Census 2010 – Finding the Hard-To-Count
By Evan Armstrong
Community Engagement VISTA
As covered in previous posts, it is vitally important that the 2010 Census counts every person living in America. This ensures that federal resources are allocated fairly, legislative representation is accurate, local governments understand who is living in their districts, and much more. The challenge then for the Census Bureau is discovering which populations will be the hardest to count, and how they can increase census turnout in those areas.
The Hard-To-Count (HTC) population varies by region, but there are some basic assumptions that can be made on which groups prove the most challenging to count. The government uses 12 identifiers to label HTC areas, including: language barriers, education, telephone access, unemployment rate, poverty rate, and housing vacancy rate.
People in these circumstances are much less likely to be aware of the census, to receive a questionnaire in their mail, and to know that is smart, safe, and easy to fill it out and mail it in.
In the 2000 Census, 20% of Americans lived in Hard-To-Count areas. And unfortunately, this problem is the most noticeable in communities for racial and ethnic minorities. Organizing data by race reveals these troubling statistics (courtesy of US Census Bureau):
- 78% of Native American majority tracts are Hard-To-Count
- 73% of Hispanic majority tracts are HTC
- 61% of African American majority tracts are HTC
- But less than 1% of tracts that have a high concentration of Non-Hispanic Whites are HTC
Minorities are the most at-risk of being undercounted in the census, which drains valuable funding and attention away from the wards that most need it. When language barriers, fear of government, and unfamiliarity with the census are factored in as well, achieving high turnout in HTC areas becomes a formidable challenge.
And aside from race and ethnicity, there are many other ways to identify at-risk groups less likely to fill out census forms. People leading nomadic lifestyles are harder to track down, as are those with a high fear of government. The indicators used show that recent immigrants, the homeless, college students, extreme rural communities, racial/ethnic enclaves, and people living in poverty are some of the most vulnerable populations to being undercounted.
So remember, it is important to recognize how important the census is to everyone in the country! Maximizing turnout is in your interest, for local and state resources depend on an accurate count to provide the necessary services to every county in America.
To look up your address and see if you live or work in a HTC area, try out this resource from the Community Research Institute in Michigan: http://www.cridata.org/htc/ . Scores over 60 are labeled as Hard-To-Count by the Census Bureau.
To see maps of the Hard-To-Count areas in Missouri, visit: http://oa.mo.gov/mocensus/publications/
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:17 pm
I do not live in an HTC area. First I received a notice via the US Mail that I would be receiving the Census form in the mail in a few weeks. This was a waste of tax payers money. On March 1, 2010 the Census form was delivered in person to my front door by a census worker. Another waste of tax payers money. Why not just mail the form? While our country is on the the verge of bankruptcy this administration continues to waste the tax payers money and further jeopardise our economic recovery.