In other words, participation means money — for day cares, hospitals, food services and more.

Dr. Yazmín García Trejo, a researcher for the bureau, said the findings came as a surprise to her team. Originally, they hypothesized that women would be more certain about their intent to fill out the census. Historically, women have participated at higher rates than men — in 1990, 57 percent of census respondents were female. It’s also possible that men say they’ll participate when surveyed, but leave the actual work of filling out the census form to women, Dr. García Trejo said.

One explanation for the gender gap, at least in the survey, may be something both simple and relatable: American women are busy.

Dr. Catherine Harnois, a sociologist at Wake Forest University, said that women’s intent to fill out the census could be affected by their lack of discretionary hours in the day. Outside of their careers, she said, women working a “second shift” as family caregivers for children and the elderly may simply not have time. That may be compounded today by the pandemic — with children home from school and family members falling ill, many women feel as if they’re working multiple jobs.

“Even women interested in the census and knowledgeable about it might find the task getting pushed to the back burner,” Dr. Harnois said. “Especially in the current environment, with the complete reorganization of work and home life, and additional emotional stressors.”

But Dr. Harnois sees census participation as especially important because so many aspects of citizenship historically excluded women, like voting and running for office. And she hopes that the more women participate, the more they’ll be able to push their communities to do the same.

“Women are often community leaders, especially in disadvantaged populations, so they can encourage census participation more broadly,” Dr. Harnois said.

That effort to reach disadvantaged communities was at the heart of the Census Bureau’s efforts this year. Typically, those who could benefit most from funding determined by the census were most likely to be missed, researchers said.