Uses of Population Questions
Age and Date of Birth
- To distribute funds to the states for adult programs in postsecondary education opportunities (Department of Education)
- To distribute funds to the states for establishment and expansion of community colleges
(Department of Education)
- To distribute funds for basic, adult education programs (Department of Education)
- To distribute funds for transportation services for the elderly and persons with disabilities
(Federal Highway Administration - Department of Transportation)
- For reporting status of persons with disabilities of working age (National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research)
- For reporting the U.S. population's vital, social, and health statistics (National Center for
Health Statistics - Department of Health and Human Services)
- To distribute funds for programs for elderly under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as
amended (Department of Health and Human Services)
Ancestry
- Assistance to minority businesses in low-income areas under the Minority Business Development Program (Minority Business Development Agency - Department of
Commerce)
- Research conducted on welfare dependency and income and employment characteristics to
reduce dependency rates in Social Security Act programs (Social Security Administration -
Department of Health and Human Services)
- Funds allocation to states for programs to access post secondary education opportunities for
adults (Department of Education)
- Funds allocation for bilingual education programs under the Bilingual Education Act (Office
of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs - Department of Education)
- Collection of vital, social, and health statistics (National Center for Health Statistics -
Department of Health and Human Services)
Citizenship and Year of Entry
- Compilation of naturalization statistics by the Attorney General (Department of Justice)
- Employment assessment of refugee population and compilation of secondary migration data
on refugees under the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980, as amended (Office of
Refugee Resettlement - Department of Health and Human Services)
- Publication of social, health, and economic statistics of Hispanic origin persons (Department
of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Health and Human Services, and
Department of Labor)
Disability
- Determination of housing needs for elderly and persons with disabilities under the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 (Department of Housing and Urban
Development)
- Allocation of funds for state vocational education programs for persons with disabilities
(Department of Education)
- Allocation of funds for transportation services for elderly and for persons with disabilities
(Federal Highway Administration--Department of Transportation)
- Allocation of funds for projects encouraging car pools for elderly and persons with
disabilities (Federal Highway Administration--Department of Transportation)
- Reports on status of persons with disabilities of working age (National Institute of on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research)
- Evaluation of programs for persons with disabilities (National Council on the Disability)
- Annual report (President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities)
- Allocation of funds for employment programs for persons with disabilities (Department of
Labor)
- Allocation of funds for programs for elderly with special needs under the Older Americans
Act of 1965 (Department of Health and Human Services)
- Allocation of funds for mass transit systems for elderly and persons with disabilities (Urban
Mass Transportation Administration--Department of Transportation)
Education
- Identification of needs for adult education and funds allocation for programs under the Adult Education Act (Department of Education)
- Funds allocation for state vocational education programs under the Vocational Educational
Act of 1963 (Department of Education)
- Funds allocation for bilingual education programs under the Bilingual Education Act
(Department of Education)
- Financial assistance for programs assuring educational equity for women under the Women's
Educational Equity Act of 1978 (Department of Education)
- Identification of special needs of labor markets when formulating job training programs
under the Job Training Partnership Act (Department of Labor)
Employment Status (Work Status Last Week, Layoff or Temporary Absence From Work, Looking for Work During the Last 4 Weeks, Availability to Accept a Job)
- Information from these questions helps describe local and regional economic conditions. This information can be used by governments to address economic problems, by businesses
to decide where to locate new facilities, and by persons to identify economic opportunities.
- These questions also serve to screen out persons for whom the industry, occupation, class of
worker, and work experience questions do not
apply.
Grandparents
- These questions are used to estimate the number of grandparents providing assistance to their grandchildren and the duration of time grandparents are responsible for
their grandchildren.
