Resource Library

National factsheet on the importance of the census to the AANHPI community.

This report shares an analysis of data nonresponse to the citizenship question on the American Community Survey. Nonresponse rates vary by demographic group but have been rising over time–showing an increased sensitivity to the question. It is expected that the nonresponse rate to the citizenship question on the 2020 Census will be even higher than the 6% nonresponse rate to the question on the ACS, and that the question will make the census more expensive and it’s results less accurate.

This brief describes the operations that will be used to count people in rural areas. An accurate count of all rural residents is important for ensuring that rural Americans have access to the resources their communities need to thrive.

Census data help determine which areas are considered rural, help us understand the characteristics of rural residents, and are used to allocate funding for programs that serve rural America. This brief, produced in partnership with The Census Project, explores some of the ways that the 2020 Census will be important for people in rural areas.

These figures of states ranked by percent of people with disabilities living in hard-to-count (HTC) census tracts was produced by the National Disability Rights Network and Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year Estimates (2013-2017).

The Census Bureau has identified people with disabilities as a hard-to-count population, which means they are at a greater risk of being undercounted in the census. The 2020 Census will impact everyone, including people with disabilities, and it is important for everyone to know what resources are available and what funding resources will be impacted if the 2020 Census is not fair and accurate. This report coauthored by the National Disability Rights Network and Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality examines why people with disabilities are hard-to-count, the accessibility of the census and what is at stake for the next 10 years.

The objective of this resource guide is to educate our Urban League movement about the 2020 Census process and provide important tools and resources to facilitate outreach to the communities we serve.

An overview of the Get Out the Count timeline between now and 2020.

During this webinar, Urban Institute researchers will share findings from their newly released interactive report that highlights the potential miscounts nationally, by state, and for different demographic groups according to low, medium, and high-risk scenarios for the 2020 Census.

This module introduces two main modes of texting, peer-to-peer and mass broadcasting, and details why texting campaigns can be utilized for census organizing.

This module provides an overview of email engagement and how to develop an email messaging strategy that bolsters your organization’s public narrative on the census.

This module addresses the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) in order to ensure that your online content is actually viewed.

In this module, you’ll learn about various social media platforms and how to build a message strategy and craft content for each one.

Below you’ll find videos series on how to use Social Media, Email, SMS, Digital Ads, and Search Engine Optimization to support your GOTC outreach.

In this module, you’ll learn how to optimize your census advocacy by using digital advertising to reach your target audience at scale.

Use this data table to estimate how much money would be needed to ensure arobust self-response and non-response follow-up outreach strategy by community-based groups in each state.

This report lays out concrete steps that the Census Bureau can take [...] so stakeholders have confidence that a broad use of administrative data will neither compromise census accuracy nor undermine the goal of eliminating the differential undercount.

Lack of trust in the confidentiality of census data presents a major barrier to census participation, despite the survey’s mandatory nature.

The U.S. Constitution mandates a counting of all persons in the U.S. every ten years. That count is of all people, and not just citizens. Anything that threatens an accurate count should be avoided.

To reduce the risks associated with new technology, Census Bureau staff have been conducting extensive research and testing for years. Now they are racing against the clock to be fully prepared to conduct a successful and affordable count.

The census is a self-portrait of the nation. The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government count everyone living in the country every 10 years.

Every 10 years, the United States conducts a “Decennial Census.” The goal of the census is to count every person who lives in the country where they live.

El censo es un autorretrato de la nación. La constitución de los EE. UU. requiere que el gobierno federal haga un conteo de todas las personas que residen en los Estados Unidos cada 10 años.

In this webinar, learn from national Census experts about how we can protect and improve on the Census' accuracy, so that low-income communities are not shortchanged.

In this webinar, audiences learned about the importance of the decennial census, the challenges it currently is facing, how the decennial census has historically undercounted young children, what this means for this population and what you can do about it.

After extensive research to improve data collection on Hispanic origin and race, the Census Bureau recommended a new combined question format for the 2020 Census form.

For more than 150 years, civic leaders used [census] information to advance discriminatory policies and maintain positions of privilege and power for the majority White population, even in the face of constitutional amendments abolishing slavery, establishing equal protection under the law, and guaranteeing voting rights for all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, and national origin.

The public comment of Deborah Stein, J.D., Network Director of the Partnership for America’s Children to the Census National Advisory Committee Meeting, June, 2018

On March 26, 2018, the Secretary of Commerce agreed to a Department of Justice request, and announced a last minute decision to add an untested and unnecessary citizenship question to the 2020 Census questionnaire. By adopting a major change to the Census form without any sound advance testing, the Department has violated settled Census Bureau policy.

Use these hard-to-count tables to find tracts that have been historically undercounted.

Use these hard-to-count tables to find tracts that have been historically undercounted.

Use these hard-to-count tables to find tracts that have been historically undercounted.

Use these hard-to-count tables to find tracts that have been historically undercounted.

Use these hard-to-count tables to find tracts that have been historically undercounted.

From the inclusion of a new citizenship question, to the exclusion of a “Middle Eastern or North African” category and combined question format, consistent underfunding, and a leadership vacuum, the accuracy of the 2020 Census is being threatened.

Research by AAI and Zogby International suggest that the Census Bureau estimate is likely significantly lower than the actual number of Arab Americans in the country.

This memo offers relevant background on these threats to a fair, accurate, and cost-effective census and comprehensive ACS, as well as arguments to counter these ill-advised, costly and, in some cases, unconstitutional proposals.

Adding a new question on citizenship to the 2020 Census will disrupt preparations at a pivotal point in the decade, undermine years of research and testing, jeopardize the accuracy of the 2020 Census by deterring many people from responding, and increase census costs significantly.

Because it is part of the constitutionally mandated census, participation in filling out the ACS is required by law. There is no other source for the reliable, nationwide, community-level data gathered through the ACS.

The census is the basis for equal political representation under the Constitution. Policymakers use census data to identify community needs and to distribute federal program dollars to states and localities based on population numbers or other community characteristics that the census and related American Community Survey measure.

Health care providers, health insurance companies, government agencies, and beneficiaries need accurate information to make decisions regarding the products and services they provide and utilize. An inaccurate measure of the U.S. population and its characteristics could deprive the health care sector of vital resources needed to ensure it is meeting each community’s needs.

At a macro level, the 2010 Census appeared to be close to perfect. But the apparent precision can be misleading and doesn’t tell the whole story. This Fact Sheet discusses what we know about census accuracy and why it matters to funders and their grantees.

The 2020 Census and the ACS are currently facing fiscal, operational, and policy threats that could jeopardize a fair and accurate count, which would weaken data used by the health care, education, housing, local government, transportation, and manufacturing sectors and could reduce federal funding of critical programs.

Young children – defined as children under age five – have been undercounted for decades, disadvantaging their families, communities, and neighborhoods.

More U.S. households are renting today than at any point in the last 50 years. In total, more than one third of U.S. households are renters (37 percent), a number that has ballooned since the start of the Great Recession.