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This seems’s like an issue created by congress. the constitution only requires a headcount by state. Maybe they should use another mechanism to collect demograp
by jonhohle 4mo ago
This seems’s like an issue created by congress. the constitution only requires a headcount by state. Maybe they should use another mechanism to collect demographic data. Since the concern is not about representation, but allocation, tax returns seem like an obvious alternative and they are already private and collected at a much more granular level.
- simonw 4mo agoI don't think the question "Has this person given birth to any children in the past 12 months?" would look good on a tax return.
- brainwad 4mo agoMy home country pays a baby bonus to people and it's administered via the tax system, so I think we ask something very similar actually.
- bpt3 4mo agoHave you filled out a federal income tax return in the US? It absolutely asks for the names (and SSN) of any dependents. It's trivial to infer whether one of the adult(s) filing the tax return gave birth in the last 12 months based on the last 2 years of tax returns for those adult(s).
- arbot360 4mo agoIsn't that already on the tax return? Your dependent count would increment from the prior year. The IRS can also distinguish births vs adoptions and step children by the checking for novel SSNs.
- happyopossum 4mo ago> tax returns seem like an obvious alternative and they are already private and collected at a much more granular level. Plenty of people don’t file tax returns (legally even, there’s a minimum income threshold).