On the news this morning, they were showing a flyer being put on all the houses in a neighborhood offering jobs for $22.17 an hour plus mileage.

Is it really prudent to pay that kind of money?

Government jobs on average are higher-paying than private sector jobs.

Is it prudent? I certainly don't think so.

I read a comment online last night from a well-known radio commentator saying that rather than scaling back, if the Post Office was going to do things the way the are being done by our government today, they'd be asking to expand to Sunday delivery and to add thirty million new delivery points as a means to create jobs. Our government rarely knows when to say "enough is enough", and I think the census is yet another example.

While I understand that we have to do a census, the lengths and expense to which they are going this year is just insane, IMHO. Is there something new that is causing there to be so much hooplah? Just count the people and move on!

And yes, I know they ask a zillion other questions besides just "How many people live at this address?", but those questions aren't constitutionally required. They're just questions that give them data that congressmen/women can use and twist in order to get 'stuff' for their districts.

I worked a special census last year and was paid $13.00 an hour (chicagoland area) as an enumerator.
different salaries for different jobs

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I think the pay is different for different areas as well. I know is a rough area of Flint the pay is higher than it is where I live.

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Melissa

I did an internship at the U.S. Public Health Service one summer and worked with nurses, pharmacists, physicians and various administrative staff. Based on that experience I disagree with the above statement. I believe individuals chose government service for a variety of reasons, one of which may be job security as the following article states, but not for the money.

Industry News Articles - BusinessWeek: Government jobs are more recession-resistant than those in the private sector [The Kansas City Star, Mo.]

Soldiers, teachers, police and firefighters are also government workers and none of them, in my opinion, are overpaid.

As for the census worker salaries, I've read that individuals hired to knock on doors and collect information are paid around $13 an hour.

Census Taker Jobs | Indeed.com

I really don't see what there is to disagree with. It is a fact that it costs more on average for the government to hire a worker than it does the private sector.

When benefits are considered, our teachers first year teachers make an amount equal to the average pay for our county for all workers, and they only work nine months of the year. They get holidays and spring break off, and two weeks at Christmas.

I sure wasn't making that much. The mileage had gone up to 55.5 cents but then went back down to 50. It sure seems a like a lot to me.

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That's only $45k annualized - no one's gonna get filthy rich on that! Plus, it's probably not a permanent position (and as such, probably doesn't offer typical government benefits).

cj/

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No, no one will get filthy rich on it, but my understanding is that it's a rather entry level position. Not at all to disparage anyone who works that particular job, and not that the job isn't without it's headaches (seriously - every job has headaches!)...

They give the training in three days, so... we're not talking rocket science.

In 2008, the median household income was $50K. That's household, not per individual.

A husband and wife team working at census-level pay would be making $90K, which is 80% more than the average household in America.

I have gotten plenty of job postings for census jobs over the past few years, they are on just about every job board that exists and mystery shop scheduling companies were also used to find applicants so I got lots of postings from those schedulers too. The pay always was advertised at around $12/hour, that is only about 25K per year. Sure, some areas might pay more and some people might make more but 22/hour is certainly not the norm...

It must depend on the area. Here they are paying $10 an hour. I'm sorry, but you couldn't pay me any amount of money to go knocking on strangers doors. Yes, most are probably perfectly safe, but then you could also be kidnapped, raped, some houses are way out in the middle of nowhere, you could come up missing and no one would even know where you are, you go under bridges, into housing projects, everywhere. Yes, I have an active imagination, LOL. I also used to investigate child abuse and neglect and used to regularly go into housing projects and low income housing and they do not take kindly to outsiders alot of the time, although I never had any problems as I was in a marked car. Census workers take their own cars, leaving themselves wide open for anything. I just wouldn't do it myself. I would say the job deserves $22 an hour.

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10 questions is what the form online says. But I dont see the point of birthdays and all that when the goverment has the info already. all the places i've lived and never had a form or someone appear at the door before

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Median isn't the same thing as average.

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I was considering doing census work. As soon as my dh heard I would be going door to door alone he flipped. He's never been the type to tell me what to do, but he was pretty adamant about this.

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

I didn't get to reply to the previous thread about the census before it was locked, and I know that my post here isn't about the money, but more so as an amateur genealogist...

I've gleaned a ton of family information from the census and am all for a fairly detailed census that doesn't infringe too personally on a family's life. For instance, I am not interested in salary. I'm more interested in an accurate birth date, marriage date, children's names, what your occupation is and where you work. I'd like to know where you were born, where your parents were born, and how much schooling you had and what language you spoke. Not because I want to know your personal business but because I want to know my family history. Often one clue acts like a missing puzzle piece that will show me what my next step will be in my research.

I'm not quite sure as a researcher what I would do without the census...

That being said, apparently the Constitution gives the government the right to enumerate every 10 years, not to know much else, from what I understand.

Just wanted to insert my .02 though...if you don't keep family records in a bible, a journal, or a diary - forfeiting a little information to the government could help your descendants down the road. Just saying...

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"Dance like no one is watching."

My husband said the same. I went and took the test anyway and I am hoping for a call. In my area the pay is $17.10/hr. You actually work in the direct neighborhood where you live. I got a 26/28 on the test. I could go back and test again, but there is no gaurantee I will get a higher score and I don't speak Korean (a lot in my area) so I might not even get a job, but I will sit and hope!

