This week, the U.S. Census Bureau kicked off its National Recruiting Week with 4,000 pop-up recruitment spots across the US, looking to hire local residents to help conduct the 2020 Census in their neighborhoods. The bureau’s recruiting campaign in New York kicked off last Tuesday with an informational event at Borough of Manhattan Community College. The agency has opened more than 300 pop-up recruitment spots in New York state alone.
In Brooklyn, the census is partnering with the Brooklyn Public Library to hold recruitment events across the borough, including around Bushwick. According to a press release released by the bureau, they need to recruit 500,000 volunteers for a variety of temporary positions with work dates starting in Spring 2020. They’re looking to hire people who can work flexible part-time hours or full-time as enumerators, office operations supervisors, field supervisors, assistants, clerks, and more.
As for pay, wages for the census posts range between $20 to $27.50/hour. Applicants who are approved for census-related jobs will need to undergo training which will be counted as paid hours. Requirements for those interested in applying are simple: they must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, possess a valid social security number, and have a working email address; no resumes or cover letters needed.
Working as a census volunteer is an opportunity for residents to contribute to the well-being of their communities since distribution of federal funds for state and municipal programs relies heavily on an accurate population count through the census.
Following the federal government’s attempt to include a citizenship question on next year’s census — a scare tactic observers believe was meant to prevent vulnerable immigrant communities from participating in the population survey — outreach efforts for the 2020 Census have become a top priority among city agencies and local advocates.
It’s a particularly significant matter for Brooklyn which boasts neighborhoods with the lowest census response rates in the country. According to CUNY’s Hard To Count census map, 80 percent of the borough’s population live in hard-to-count neighborhoods which refers to areas where a quarter or more households failed to mail back their census response in the last census. Bushwick specifically required costly and often difficult in-person follow ups to count the 25.7 percent of households that did not mail back their survey responses.
For those looking to help their communities get counted properly in the 2020 Census, here’s a list of upcoming recruitment events around Bushwick:
Date: Mon, Oct. 28, 2019
Time: 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Where: 240 Division Ave, Williamsburgh Library
Date: Tue, Nov. 5, 2019
Time: 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Where: 240 Division Ave, Williamsburgh Library
Date: Thu, Nov 14 2019
Time: 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: 360 Irving Ave, Washington Irving Library
Find more dates and census-related informational events around Brooklyn here.
Cover image courtesy of @uscensusbureau
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