Sisters, put your name first on 2020 Census in honor of women’s suffrage | Commentary

I know this advice comes too late for many of us — myself included — but I feel a sense of urgency because the census extension is being cut short by a month. Even now, as much as a third of Fresno County households have not yet been counted, so maybe I still have time to persuade some of my sisters out there not only to fill out the census questionnaire, but to put their name first.

This starts with a story of us, me and my husband with two children, all residing at the same address, filling out the 2020 census on the first day the questionnaire was available online. We were excited to complete the census early, and I personally wanted to see the questionnaire because I teach statistics and research methods as a professor and had heard that sexual orientation was now included.

I teach my doctoral students that a good survey strikes a balance between gathering enough information and not overburdening participants with unnecessary questions. My husband was on sabbatical and had no Zoom meetings to rush to, so he volunteered to fill out the form, just as he helps with other household chores. He also promised to copy down all of the questions for me.

In 2010, I was single, living alone as a newly naturalized U.S. citizen and a first-timer for the U.S. census. I was proud to be counted and thought I was claiming a piece of Americanness by filling out the census (I did not know back then that citizenship is not required). I even made a copy of my questionnaire, including my write-in answer for the category “Other Asian.”

Fast forward 10 years to the current census, and I thought to myself, “It’s simple — we’re just a family of four.” And we did it. It did not take long. We were asked to list the names of all household members, and then we were asked questions about each of us, such as race and gender. But, shortly after completing the questionnaire, my husband and I realized that we should have put my name first, rather than his.

To be clear, everyone in our household was counted. My husband even wrote in for me in the Other Asian category as instructed, and we made sure to check two different races for our biracial children. Every person was counted, but my relationships with my kids was nowhere documented in this census.

As it turns out, the information collection on the census questionnaire is centered around whoever’s name is entered first. Specifically, respondents are asked how each household member is related to the first person listed, but not their relationship to others in the household.

Here is the problem: My children do not have the same last name as me, and as the second person listed in our household, the census did not ask about my relationship with my children, who were listed third and fourth. I know it may not matter that much for those who took their husband’s last name, but I imagine my great-great-grandchildren more than 100 years from now not being sure about their Asian heritage because they cannot determine the relationship between me and my children from the census.

(It is the opposite for sexual orientation. An individual’s sexual orientation is not captured — only whether they are in a same-sex or opposite sex relationship. And, sigh, the questions on gender and type of relationship are still asked in a binary fashion.)

Now, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S., I am disappointed that our cultural default idea of a male-headed household, our patrilineal naming conventions, and the design of the census questionnaire all conspired to obscure my relationship with my children. Now I have to wait another decade for a chance to remedy this.

So, for those of you who have not yet responded to the census, could I persuade a sister or two out there to put themselves first for once, by putting their name first on their 2020 census questionnaire?