Census Bureau Director to Provide Update on Status of 2010 Census Operations

WASHINGTON, April 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

What: With time running out on America to mail back their 2010 Census forms, U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves will brief media on current national participation rates and upcoming census operations.

The Census Bureau launches its official countdown to mail back census forms tomorrow (Sat., April 10), with thousands of volunteers in more than 6,000 neighborhoods planning to participate in "March to the Mailbox" parades, marches, walks, rallies and motorcades -- hoping to remind people that it's not too late to mail back their forms and be counted.  

To avoid having to send a census taker to go door-to-door beginning on May 1, the Census Bureau asks households to return their forms on or before April 16.  It costs the government just .42 cents to receive a questionnaire back in the mail, but cost taxpayers $57 if a census taker has to go out to a house to collect the same information.  If every household mailed back their census form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of the census and save $1.5 billion.  The briefing will include a media question-and-answer session.

When: Monday, April 12, 9 - 10 a.m. (EDT)

Who: Dr. Robert M. Groves, director, U.S. Census Bureau

Where: National Press Club, 13th floor, Murrow Room, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20045

Members of the media may also participate by telephone. (Please dial-in early to allow time for the operator to place you in the call.)

Dial-in number: 800-619-4415

Passcode: 2010 CENSUS

Please RSVP by 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 11, to the Public Information Office at 301-763-3691.  

Editor's note: News releases, reports and data tables are available on the Census Bureau's home page. Go to <http://www.census.gov> and click on "Releases."

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau