Yes, this is a US Federal Census year. Hopefully, everyone is counted, hard to predict now with the COVID virus-19 across the nation. But if everyone is finally counted for 2020, descendants and other researchers 72 years from now, year 2092, when the 2020 census information is released, will find much less family information compared to other censuses taken decades earlier.
The original idea of a ten-year census was to help determine the number of representatives for each state in the House of Representatives and where the greatest need for tax dollars be spent. Yet over the decades additional questions were added such as immigration date, citizenship, education, occupation, if served during a war, native language, number children born to a woman, place of birth, or matrimonial status.
For this 2020 census that will be used by researchers in 2092, information will be very limited. Names, yes, of each person in a household as of April 1st (even not related to anyone in the home), their sex, their relationship to the head of household (such as stepdaughter, roommate, adopted son, etc). Each person’s birth date and whether they are of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin. Also a person’s race and origins such as Irish, Egyptian, Jamaican, American Indian, etc. Do note, the information about race and origin might be wrong – the person might just think that is their origin or make a guess. One good item on the 2020 census is if a person in the household may also live somewhere else such as a school, nursing home, in prison or with the military. Those are the types of questions, much is not included anymore.
So trying to learn details of where a person was born or about their parents unless they live in that household will be hard.
Photos: 2020 Census
Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:
Census Records and Your Family
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