The Census Bureau is trying to figure out how to reach millennials who don't use the mail or answer the phone, and they'd love LeBron James' help.
A Wednesday report from report from Pew explains that the bureau is expecting to have trouble reaching young people in 2020, and they're "aware that young urban renters are less likely than they were in 2010 to communicate by mail, by phone or with strangers at the door." To combat this, the bureau is "developing social media and other internet publicity" so that millennials can take the census online.
Part of the problem, the report explains, is that the bureau used to mail respondents a physical form and then follow up by visiting in person or calling a landline phone. But Pew notes that the majority of people between the age of 25 and 34 don't even have a landline they can be reached at, and many said they don't check their mail.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Mail? I feel like that's a dead thing," a 36-year-old Washington, D.C. resident told Pew. "And I don't have a lot of people randomly knocking at my front door, so I would be a little weirded out. 'Census Bureau!' It sounds like a joke. It sounds like you just want me to open my door. So I probably wouldn't." Other complications include millennials who have several roommates and don't want to answer "household" questions, and little understanding of why the census matters.
Posting the census online should hopefully help in 2020, and the census' communications chief told Pew that having a celebrity promote them wouldn't hurt, either. He explained, "Somebody like LeBron James could say, 'It's halftime! Pull out your phones, and let's answer the census!" Read more at Pew.
-
Why ‘anti-Islam’ bikers are guarding Gaza aid sitesIn The Spotlight Members of Infidels MC, who regard themselves as modern Crusaders, among private security guards at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites
-
China: Xi seeks to fill America’s voidFeature Trump’s tariffs are pushing nations eastward as Xi Jinping focuses on strengthening ties with global leaders
-
Rebrands: Bringing back the War DepartmentFeature Trump revives the Department of Defense’s former name
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
