The following information is based on material provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. The counting of everyone in the country has been conducted every ten years since 1790 (see "Who Conducted the First Census in 1790?"). It is important in establishing an accurate picture of the U.S. population and forms the basis for establishing the number of congressional districts in each state and the distribution of funds for many federal programs.

Ninety-five percent or about 143 million households in the country will receive an initial invitation to respond to the 2020 Census in their mailboxes between March 12 and 20.

Households are encouraged to respond when they receive their invitation. Everyone will be invited to respond online. Depending on expected response to the online invitation in an area, about 112 million households will also be given the option of telephone response, and about 31 million will receive a paper questionnaire..

All invitations will include a short phrase in English and 12 additional languages inviting people to respond online or by phone in their language. In areas where 20 percent or more of the households need Spanish assistance, the invitations will be in both English and Spanish.

All households receiving an invitation in the mail will receive a second letter in the mail shortly after reminding them to respond. Then, households that still haven’t responded will receive a series of additional reminders, including a paper questionnaire in mid-April. Census takers will follow up with households that don’t respond to collect responses in person.

Plan to include everyone you expect to live in your home on April 1.

For more informationi about the 2020 Census, or to see the wealth information available about the population of the United States. go to census.gov.

This article was also posted on SeniorLifestyle.org, which is edited by Stu Johnson.