I’m going to be a census “enumerator” starting next week, and there’s one thing that I keep thinking about. I haven’t started training, but when they called, they did mention that I had to ask people how much money they make. Since they also said they try to get you to work in your own neighborhood, I keep thinking of having to ask my neighbors how much money they make.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it as awkward as it seems in my imagination?
When I was in college, I had a job asking people poll questions, one of which was on household income. People were pretty okay with answering it and I was more uncomfortable about it than most respondants.
My mom was a census taker in my hometown one year and she told my dad that they needed to move because there were more minorities around than they realized.
They’re fun people.
Never an enumerator. I worked for the 1980 census, but just as a common denominator. Seemed like the least I could do.
I was an enumerator in 1990. They made it a point to not assign people to their own neighborhood. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the work.
But I was not a typical enumerator, I was sent into the hills of TN to get answers from those that had already refused at least twice to respond. I rode a dirtbike and a good day was if I actually filled out 3 forms, my daily quota was 2. Pretty sure there is a book in my experiences somewhere.
I did some polling. Usually the workaround is to hand the people a card with salary ranges and ask them to say which letter indicates the range. People supposedly are more forthcoming if they don’t have to actually say a number.
I was, once. Until my liver was eaten with some fava beans and a nice chianti. Fffffff.
I also was an enumerator in 1990 and was assigned to those who hadn’t answered the questions already. It was really interesting and I got to meet a very wide range of people who I would never have known about otherwise. You get a “badge” and give a little spiel about how you’re working for the Census, etc. and nobody seemed to have any problem with it.
I was hired as a manager of about 15 enumerators in 2000. It paid $15.75 an hour in my area, which is pretty good.
It is a bit awkward, but you can remind people that all the data is private. They don’t really have to give their names, even. None of the data will be attached to them for 70 years, I think. We were told the main thing was to get a count of how many people are in each house.
I know the pay changed depending on the region. How much are they offering you? It was $13.25 an hour for enumerators in my area in 2000.