Coco Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 In January we had a letter from the Maire saying that the national census would be happening in January and February and that an appointed official would call to deliver and collect our forms and that they would have to show their identification when doing so.About two weeks later we got a visit from a lady in the village who we know anyway but she still showed us her formal identification and offered to leave the forms with us or wait whilst we completed them. We did them there and then and gave them back to her. That was around the first week of February. Our builders were working here at the time and said that in the 17 years that they have lived in France they have completed two of these things. They thought they came round about every 8 years but at that point they hadn't received theirs.It's now mid-March and I don't know of a single other Brit in the area who has been asked to complete such a form, even though we were told that it was an offence not to do so.Has anyone else completed a census recently or are our village so desparate to know our ins and outs that they've created an elaborate scam to find out all about us? [:^)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opalienne Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 We haven't had one in our village this year ( if I remember rightly it was last year or the one before) but in January we were visiting a friend about 20km away and he was in the middle of completing it. He is French, BTW, so I don't think it's anything to do with checking up on Brits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naps Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Don't worry, we had one here about 6 weeks ago, so you're not alone.(La Creche, near Niort dept. 79) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 After I started this thread I did a quick search for census and discovered that quite a few people made mention of it last February. Does France not do their census all at the same time then? I'd have thought that at least within the same post code it would be the same time, but it seems that we're the only ones round here that have done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I think that the details of when census are held is on the INSEE site or maybe service-public.fr. Ours was last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 What happens if you are not living in your house when the census is due (and not there to get the forms)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 [quote user="Cathy"]What happens if you are not living in your housewhen the census is due (and not there to get the forms)?[/quote]Good question, to which I unfortunately can't give a complete answer,though I have a feeling that the census is only applied to permanentresidenses, not second homes. We were "done" this year - one of ourneighbours was handling the forms, and I rather formed the impressionthat only a "representative sample" of the population is questioned,not the whole lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opalienne Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I am fairly sure that it is only for permanent residents so if yours is a second or holiday home, it shouldn't be a problem if you are not there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I have a feeling that the French census is done differently to the Uk one, I think its not all the country at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viv Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 It hardly makes it worth doing really, if its not that accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 ah Viva - the words census and accuracy do not belong in the same sentence..........ask any one trying to trace their family tree[;)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 There was a national census in 2004. A local lady came round and did the form herself in our house. They do not visit everybody and it is nowhere as detailed as the UK one. They do the calls selectively, they try to pick up the new people in the area, the existing and the dead are known about[:)]. The results I saw were very interssting showing that over 50% of the population live alone, a significant movement of people towards the SW, not from the UK, and a drop in the birth rate, the census also showed that the life expectancy in our Department is the highest in France[<:o)]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patmobile Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 I've just completed a census form. There were no questions about how many people live on my property, only birds.Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony F Dordogne Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 When we moved into the commune in February last year we were given our yellow sacks for recycling, our welcome to the village calculator and a census form - first bit of bureaucracy that we had to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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