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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The Nation's Premier Civil and Human Rights Coalition
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights & The Leadership Conference Education Fund
The Nation's Premier Civil and Human Rights Coalition

Census 2000 Education Kit

Census 2000: An Overview

Why is an Accurate Census So Important?

Article I, Section 2, of the United States Constitution places the census at the core of our democratic system of governance by calling for a count of the nation's population every ten years.1 The decennial census provides information that is the cornerstone of knowledge about the American people. It is the basis for virtually all demographic information used by educators, policy makers, and community leaders.

  • Census data directly affects decisions made on all matters of national and local importance, including education, employment, veterans' services, public health care, rural development, the environment, transportation and housing. Many Federal programs are statutorily required to use decennial data to develop, evaluate and implement their programs;
  • Federal, state, and county governments use census information to guide the annual distribution of hundreds of billions of dollars in critical services;
  • Congressional seats are reapportioned and legislative districts are drawn based on decennial census data; and,
  • The data are also used to monitor and enforce compliance with civil rights statutes, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and employment, housing, lending, and education anti-discrimination laws.

Because the accuracy of the census directly affects our nation's ability to ensure equal representation and equal access to important governmental resources for all Americans, ensuring a fair and accurate census must be regarded as one of the most significant civil rights and equal rights issues facing the country today.

There Is A Need For A Full And Accurate Count in 2000!!

As can be imagined, counting every individual residing in the United States is a very difficult endeavor and despite the Census Bureau's best efforts, some households are missed by the count, some households are counted more than once and still others, respond with incorrect information. The overall accuracy of the census was improving with each census until the last census. In 1990, however, this trend reversed itself and the overall accuracy of the 1990 census actually decreased.

According to the Census Bureau, the 1990 census missed 8.4 million people and double-counted 4.4 million others.

While missing or miscounting so many people is a problem, children, people of color and the rural and urban poor are disproportionately more likely to be missed.

Nationally, the 1990 Census missed 4.4% of African Americans; 5% of persons of Hispanic origin were missed; 2.3% of Asians and Pacific Islanders were missed; and 12.2% of American Indians living on reservations were missed. Children had the highest undercount of all - two million children were missed. In 1990, children made up approximately 26% of the entire U.S. population, but made up 52% of the undercount.

As a result of the inaccuracy of the 1990 census, many individuals were denied an equal voice in their government and many communities were shortchanged on federal and state spending for schools, crime prevention, health care, and transportation. The communities that were shortchanged were those that are most in need of social services and economic development programs. This has meant a continuing hardship for state and local officials trying to serve the needs of their communities because millions of dollars are incorrectly distributed each year based on inaccurate population figures.

The Census Bureau's Plan To Ensure The Fairest And Most Accurate Census 2000 Possible

Following the 1990 census, there was consensus among the Census Bureau, professional statisticians, and Congress that significant changes were required for the upcoming 2000 census. In 1991, bipartisan legislation passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Bush directed "the Secretary of Commerce to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report on means by which the Government could achieve the most accurate population count possible..."2

Over the next several years, numerous panels of professional statisticians examined plans to adapt census methodologies. For example, the National Academy of Sciences Panel to Evaluate Alternative Census Methodologies found, "[c]hange is not the enemy of an accurate and useful census; rather, not changing methods as the United States changes would inevitably result in a seriously degraded census."

In February 1996, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Bureau of the Census unveiled "The Plan For Census 2000" in response to the 1991 legislation and the subsequent guidelines and recommendations of the National Academy of Science.

The plan for 2000 combines a more aggressive enumeration effort Ñ including sending replacement questionnaires to non-responding households, using paid advertising, designing an easier-to-understand form, and making forms available in public places with modern scientific sampling techniques to eliminate the pervasive undercount of children, people of color and the urban and rural poor.

The scientific sampling methods would not substitute for an aggressive effort to count everyone directly. Instead, as a complement to an aggressive enumeration effort, scientific sampling would help the Bureau account for all residents, even those who historically have been hardest to reach through traditional counting methods.

The alternative to introducing a limited use of modern scientific sampling is to continue with the old methods that produced the least accurate census in five decades. We can expect a national undercount of 1.9 percent of the population if the 2000 census is modeled after the 1990 census as compared to a national undercount of less than .01 percent if the modern methods are used.

An Accurate Census Affects Every Individual In Every Community

In addition to serving as the basis for apportionment of representation in Congress and federal, state and local redistricting, census data also provide the funding basis for education, health care, the environment, transportation, and a variety of other programs that affect every individual in every community in the nation. Below is a sample of programs affected by census figures:

Education

  • Goals 2000 - State and Local Education Systematic Improvement Program
  • Technology Innovation Challenge Grants
  • Title I Program for Neglected and Delinquent Children
  • Special Education - Grants for Infants and Families With Disabilities
  • Indian Education - Grants to Local Educational Agencies
  • Education for Homeless Children and Youth

Health Care

  • Nursing Student Loans
  • Health Education and Training Centers
  • Head Start
  • Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness
  • Cooperative Agreements for Drug Abuse Treatment Improvement Projects
  • HIV Emergency Relief Project Grants

Environment

  • Wildlife Restoration
  • Air and Water Pollution Control Program Support
  • Hardship Grants Program for Rural Communities
  • Hazardous Waste Management State Program Support

Transportation

  • State and Community Highway Safety, Planning and Construction
  • Airport Improvement Program
  • Public Transportation for Nonurbanized Areas

Children

  • Childcare for Families At Risk of Welfare Dependency
  • Child Abuse and Neglect - State Grants
  • Title I Program for Neglected and Delinquent Children
  • Special Education - Grants for Infants and Families With Disabilities
  • Education for Homeless Children and Youth
  • Head Start

Seniors

  • Grants for Supportive Services and Senior Centers
  • Nutrition Services
  • In Home Services for Frail Older Individuals
  • Disease Prevention And Health Promotion Services
  • Programs for Prevention of Elderly Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation

Individuals with Disabilities

  • Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities
  • Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP)
  • Supported Employment Services for Individuals with Severe Disabilities
  • Developmental Disabilities - Basic Support and Advocacy Groups

Women

  • Violence Against Women Formula Grant
  • Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to the States
  • Family Violence Prevention Services - Grants for Battered Women's Shelters - Grants to State Indian Tribes

The Undercount and Native Americans

  • Native American Employment and Training Programs
  • Indian Education - Grants to Local Educational Agencies
  • Urban Indian Health Services
  • Family Violence Prevention Services - Grants to State Indian Tribes

Urban Communities

  • Empowerment Zones Program
  • Cooperative Agreements for Drug Abuse Treatment Improvement Projects
  • Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program

Rural Communities

  • Appalachian Local Access Roads
  • Rural Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance
  • Rural Rental Assistance Payments (Direct Payments for Specific Use)
  • Rural Electrification Loans and Loan Guarantee

1 The Constitution of the United States requires the Congress to conduct an "actual enumeration" of the "whole number of persons within each state" every ten years.

2 Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1991 P.L. 102-135 - signed into law 10/24/91

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