Hispanic Origin
- Establishment and evaluation of guidelines for Federal affirmative action plans under the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission)
- Compilation of data on home mortgage lending patterns of depository institutions by race,
geographic area, housing conditions, and income (Federal Financial Institutions Examination
Council)
- Assistance to minority businesses in low-income areas under the Minority Business
Development Program (Minority Business Development Agency - Department of
Commerce)
- Publication of social, health, and economic statistics of Hispanic origin persons (Department
of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Health and Human Services, and
Department of Labor)
- Collection of vital, social, and health statistics (National Center for Health Statistics -
Department of Health and Human Services)
- Commission on Civil Rights acts as clearinghouse for information on discrimination in
housing, education, and employment under the Civil Rights Act of 1957, as amended
- Technical assistance for school desegregation plans (Department of Education) and
enforcement of desegregation plans (Department of Justice)
- Conduct demonstration projects addressing needs of low-income, minority, American Indian,
older, and limited English-speaking persons under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as
amended (Health Care Financing Administration - Department of Health and Human
Services)
Household Relationship
- To distribute funds for education programs for low-income children under the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act (Department of
Education)
- To identify eligible children in families near or below the poverty level to distribute funds
for Head Start programs (Department of Health and Human Services)
- To plan social services programs for low-income families with children 05 years under the
Head Start Program (Department of Health and Human Services)
- For reporting the U.S. population's vital, social, and health statistics (National Center for
Health Statistics - Department of Health and Human Services)
Income
- To allocate funds for education programs for low-income children under the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act (Department of Education)
- For job training programs under the Job Training Partnership Act
(Department of Labor)
- To allocate revenue sharing funds to units of local government for maintenance and operating
expenses for public safety, environmental protection, public transportation, health, recreation,
libraries, social services, for the poor and elderly, financial administration, and capital
expenditures (Department of Transportation)
- To allocate funds for housing assistance for low-income families (Department of Housing and Urban
Development)
- To allocate funds for local plans to assist lower-income housing needs, needs of the
handicapped or for minority enterprises, and small research and development projects
(Department of Housing and Urban Development)
- To allocate loans to farm owners, other real estate owners, and to the elderly or handicapped to
construct or repair dwellings and related facilities by the Farmers Home Administration
(Department of Agriculture)
- For community development block grants for housing and economic
opportunities for persons of low and moderate income (Department of Housing and Urban
Development)
- To allocate grants to cities and urban counties to stimulate economic recovery (Department of Housing
and Urban Development)
- To allocate funds for financial assistance to urban and rural poverty areas to aid persons with developmental
disabilities (Department of Health and Human Services)
- To allocate funds for social services provided to low-income families with children 05 years under the Head Start
Program (Department of Health and Human Services)
Industry, Occupation, and Class of Worker
- Publish data on small business economic indexes (Small Business Administration)
- Occupational information system includes occupational supply and demand data to meet
vocational education, employment, and training programs at the national, state, and local
levels (National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee)
- Funds allocation for migrant and seasonal farmworkers programs under the Job Training
Partnership Act (Employment and Training Administration - Department of Labor)
- Evaluation of affirmative action programs in private sector employment under the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
- Determine funding eligibility for local public works projects (Department of Labor)
Journey to Work/Place of Work [Means of Transportation to Work; Private Vehicle Occupancy; Time of Departure From Home to Go to Work; Travel Time (Minutes) to
Work]
- Journey-to-work data provide information for the states and large metropolitan areas on how we use national transportation and energy. This information helps to forecast
transportation and energy needs and assists our leaders in developing transportation and
energy policies.
- Journey-to-work data for local areas provide information for local community planners to
develop transportation programs and develop plans for disaster recovery or contingency
planning. In addition this information is used for business-related activities to define daytime
populations in marketing.
Language Spoken
- Required by states to identify needs for services authorized under the Adult Education Act (Department of Education)
- Research assistance to schools to provide equal education opportunities for students of
limited English-speaking ability, women, and the disadvantaged (Office of Education
Research and Improvement - Department of Education)
- Provides information for research on the status of bilingual vocational training for reports to
the President and Congress by the Secretary of Labor under the Vocational Education Act
- Funds allocation for state vocational education programs for persons 15 to 24 years with
limited English-speaking ability (Department of Education)
- Funds allocation for bilingual education programs under the Bilingual Education Act, as
amended (Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs - Department of
Education)
Marital Status
- To fund research for population and voluntary family planning programs (Department of Health and Human Services)
- To fund adolescent family life projects (Department of Health and Human Services)
- For reporting the U.S. population's vital, social, and health statistics (National Center for
Health Statistics - Department of Health and Human Services)
Migration (Residence 5 Years Ago)
- Provides information to study the effects of residential movement among the different areas of the country. Helps planners design
programs for improving the areas affected by the migration.
Place of Birth
- Data on place of birth are used to study long-time trends in migration. These data are used to measure residential movement among the different regions of the
country as well as from countries outside of the United States.
Race
- Determination of whether financial institutions are meeting credit needs of race/Hispanic origin groups in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods under the
Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (Federal Reserve Board)
- Planning needs of schools serving American Indian and Alaska Native children on or
adjacent to reservations or Alaska Native villages under the Indian Education Assistance Act
(Bureau of Indian Affairs - Department of the Interior)
- Assessment of needs under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (Indian Health Service -
Department of Health and Human Services)
- Technical assistance for school desegregation plans (Department of Education) and
enforcement of desegregation plans (Department of Justice)
- Provides data to Congress, Federal policy makers, and other data users on the status of
women and minorities in science and engineering (National Science Foundation)
- Provides information on the U.S. population's vital, social, and health statistics (National Center
for Health Statistics - Department of Health and Human Services)
- Establishment and evaluation of guidelines for Federal affirmative action plans under the
Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission)
Sex
- To evaluate and establish guidelines for Federal affirmative action plans under the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission)
- To distribute funds for research and development activities under the Women's Educational
Equity Act of 1978 (Department of Education)
- To distribute funds for adolescent family life projects (Department of Health and Human
Services)
- Provides the U.S. population's vital, social, and health statistics (National Center for Health
Statistics - Department of Health and Human Services)
Veteran Status (Period of Service, Total Years in Military Service)
- Program evaluation including participation and provision of services
(Department of Veterans Affairs)
- Report to Congress on needs of selected groups of veterans, such as Vietnam-era veterans
and female veterans (Department of Veterans Affairs)
- Report to Congress on number of eligible veterans and Vietnam-era veterans (Department of
Veterans Affairs)
Work Last Year (Weeks Worked, Usual Hours Worked)
- These items provide background information needed to understand and apply the income data.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
