1950 US Census: "Errors in Age Statistics"

Before the 1950 US Census is released on April 1, 2022, I'm doing background reading to understand what the population schedule will tell me about my ancestors.

I recommend looking at the state-by-state results published by the US Census Bureau in 1954 and available for free at HathiTrust. Browse the list until you see the state(s) where your ancestors lived. Many of my ancestors lived in New York, so I've been clicking my way through that statewide report of 1950 Census results.

No matter which state report you read, you'll see the same introductory information that will add context to the 1950 Census results. 

Look at reported age, for instance, which we know isn't always accurate on Census forms. Women, in particular, might fudge age downward. In fact, both my grandmas were sensitive about being a year older than their husbands, and lied to enumerators in more than one Census. But there were other reasons for age errors, as well.

The Census Bureau knew about age errors 

As shown in the introduction excerpt above, the Census Bureau was well aware of "errors in age statistics." Young children tended to be undercounted, a situation that was partially fixed by the use of Infant Cards written out by enumerators for kids born in Jan-Feb-March of 1950. Sadly, these info-rich cards were not retained and we won't have access to that valuable data.

In addition, errors were noted among older age groups. The Census Bureau said there were fewer than expected people enumerated in the 55-64 age group, but more than expected enumerated in the 65+ age group. 

Suddenly so many seniors?

Coincidence? Maybe, but my guess is this had to do with post-war retirements and people wanting to collect Social Security at age 65. With an eye toward eligibility, I suspect lots of folks were suddenly willing to admit to a government agency that they were 65 or older. 

This was an actual problem for my hubby's maternal grandpa, Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) He told employers he was younger than he really was so he could work all during World War II. 

Once the war was over, however, Brice was already over 65. At that point, he had difficulty straightening out his age documentation so he could collect Social Security payments. He eventually did manage to collect, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he said about his age on the 1950 US Census!

For more background about preparing for the release of the 1950 US Census, please see my summary page here.