group of people.

One day in early June, when the reporter was on duty, he heard the doorbell of the branch office door ringing and opened the door. A young woman who claimed to be a census taker said that she was looking for a colleague in the branch office. After talking, I learned that this colleague of the reporter sent back the enumerator's form, and the enumerator hoped to know the situation of those who did not send the form through him.

Later, the reporter learned that, like the last census, the response rate of the US 20 10 census was 72%. Since late April, the Census Bureau has sent about 700,000 census takers to visit people who have not submitted census forms to ensure that these people are counted. Some workers will work at night and go to places where homeless people may gather for statistics. Census enumerators are generally from the communities where residents live, and most of them are temporarily employed, which also increases the number of non-agricultural employment in the United States in a short period of time.

Take care of carefully

The reporter's first feeling after receiving the census form is fresh, and the feeling after opening the form is even fresher-the original census questions can be so few. There are only 65,438+00 questions in the form, mainly about how many people lived in the house with the address in the form on April 65, 438+0, their names, gender, date of birth, telephone number and race. No wonder some media call it "the shortest census table in history".

In order to improve the response rate, the US Census Bureau has taken various considerate and convenient measures. In addition to designing short questions, the census form is also available in six languages, and help can be provided in 60 languages if required. Weinberg said, "It is a challenge to get in touch with people whose English is not their mother tongue. But no matter how difficult it is, we have made practical efforts to contact everyone. "

Because many immigrants living in the United States without legal documents may be afraid to deal with federal authorities, the US Census Bureau tries to contact those who are unwilling to accept the census through advertisements, cooperation with social activists, leaders of ethnic minority churches and other parties trusted by immigrants.

Weinberg said that the Census Bureau will do its best to keep the identity of the respondents confidential, and the staff of the Census Bureau who collect and collate information "solemnly swear to keep this information confidential".

Weinberg pointed out that the National Archives of the United States shared the information and data of the Census Bureau, but "they also promised confidentiality", and personal records were not made public for 72 years. These ancient materials can be the basis of many genealogical studies, such as genealogical studies.

meaningful

It is unwise to be indifferent to the census form, and the "welfare" of the surrounding communities is likely to be affected, because the US federal government decides how to allocate more than 400 billion US dollars of federal public funds every year according to the census figures.

These funds are used to pay for public facilities, such as hospitals, employment training centers, schools, elderly centers, emergency services and the construction of bridges and tunnels. According to the census information, state and local governments plan and allocate funds for many projects, which are used to build new schools, libraries and other public buildings, improve road safety, establish public transportation systems, build new roads and bridges, and determine the positions of police and fire departments. Community organizations make social service plans, community activities, lunch plans for the elderly and establish nurseries based on census information. Enterprises use these figures to decide where to build factories, shopping centers, cinemas, banks and offices, and these decisions often create employment opportunities.

The census also has a great influence on the representative system in the United States. Population figures determine the number of representatives of a state in the Federal House of Representatives. The larger the population, the more representatives in the House of Representatives, which in turn has greater political influence.