U.S. 1940 census release?????

Question

Supposedly the 1940 U.S. Census is to be released in 2012. But I don't understand why there is so much fuss and commotion for the 1940 census. Have other censuses been release yet or not? What did the government have to hide that they would wait so long to release it.I am extremely curious

Answer 1

The official U.S. Census is described in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States. It calls for an actual enumeration of the people every ten years, to be used for apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives among the states. The first official Census was conducted in 1790 under Thomas Jefferson, who was the Secretary of State. That census, taken by U.S. marshals on horseback, counted 3.9 million inhabitants. Since that time, the decennial Census has been conducted every ten years, generally on April 1 in years ending in a zero.



All the available census records in the USA are open to the public until the 1930 Census. The 1940 Census will be released in 2012, the 1950 Census will be released in 2022, the 1960 Census will be released in 2032, etc.



Why? Because the Census contains personal information, and it cannot by law be released until the information is 72 years old (roughly the life expectancy in the USA, or at least it used to be). The personal information contains facts such as household salary, names and ages and occupations of everyone in the household,



I think you may have gotten confused because the general facts for all censuses are available at http://www.census.gov/. In other words, if you're looking for a population of a city, or the median income for a zip code, etc., that information IS available to the public, currently up through the 2000 Census. This general data is very useful if you are performing market research for, as an example, a store you want to open in a specific city. It has many, many uses.



I hope that helps!

Answer 2

Genealogists have known since 1952 that US Censuses are released 72 years after they have been taken. There is no secret about that. Each census has its own flavor, and some questions change between censuses. The 1940 Census will have new questions about where people were in 1935, educational level attained, and wages. In addition sampling was introduced with 5% of the people (2 lines out of 40 lines on each census sheet) asked additional questions, many of them new as well. The opening of any census to the public is like one big coming out party to genealogists, and we look forward to the 1940 opening as we did in 2002 for the opening of the 1930 census. The date of opening will be either April 1st 2012 (a Sunday but the National Archives is closed) or April 2nd 2012 a Monday, and this should be the first census that will be fully digitized (e.g. no films) and put online when it opens to the public, adding to the excitement.



Since you added an additional note. If you saw data from 2007, it probably came not from the US Census but from the American Community Survey, a sampling tool by the Census Bureau where a certain % of the US Population are asked questions about their living conditions, wages, etc. That information is released for the entire sample, not for individuals. The US Census is taken every 10 years, starting in 1790.

Answer 3

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RE:

U.S. 1940 census release?????

Supposedly the 1940 U.S. Census is to be released in 2012. But I don't understand why there is so much fuss and commotion for the 1940 census. Have other censuses been release yet or not? What did the government have to hide that they would wait so long to release it.I am extremely curious

Answer 4

1950 Census Release Date

Answer 5

All U.S. censuses are not released until 72 years after the census. So it should be in 2012. Now how soon they will be transcribed and put online and on microfilm at libraries is another question.

Answer 6

Obviously you don't research your ancestry.

It isn't a matter of hiding anything, but privacy.

I, for one, can't wait for the census to help with ancestry research.



The UK census for 1911 also is a big event for researchers. That comes out in 2010 or 2011, I believe..

Answer 7

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