Census undercounts are normal, but demographers worry this year could be worse

Populations can be hard to count for many reasons. Some people don’t wish to be found, while others may be hard to contact because they live in gated communities. Others may be hard to interview, due to low literacy or limited English. Finally, some individuals are hard to persuade. They may be actively

It’s worth noting that the 2010 census was remarkably accurate overall: The bureau estimated a net overcount of 0.01%, or an extra

Coverage varied significantly by race and Hispanic origin. White non-Hispanic Americans were more likely to be overcounted (0.8%). Meanwhile, the bureau estimated an undercount of 2.1% among the black population, 1.5% among the Hispanic or Latino population and 4.9% among American Indians living on reservations.

Among age groups, young children were most likely to be missed:

These undercounts matter because the population is not evenly divided. When certain groups are more likely to be undercounted, their communities are at risk of having lower-quality data and less than their fair share of political representation and funding for the next decade. Communities have only one shot to count all of their residents; the results of this census will have impacts for the next decade.

In April of 2018, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that the 2020 census would include a

Still, census advocates remain concerned that the introduction of the citizenship question and subsequent political battle could have a

Starting March 12, households began receiving the invitation to respond online or to complete the census form. Ideally, the online form will make it easier for people to respond and help reduce the costs of conducting the census.

However, the push to online response raises new concerns. Namely:

Planning for the decennial census is a huge undertaking. Preparation begins long before April 1, 2020, and funding is necessary to ensure everything can be developed and tested prior to Census Day.

The Census Bureau was asked

Having the ability to count people by mail and online

The pandemic has forced millions of college students to leave college and finish their semesters at home. As a result, those students will be counted at home, rather than at their colleges and universities. Because census data is used to determine federal funding in many areas, this shift could have a direct impact on

Census Bureau workers will not start going door to door to follow up with nonresponding households until May. This means individuals have more than six weeks to respond online or by paper without ever having to interact with someone face to face. But there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the spread of the pandemic, so its impact on

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