LYNN — The city is still lagging behind when it comes to responding to the 2020 U.S. census, and city officials are hoping to increase response rates before census counting comes to an end this fall.
Lynn is encouraging any residents on Facebook to participate in its “Facebook Blast Week” campaign, beginning July 26 and ending July 31, to get more people to respond to the census. Those who wish to participate should copy the messages posted on the City of Lynn Election Facebook page, or post their own messages daily to prompt others to respond.
To respond to the 2020 census, visit www.2020 census.gov. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the self-response was originally scheduled to end on July 31, but the window to respond has been extended until Oct. 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Janet Rowe, the city’s election chief, 250 lawn signs, a dozen fence banners and six billboards have been put up since Lynn announced an “all-out visual campaign” in early June to get more people to respond to the census. Youth summer interns have been handing out pamphlets about the census.
“Our city deserves the best schools, health care, housing, childcare, transportation and political representation,” Rowe said. “The federal census is a snapshot of who we are as a nation. There are billions of federal funds available to cities and towns. We all need to be counted to get our share.
When signs were still being put up on June 3, Lynn’s response rate was 55.8 percent, lower than the state average but much better than the 44 percent response rate the city had just a few weeks earlier.
Now, the city’s response rate has risen to 57.5 percent, but it’s still lower than the statewide average of 64.2 percent.
Rowe said, in a statement about the online campaign, there may be a “prize” for the most creative post about the census, but the real point is to get more people to respond.
According to Rowe, getting people to respond to the census has been particularly difficult this year because of the pandemic, with census takers unable to go to large group gatherings to find harder-to-count people.
There are 15 different languages offered to respond to the census. Getting people to respond in Lynn has been a collaborative effort, with the schools, police and fire departments, Salvation Army, and organizations like the New American Center giving out information and encouraging people to respond.
Leo Inc., which provides services for adults and children in the Lynn area, including early childhood education and services to mitigate food insecurity, has also been pushing for more people to respond to the census, helping the families it serves respond.
According to Leo Inc., Lynn was one of the lowest responding communities in the state during the last census in 2010, and the city is “still suffering from the lack of data” it has provided through the census.
