Countries across the Americas are tweaking their census to better understand their population, allowing them to create more responsive policies. The US still has a ways to go.
When the Census Bureau’s count of the population is inaccurate, it affects representation and government spending. Correcting errors isn’t always allowed.
As the country grew, each census required greater effort than the last. That problem led to the invention of the punched card – and the birth of an industry.
The US Census Bureau has announced which states will gain and lose representation in Congress as a result of the 2020 census. Here’s how it makes the calculations.
Robin E. Best, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Steve B. Lem, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
When voters in November pick among the candidates for state legislatures, they are choosing the people who will make the new electoral maps for congressional elections.
The census will likely count fewer Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, Asian Americans and Americans of Hispanic or Latino origin than there actually are.
Emily Klancher Merchant, a historian of science and technology at the University of California at Davis, shares some of the most interesting stories behind the 2020 census questionnaire
It’s important to strike a balance between protecting Americans’ privacy and having accurate statistics for governments and businesses to make data-based decisions.
Rebecca Tippett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
How accurate will the 2020 census be? A demographer explains which communities are hard to count, how the coronavirus could affect the process and what’s at stake.
Rebecca Tippett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The 2020 census will now count some groups differently than it has in the past. That could make a difference in the final count – affecting which states receive funding and congressional seats.
Census data are used to determine federal funding on everything from highway construction to poverty services. With many students heading back to their parents’ homes, college towns may take a hit.