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-Kristi

The pay is generally not at the $22 level. They are looking for people who are reasonably intelligent, legal citizens, across broad ethnic groups, who can take a two or three month period to fill a variety of jobs. This year is probably an exception with unemployment being what it is, but as a general rule, it can be difficult to fill the many many opening they have for such a short time period. There are no benefits so that may make the salaries seem higher in comparison to someone working with benefits. A good part of every salary disappears into benefits land.

There are a variety of limited time jobs, the most difficult in my opinion, being the people who go door to door. They, if I remember correctly, used to send them out in pairs in sketchy areas. Not totally sure about that, but when I worked there eons ago, it seems I was told that. I did recruiting and was always given a choice to go or not go into any neighborhood. I loved that job. It had a defined beginning and end. I liked the people I worked with and for. I was only in the office for any length of time, (other that to pick up materials and assignments and grade tests), about one day a week. There were about 15 of us crammed into and sharing an office big enough for a friendly 4. No extravagant spending there, for sure.

dalmatian, in a normal time a 28 would almost certainly get you a call back, but who knows now, with lack of jobs in general. And as with most government jobs, those who were in the armed forces get a step ahead. Good luck. I hope you get your call back.

My husband worried about me all the time especially when I went into rural isolated areas which are known locally to be high meth manufacturing areas and places where people go to get away from society. I've been sworn at, spit at, someone attempted to run over me, I've been threatened with bodily harm, accused of being a spy, a narc, a liberal, a conservative, I've been called every name in the book.
I've had beverages thrown at me, and people who offered me the "fine" in cash to just go away. The Regional Office doesn't do anything to protect reps other than saying if you feel a residence is dangerous you can have it marked as such. However it still counts in your response rates as a refusal. Also even though you do the work for abandoned or burned down or vacant or places that no longer exist don't count so it you have say 20 houses, 4 are those I've just mentioned and you get 2 refusals that month it would translate to you having only completed 13 out of 20 cases. I feel sorry for Census workers in this day and age. I have a feeling the response rate will be the lowest in years.

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We received our census form today. It was hanging on the front door when I came home from running errands.

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dalmatian, in a normal time a 28 would almost certainly get you a call back, but who knows now, with lack of jobs in general. And as with most government jobs, those who were in the armed forces get a step ahead. Good luck. I hope you get your call back.[/quote]

Thanks!! I hope so too!!

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-Kristi

Most are part-time assignments that last only two to six weeks....so the average income doesn't equate or even compare.

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Sure it compares.

I realize it is not a 'career', but the fact remains that per hour, that's the kind of money people are being paid with our tax dollars to do census work in the OP's area. She wondered if that was prudent. When you look at the big picture and ask if it is a job worth 3x minimum wage... I have to think it isn't.

Whether it is a short or long term job, that level of pay for one hours work is hefty, all things considered.

Plus 50 cents a mile that you drive. When people don't respond you keep going back to their house so one house could feasibly net a person around $100 plus mileage. I don't know if the decennial is different than the ongoing Census but with the ongoing a person is given cases throughout the county so I guess it depends on how many people are hired in each county how far you'll have to go. And even if a person refuses and says "don't come back on my property" the regional office will continue sending people out usually around five times. That is a waste of taxpayer money. If an American citizen wants to only say "there are two adults living here. One is a male and one a female. Their ages are..." that should be it. No additional tax dollars should be wasted. I fully intend to only say that and then tell them I don't want anyone coming to my home.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

If I'm being asked to wander around under bridges downtown after dark, with my flashlight and clipboard, I think $22 is not enough. If I'm being asked to go into tenements and knock on doors, it's not enough. If I'm expected to travel miles in rural areas where every fifth house sitting off by itself is a possible crack house or raises and fights pit bulls, it's not enough. I suspect that the money offered has more to do with the cost of living in that area, the type of neighborhoods that are being counted, and the lack of qualified and willing applicants. If no one says I'll do it, then you have to raise the amount you are willing to pay until someone agrees to do it.

Couple in Red Bank Tied Up and Burglarized

Red Bank Police need your help finding two people who posed as census takers and burglarized a home


Couple in Red Bank Tied Up and Burglarized | people, home, red - Local News - WTVC NewsChannel 9: Chattanooga News, Weather, Radar, Sports, Lottery

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If it's in a halfway decent area, in this day and age, with people nedding money more than ever, I would do it if it was offered, I;m going to see when and if the test is offered in my area. Sorry folks, I need the money!!

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As a standard, temp workers in most jobs are given a higher rate of pay for the sole fact that is only a temp assignment and it doesn't allow them any benefits or security. For example, if I were to go through a temp agency and contract someone to come in and simply answer the phones in my office for two weeks, they would require payment of $15-18 an hour from me (and most of them --like Manpower--offer their temps benefits (health and life) and will pay them $12-$13 of that rate). In another one of my offices, the cleaning staff that was a husband and wife team was going out of town for a month and we had to contract two other people to come in and take care of it....and after biding it out with several agencies and privately owned companies, the going rate was between $30 and $60 and hour for a small office for a month assignment. IT contract temps that have worked for me have ranged from $50-$200 an hour. My sister is a freelance writer and charges $25-$40 and hour and no more than 1000 words.

I'm not sure what you think most temp jobs out there pay, but even with no skills set, it is much more than minimum wage. Also, working door to door out in the elements, using your own vehicle (and 50-55 cents a mile is the going rate right now), requires a little more effort and risk than some of these temp jobs out there. I don't think it is unreasonable to pay anywhere from $18-$25 an hour....tax dollars or not...because this has been a reasonable going rate for a while. And for the record, you couldn't pay me enough to do that job, which I feel is necessary in my community and will be participating because it means more dollars for the people in my area.

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