# census



## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I got a census form here at the apartment I'm renting. They had a paper sheet with blanks for all the apartments, and the name of the apartment owner and a place to print your name and another to sign your name that you'd received it. So I officially received it. But the mailing itself has no address written on it (although there are blanks for that on the back).

So what do I do with it? Do non-citizens get counted in the Mexican census? Is it intended to be filled out by the (foreign) apartment owner (who's also not a Mexican citizen) or the occupant? 

It says "available in English" on the envelope (amazing!) but not how to get the English (is there a web form or you have to go somewhere and ask for an english paper form?)

It seems amazing to me that Mexico would synchronize their census with the US rather than do it at a time that suits themselves.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

eastwind said:


> I got a census form here at the apartment I'm renting. They had a paper sheet with blanks for all the apartments, and the name of the apartment owner and a place to print your name and another to sign your name that you'd received it. So I officially received it. But the mailing itself has no address written on it (although there are blanks for that on the back).
> 
> So what do I do with it? Do non-citizens get counted in the Mexican census? Is it intended to be filled out by the (foreign) apartment owner (who's also not a Mexican citizen) or the occupant?
> 
> ...


Don't know about the paper form. The census worker that counted me had an app running on her phone. 
Everyone living here gets counted in a census. I was on a visa for the 2010 census. I am a citizen now. Neither asked about my residence status.
I think it is a coincidence that the US and Mexican censuses occur at the same time. Both countries, and probably lots of others, do it every 10 years, so the fact that they are both this year is not a surprise.


----------



## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

I would look at the 'resident status' aspect in the same way you looked at it when you completed your US tax return and Obamacare was mandatory. Did you meet residency requirements (which I think were 183 days).

As for the form/paper you received - did it bare any similarity to this form ?

https://censo2020.mx/censatetumismo/

Apparently you can complete the census online. And as I'm sure you are aware that the numbers collected in a census should be used in determining where assets are allocated.


----------



## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

yep, in that link, the image in the lower right is one side of the outside. The other side of the outside doesn't match anything on that link, but it does have a Q-code (2D barcode) on the back side.

I guess I will log in and complete online using the code on this thing I received.


----------



## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

We came back earlier from our Saturday morning taco run and found one of these attached on our garage door...

https://laverdadnoticias.com/mexico/significado-letras-inegi-censo-2020-20200313-0189.html

I had taken it off while I did my research, but I guess I will put it back. 

Our's is marked with a P (pending). Apparently if we fail to connect with the pollster 3 times they will leave an invitation to complete the process online.

I was a little surprised to see the fines which can be levied for failure to complete the census. 

"Not answering the questions in this year's Inegi census would imply fines of $ 443.40 pesos up to $ 43 thousand 440 pesos, as established by the Law of the National System of Statistical Information and Geography."


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Many people in the villages do not bother answering or give false answers.. I was in a zapatista home when the people from inegi came and they were received nicely but got no answers and will get none.. I doubt anyone in the village will be fined anything..


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

citlali said:


> Many people in the villages do not bother answering or give false answers.. I was in a zapatista home when the people from inegi came and they were received nicely but got no answers and will get none.. I doubt anyone in the village will be fined anything..


I can understand people assuming the government is up to no good, but it is too bad really. Without information it is hard to even begin solving problems.
I was struck by the fact that one of the first questions they asked me was what kind of floor I had in the house. They may seem strange in the middle of Guadalajara, but in the Barranca del Cobre where the Tarahumara live, many of the cabins have a dirt floor.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

lat19n said:


> We came back earlier from our Saturday morning taco run and found one of these attached on our garage door...
> 
> https://laverdadnoticias.com/mexico/significado-letras-inegi-censo-2020-20200313-0189.html
> 
> ...


That is how they keep track of what houses have already been counted.


----------



## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> That is how they keep track of what houses have already been counted.


Obviously - I simply mentioned it for the 1 or 2 people on this forum who actually live in Mexico and might be surprised ...


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Tundragreen that dirt floor question is part of the 12 or 13 questionaire the government uses to give help to people... In the questionary there is a" what king of a floor do you have".. cement .. dirt etc.. How may cracks do you have in the walls, how many cracks in the roof How many times a week do you eat meat? chicken ? eggs? and so on..

I have yet to see a dirt floor in Chiapas , one of the poorest state in the union and I have helped anaphalbets fill out the forms... most of the answers are BS... people lie like crazy on them.. all to get welfare.. 

I am sure some people have mud houses and dirt floors but the government has done a good job on their "a cement floor for every home campaign" and I have not seen dirt floor homes where I go..
I filled out many forms in Amatenango , a town known for their chickens and I realized that the answer were bs when people claimed they did not eat chicken or eggs every week in that town where you are surrounded by chickens.. I have eaten in many homes there and there is plenty of egg and chicken meals there,,
Also one of the young men there told me that it was a town with extreme povety, which means bu the government definition that people lack food ,, and again I doubt that.. I have been to other places in Chiapas that seem a whole lot poorer than that town.

It is understandable that the zapatistas do not want to answer the questions since they do not want help from the government but less understandable from other people , although people hate to speak about their home , family etcc. They think that it should not be any of the government concern.


----------



## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

The kid from INEGI returned today for our census (actually twice because we passed him by on our way out this morning). He was on a little moto.

No questions about the type of floor in the house but there were a lot of money related questions. Do you have TV ? Do you pay for it ? Do you have internet ? How many computers, laptops, tablets, cellphones do you have ? How many people (their names) ? How many rooms (what is their usage) ? Do you have insurance ? What kinds ?

The sticker that they put on the garage door on Saturday has to remain on there until the kid's supervisor comes by in a week or two to remove it. (Good luck with that. I've already used masking tape to support it).


----------



## xolo (May 25, 2014)

I was counted the other day.

Obviously, many questions are intended to find out economic status. The floor question, as I recall, is the floor tile, cement, or dirt (no option for wood). Lots of technology questions; do you have radio (?!!?), tv, cable, satelite, computer, cell phone, internet... 

Do you speak an original language? (I forget the exact term used but I had to ask to be sure this was the question). I was really tempted because this is my research area...

And lots of physical questions; do you have difficulty hearing, walking, seeing, talking, etc

All polls are self-reporting, obviously. So that is an issue. I expect the number of Mazahua speakers to go way up due to the intercultural university nearby where I work. (Well, it's closed now)

Oh yeah, where were you born? It's really a shame, I think the question was unchanged from 2010. It's very coarse, no way to answer questions like, how many people from the US, how many Spaniards, etc. very general.


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Xolo I was curious to hear if they ask if you speak a dialect or a language.. A well known anthropologist was venting on facebook saying they are still asking indigenous people if they spoke a dialect.. Some people answered that they used the word idioma and not dialecto.. I asked people in Amatenango, Chiapas about the question but no one in Amatenango was asked if they spoke another language.. I guess the INEGI people assumed everyone there spoke Tzeltal so they filled out the answer without asking the question..


----------

