I saw this on FamilySearch recently – 1930 United States Census Records: A Research Guide: https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/us-1930-census-records/. Article is longer. Each U. S. federal census is a bit different than the others. Here’s the 1930 instructions: https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/census_instructions/1930_instructions.html; PDF: https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1930instructions.pdf
November 21, 2020 by Amie Tennant
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The 1930 census was the 15th federal census taken by the United States, which has taken a census each decade since 1790. These 1930 census records included the 48 states then in the United States as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Panama Canal Zone, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.–snip–
What Made the 1930 Census Distinctive?
The 1930 Census Records of Unemployment
The 1930 census day was April 1. Sadly, the stock market had crashed just six months before, and the nation was in the depths of the Great Depression. The government had hoped to collect unemployment statistics with this census; however, the census had no questions regarding employment. Though there was a rushed attempt to collect unemployment information in an added sheet of questions, the numbers reported were determined to be too low. Congress later required a special unemployment census to be taken in January 1931.
Although the unemployment information gathered with the 1930 census was later found to inaccurately reflect the seriousness of the unemployment problem, it still provides worthwhile information to review. Enumerators were instructed to fill out an additional sheet of questions for all gainful workers who were not at work on the workday before the enumeration date.
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https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/us-1930-census-records/
Ups Downs Family History 