The Census Counts

Ten years ago, Americans who turned on the television in February to watch the Winter Olympics or check out the latest episode of Lost likely saw an ad urging them to “march to the mailbox” in the month of March. It was a message from the Census Bureau and part of a major media campaign that included hundreds of ads in 28 languages targeting every household in the United States.

I know about these ads because I was part of the team that produced them. I’d been hired by Scholastic, Inc. to direct the Census in Schools project, part of the massive communications effort that provided maps, lessons and take-home information about the census for use in schools in every state and territory.

I was excited about pointing students and teachers to the rich trove of data available to all of us via the Census Bureau. But the point of all the education was improving the accuracy of the census, increasing the number of people who responded right away by mail and, most importantly, reducing the “differential undercount.” That was the official term for the fact that people from some marginalized and vulnerable groups—immigrants, people who don’t speak English, those living in poverty or experiencing homelessness, people in temporary housing and children—were historically undercounted or “hard to count.” The big push was to reach “hard to count” people, explain how they’d benefit from being counted, assure them the process was safe and encourage their participation.

The goal of every census is to ensure every person living in the country gets counted; this is true of the 2020 headcount as well—but a lot has changed in 10 years. While most households will still get the notice about the census in the mail, they’ll be able to skip the march to the mailbox and, instead, respond online or by phone. In 2010, the final mail response rate was 74 percent—one of the highest in decades. In 2020, by contrast, the Census Bureau is predicting that only 60.5 percent of households will “self-respond.” To find and count the people who don’t respond, the Census Bureau will send tens of thousands of enumerators into communities to start knocking on doors.

Getting an accurate and complete headcount in 2020 will be harder than ever because so many of those classified “hard to count” doubt whether it’s safe to respond at all. Given our political climate, their fears are certainly understandable. But more than half the students in U.S. public schools belong to groups that risk being undercounted. The children you teach, the families you serve and the communities in which you work have a lot riding on an accurate census count. Educators can help by educating families, encouraging participation and dispelling rumors. Here’s what you—and your school community—need to know.

Why Is the Census Important?

The results determine how power and money are distributed for the next decade. The number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives is fixed at 435, but the way they’re divided among the states depends on where people live. Experts estimate that, if everyone were counted, states like Arizona, Florida, Texas and North Carolina would gain House seats—and Electoral College votes. Meanwhile, states like Illinois, New York, Alabama and Michigan stand to lose their clout in Washington. And it doesn’t stop there: State and local districts also get redrawn based on census results.

Another reason to take the census seriously is that governments at all levels, as well as private businesses, make decisions based on census data. Businesses use the data to determine where to build new offices and facilities that attract jobs to communities. The federal government alone distributes over $700 billion every year to support housing, education, transportation, infrastructure, health care and more, and it’s allocated according to population. Communities where everyone is counted see more dollars for public services.