Communities of Color Stand to Be Undercounted in the Census

More than four million people are at risk of being undercounted in next year’s Census, according to the Urban Institute. The nonpartisan think tank found that the 2020 count could be the worst undercount of Black and Latinx people in the U.S. since 1990. This time around, Black residents could be undercounted by as much as 3.68% or 1.7 million people. Researchers also project as many as 2.2 million (3.57%) Latinx people around the U.S. could be undercounted as well in next year’s Census. Why is an undercount possible? For starters, the possibility of including a citizenship question will likely discourage participation, especially in the Latinx community. The Supreme Court will be ruling on the issue by the end of this month. Native American and Alaskan Native communities have been historically undercounted. In the 2010 census, it's estimated that almost 5% of Native Americans living on reservations were not counted and almost 12% of those off the reservation went uncounted. Hence, the native community has lost out on at least 5% of its share of hundreds of billions in government allocations based on Census data. The AAPI community could be potentially undercounted by 2.12% (102,000 people). According to the report, only white people are projected to be overcounted. Researchers point out that new ways of conducting the Census have not been thoroughly tested. Methods include allowing all households to complete an online form and expanding the use of existing government records to help complete questionnaires for households that don't respond themselves. The Census Bureau has canceled field tests for the 2020 Census, including test runs designed for rural and Spanish-speaking areas. "Not only are these new additions insufficiently tested in a decennial census environment," write the report's authors, "but the best evidence suggests they will disproportionately improve the count of those who are already easiest to count, leaving the hard-to-count population a lingering challenge." More than four million people are at risk of being undercounted in next year’s Census, according to the Urban Institute. The nonpartisan think tank found that the 2020 count could be the worst undercount of Black and Latinx people in the U.S. since 1990. This time around, Black residents could be undercounted by as much as 3.68% or 1.7 million people. Researchers also project as many as 2.2 million (3.57%) Latinx people around the U.S. could be undercounted as well in next year’s Census. Why is an undercount possible? For starters, the possibility of including a citizenship question will likely discourage participation, especially in the Latinx community. The Supreme Court will be ruling on the issue by the end of this month. Native American and Alaskan Native communities have been historically undercounted. In the 2010 census, it's estimated that almost 5% of Native Americans living on reservations were not counted and almost 12% of those off the reservation went uncounted. Hence, the native community has lost out on at least 5% of its share of hundreds of billions in government allocations based on Census data. The AAPI community could be potentially undercounted by 2.12% (102,000 people). According to the report, only white people are projected to be overcounted. Researchers point out that new ways of conducting the Census have not been thoroughly tested. Methods include allowing all households to complete an online form and expanding the use of existing government records to help complete questionnaires for households that don't respond themselves. The Census Bureau has canceled field tests for the 2020 Census, including test runs designed for rural and Spanish-speaking areas. "Not only are these new additions insufficiently tested in a decennial census environment," write the report's authors, "but the best evidence suggests they will disproportionately improve the count of those who are already easiest to count, leaving the hard-to-count population a lingering challenge." More here

