Another Result of Foreclosures

The Census Bureau's director recently said that foreclosures will make it tougher and more expensive to get an accurate census count in the U.S. next year as families move in with relatives or are left homeless. Director Robert Groves said he expects some of the census questionnaires mailed out in 2010 will land at empty homes in areas hard hit by the housing crisis. That means census workers will need to make more door-to-door visits to verify whether anyone lives at these addresses, and that costs more money. (The ten-year cost of the census has more than doubled to $14.7 billion from the last decennial period.) Despite the added costs, a census every ten years is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Job losses have left more than 13 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage behind on their payments or in foreclosure, and worst trouble has been concentrated in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida.
Groves said census workers will need to focus on reaching out to families that have doubled up with relatives until they can get back on their feet. He said many may believe their housing situations are only temporary, but they need to be counted wherever they are living next spring.