Results from the 1940 American Census have been released today.
The highly anticipated government survey has had so much interest that the website containing the information (http://1940census.archives.gov/) crashed, showing an error message to budding Geneologists'.
National Archive's spokeswoman, Susan Cooper said: "In the first three hours that the site was live, we had 22.5 million hits."
It contains over 21 million people who are still alive today, including celebrities such as Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. A BBC report shows that some privacy groups have campaigned against the data release, saying 72 years of confidentiality is not long enough.
Census's are conducted in America every 10 years - just like in England - but are conducted by 'The United States Census Bureau.'
The population is surveyed every 10 years and "...the results are then used to allocate Congressional seats, electoral votes and government program funding."
This is similar to the United Kingdom. Every 10 years since 1801, all people and households are counted and the results fed into a database at the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, all government organisations.
According to the ONS: "The information the census provides allows central and local government, health authorities and many other organisations to target their resources more effectively and to plan housing, education, health and transport services for years to come."
The latest census in the UK was conducted on 27th March 2011. It takes one-hundred years before census data is made available.
However, in the USA, the Federal Government allows the release of census date some twenty-eight years shy of the UK's policy.
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74746.html
http://1940census.archives.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/what-is-a-census/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17588882
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017501
Pic1: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Census_Bureau_seal.jpg
