The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has begun the second stage of the 2008 Population Census: 1,800 poll-takers are interviewing some 350,000 randomly-selected households.
In rocket-threatened areas where mobility is impaired, the interviews will be postponed until a later date. The interviews of the nearly 17% of the country’s population are scheduled to be completed by the end of February.
The half-hour interviews, designed to provide a statistically-telling portrait of the nation’s population, will include questions on: the people living in the home and their relationships, demographic and other identifying characteristics, how long they have lived in their current home and in the town, limitations they face in daily life; education, work, income, and the like.
A special stamp has been issued in honor of the 2008 Census, with the value of 1.60 shekels – the cost of sending a regular letter. The interviewed residents will receive a certificate of appreciation with the new stamp imprinted upon it.
The purpose of the approximately-once-a-decade census is to collect information on the entire population of the country, including housing conditions and demographic, social and economic characteristics. The 2008 Population Census is an “integrated census,” conducted using unique statistical methods developed by the CBS.
For the purpose of the census, the country has been divided into 3,000 geographic locations, each of which is divided into 20 areas, of up to some 50 households each. Within each location, 20% of the areas have been chosen to have their households interviewed. In towns of fewer than 300 people - of which there are some 700 throughout the country - everyone will be interviewed.
The information garnered in this manner will be supplemented with administrative data based on the Residents Registry and phone interviews.
Families chosen to participate in the census are required to do so by law, though the CBS is hoping and expecting the public to cooperate willingly. To this end, the CBS has worked with the Ministry of Education to formulate a curriculum that will teach pupils the importance and benefits of the census – and of public cooperation with the census-takers. The students will learn that data banks are needed for national and local planning purposes, comparison with other countries, and by the public to help it oversee government decisions.
Previous censuses have been taken in Israel in 1948, 1961, 1972, 1983 and 1995. Israel's population at the end of 2008 stands at 7.373 million, including 75.5% Jews and just over 20% Arabs.