Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Census Bureau planned to use April 1, “Census Day,” to kick off in-person counting and outreach efforts that are key to the 2020 count.
Efforts to stop the spread of the virus scuttled those efforts, pushing a census process already rocked by controversy into unprecedented territory. Vulnerable communities already considered difficult to count — young children, the elderly, rural residents and people of color — face greater risk of being left out of the count, which is used to divvy up congressional representation, more than $1.5 trillion of federal spending, and more.
People can still self-respond to the census questionnaire online, over the phone or by mail, but “everything else is critically affected because everything else requires people to go out and visit,” said University of Chicago professor Colm O’Muircheartaigh. Continue reading.