Preparing for the Future Now: Counting All Kids in the 2030 Census 

The Decennial Census happens every ten years and it is the only time we count all residents  –adults, children and babies, and citizens and immigrants. Census data informs the allocation of billions of federal, state, and local dollars, and is used by states, localities, and businesses to plan for everything from where to place new stores and schools to how to provide disaster services.

An accurate count of young children in the Census is critical to the child’s and family’s access to resources such as housing, jobs, equitable education, and health care. But the count of young children has been getting worse since 1980, even as the count of adults has been improving. Nationally, the 2020 Census reported more than 5% fewer children ages 0-4 than we know it should have from vital statistics.

Now, the Census faces new threats, including the loss of three federal advisory committees and threats to the privacy of federal data that may reduce willingness to respond to the Census. This means that funders can do a lot to get more money to kids by focusing on one simple thing – getting them counted!

Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, the Children, Youth and Family Funders Roundtable, Economic Opportunity Funders, and Philanthropy New York, hosted this discussion with Florencia Gutierrez from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and a former member of the National Advisory Committee to the Census Bureau, and Deb Stein from Count All Kids, the campaign to improve the count of young children in the Census, on how census data matters for young children and what actions funders can take now to make sure every child is seen, counted, and valued.

Funders Interested in Getting Involved in Census Initiatives:

• Learn more about the Funders Census Initiative (FCI).
• Join the FCI listserv maintained by the Funders’ Committee Census Initiative.
• Get regular Count All Kids updates (mailing list, blogs, reports and more)
• To connect with discussants or co-hosts, please contact Rena Large, ECFC Program Director.

Co-Hosts: