Recensământul populației ca sursă de informații în elaborarea politicilor publice

Abstract

Understanding the composition and evolution of the population is crucial for the development of effective public policies in a rapidly changing world. The need for reliable demographic and socioeconomic data persists to tackle modern societal challenges. The Population Census, amidst fast demographic change, is a vital source of statistical data that provides valuable information for governments, researchers and decision-makers. The purpose of this article is to analyze some results of population censuses important for the development of public policies and to estimate the role of the population census as a factual basis for the development and evaluation of state policies, planning and decision-making, leading to the identification of focused and well-adapted solutions to the real needs of the communities and the country. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the main results of the 2004 Population Census and the 2014 Population and Housing Census, and the degree of use of statistical information in the development of public policy documents, such as national strategies and programs. Moreover, the paper presents concrete examples of how census data has been used to develop public policies. The article concludes that the results obtained in population censuses are not fully utilized by public officials and decision-makers responsible for the development and implementation of public policies. Not all policy documents include essential information collected in censuses, including strategies of significant importance. It is noteworthy that the census is one of the most costly national statistical endeavors, providing data that offers a real and comprehensive picture of the entire population at a specific point in time. Recognizing the value of this information is crucial, and there is a need to promote a more efficient use of census results to guide the decisions and actions of policymakers.