Due to delays in data collection due to COVID-19, and an effort by Trump’s administration to include a citizenship query on Census forms, the undercount is a result.
The Census Bureau released data on Thursday showing an overcount of the non-Hispanic White population as well as the Asian population. There was also an undercount for children aged 17 and younger.
The undercount rate of Latinos was greater than three times that of the 2010 Census. Meanwhile, the rate at which the Black population was counted was approximately 60% higher than in 2010.
Latinos had a 5.5% undercount in 2020 compared with 1.54% in 2010. In 2020, the undercount rate for Blacks was 3.3%, compared with 2% in 2010. In 2020, the undercount rate for reservations’ indigenous population was 5.64%. This is slightly higher than the 4.8% recorded in 2010.
In 2020, the non-Hispanic white population was overcounted by 0.66%, compared with 0.54% in 2010. In 2020, the Asian population was overcounted at 2.62%. This is an increase from the 0% error in 2010.
Robert L. Santos, Director of Census Bureau, says that the national population count is accurate. The quality of the count is also consistent with recent censuses.
The net coverage undercount for the country was found to be 0.25%, or 782,000 in the post-enumeration survey by the Census Bureau. It did not find an overcount or an undercount.
These numbers are used to determine the federal funding levels for certain areas of public services, and how many Congress seats each state will hold for the next decade. The numbers were released at a national level. However, the bureau will soon release specific numbers for each state.
Santos said, “This is remarkable, given the unprecedented challenges that 2020 presents.” “Taking the whole of today’s findings into consideration, we believe that 2020 Census data can be used for decision-making and painting a vivid picture of our nation’s citizens.
Kelly Percival is a Brennan Center senior counsel and a left-leaning institute for public policy. She said that the undercount was alarming. Also, she noted that this is only the second census since World War II that has been less accurate than the decade prior. She said Trump’s push for a citizenship question on the forms was “unprecedented interference” and that it “definitely played an important role in people’s hesitations about filling out the form.”
“Communities that are well represented in the count have significant political power and can be rewarded with money.” She added that communities that are not counted properly lose their fair share of all our resources.