2020 Census Update: Diversity Rising and Response Rates

(Publish 07.05.2020) -- While people were making plans for Independence Day, which commemorates the establishment of the United States as a sovereign nation on July 4th, people at the U.S. Census Office were releasing population information. The new data tells the story of a rapidly diversifying United States of America. William H. Frey, Ph.D., a sociologist specializing in U.S. demographics for the Brookings Institute, analyzed and compiled the Census data, and shared his findings. As shown in the chart, the White population consistently decreased during 2000-2019; from 69.1% to 63.8%, to 60.1%. Conversely, Latino or Hispanic and Asian American populations consistently increased during the same timeframe. Black, American Indian, and other groups maintained or slightly increased their respective share of the population. Frey also examined data for the “Under Age 16” cohort of the U.S. population. He stated, “In 2019, for the first time, more than half of the nation’s population under age 16 identified as a racial or ethnic minority. Among this group, Latino or Hispanic (25.8%) and Black (13.7%) residents together comprise nearly 40% of the population. The fact that nonwhite groups hold an even bigger presence among younger generations suggests that diversity will have a lasting impact on our economy, politics, and society in the 21st century.” To ensure legislative representation and federal funding is available to meet the needs of a diverse population for the next decade, every response is needed for an accurate population count. Even though Westchester County’s recently reported Census 2020 Response Rate of 62.8% is slightly above the U.S. Response Rate of 61.9%, and well above New York’s Response Rate of 57.3%, opportunities remain for residents to join the count. The Census can be completed online (my2020census.gov), by phone (1-844-330-2020/English and (844) 468-2020/Spanish), or by mailing back the Census form. For the young and tech-savvy at heart, consider using social media to conduct Census outreach, via: #census, #becounted, #everyonecounts, #countmein, #wecount, #shapeyourfuture, #countusin, #countthenation, #uscensus, and #cometoyourcensus. William H. Frey’s findings can be downloaded: https://www.brookings.edu/research/new-census-data-shows-the-nation-is-diversifying-even-faster-than-predicted or http://www.frey-demographer.org.