The Trump Administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census will not only reduce responses by immigrants and thereby make the count less accurate, experts say, but it also could trigger new costs that offset part of the added census funding that the President and Congress just provided....
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Underfunding the 2020 Census Would Likely Harm a Diverse Range of Communities, Including Many in Rural America
March 1, 2018
President Trump’s latest requests for 2018 and 2019 Census Bureau funding are too low to ensure an accurate 2020 census, as I wrote recently. One point deserves further attention: an underfunded, poorly executed census could hurt a diverse range of communities, leaving them...
After Budget Deal, Policymakers Should Boost 2018 Funding for the 2020 Census
February 16, 2018
With President Trump and Congress boosting overall non-defense discretionary funding for 2018 and 2019, they now must use some of these funds for the fast-approaching 2020 census. The President’s latest request for 2018 funding for the census moves in the right direction but remains below what outside experts believe is needed to ensure an accurate census count, and it omits funds for...
Many Veterans Wouldn’t Fully Benefit from Senate Tax Bill’s Child Tax Credit Increase
November 27, 2017
The Senate tax bill increases the Child Tax Credit (CTC) from $1,000 to $2,000 per child, but many working families – including many with parents who are veterans – wouldn't get the full increase because their incomes are too low. In fact, many veterans would receive only a token increase of $75 or less.
Nationally, 10 million children under age 17 in working families would get no more...
Don’t Underfund the Census, AEI and CBPP Researchers Agree
September 29, 2017
The American Enterprise Institute’s Andrew Biggs and I are together urging Congress to adequately fund the Census Bureau as it prepares for the 2020 census. Although our organizations frequently disagree on policy matters, Andrew and I strongly agree that policymakers and businesses can’t make good decisions without good data, as we explained in a joint letter...
Census Says Four Programs — Which House Eyes for Cuts — Keep Millions From Poverty
September 12, 2017
As the House prepares to vote on a budget plan to cut safety net programs — including tax credits for low- and moderate-income working families and food assistance, and almost inevitable cuts in housing assistance — the Census Bureau today released...
Shortchanging the Census Would Shortchange Many Communities
July 31, 2017
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a 2018 funding bill that would dramatically underfund the Census Bureau and, in particular, the work needed to ensure that the constitutionally-required 2020 decennial census provides an accurate picture of every community in America. This underfunding could endanger the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the data that businesses, communities,...
Census Funding in Crisis
June 28, 2017
Revised August 28th, 2017
Despite the need to ramp up preparations for the fast-approaching 2020 census, President Trump’s 2018 budget would boost funding for the Census Bureau by just 2 percent ($27 million) next year — far less than what’s needed to ensure a successful census. The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed...
Obama’s, and the Safety Net’s, Anti-Poverty Achievement
December 19, 2016
With President Obama leaving office, it’s worth recalling, with updated data, one of his notable achievements: the 2009 Recovery Act, which helped prevent a historic rise in poverty despite the worst recession since the 1930s. Using newly available data, we estimate that the act, which strengthened key parts of the safety net, kept nearly 9 million Americans from falling below the poverty...
Pediatricians: Safety Net Key to Children’s Health and Development
September 23, 2016
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) called on policymakers this week to do more for children’s health and development — and some of its strongest words concerned not health care but families’ economic security and opportunity.
“When a family lacks access to steady income, stable housing, adequate nutrition, and social and emotional support, it threatens the future of children and...
