Young Children Often Missed During Census, Report Says
From Report on Preschool Programs, November 10, 1999
Early childhood practitioners, particularly those in inner cities, need to take a pro-active stance on the 2000 senses to avoid undercounting of youngsters, new research suggests.
A report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation says young children are particularly at risk of undercounts in the 2000 Census, based largely on findings from the 1990 Census process.
In 1990, preschoolers were three times more likely than young teenagers to miss census counters, said the report, The Overlooked Undercount: Children Missing in the Decennial Census. Overall, 3.7 percent of children under age five were not included in the 1990 Census, the report said. This rate compares to just 1.2 percent of those ages 10 to 14. Older teens often are over-counted because the Census will count them once at their parents’ home and at their college residents.
“Young children are more likely to be missed,” said William P. O’Hare, who authored the report, partly because some poor preschoolers reside with neither parent. Those most at risk are minority children, who are disproportionately missed during the decennial Census, he added.
State & Local Figures
The report provides a breakdown by state and city, with Rhode Island the least likely state to undercount children. Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas had the highest rate of child undercounts at 4.5 percent.
Among cities, Oakland, California, the Miami had the highest rates of undercounts, with seven percent of children not reported in 1990. Other cities with high percentages included Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
Minority children in individual cities also lose out in large numbers, the foundation said. In Houston, the 1990 Census missed 7.3 percent of Hispanic children, while in Detroit, counters missed 6.2 percent of black children.
The main result of undercounting is that communities are “robbed” of their fair share of federal funding, particularly funds earmarked to poor communities, O’Hare said. The federal government in 1988 awarded about $185 billion in population-based grant funding.
Early childhood practitioners have particular interest in this issue, since programs that award funds based on population include the Child Care and Development Block Grant, special education in the Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, the report said.
The vast majority of this $185 billion in population-based funds - $104 billion - goes to states for Medicaid health-care services to low-income Americans. “The high undercount rate for children in large cities means significant numbers of kids most in need of assistance are not even included in the data used to distribute public funds,” O’Hare said.
Undercounts also affect funding from foundations and other charitable organizations, which may make “misguided” decisions about funding and programming based on the inaccurate data.
Overall, about 4 percent of children the South and West failed to be included in the 1990 Census. The rate was about 2 percent in Northeast and Midwest.
Reasons for an Undercount
Factors that may make undercounts more likely in 2000 include the growing number of residents with limited English skills, lack of time for single parents to complete forms and the number of children in transient living arrangements. Overall, 3 million children, or 4.1 percent, lived with neither parent in 1998, up from 1.8 million children who had such a temporary living arrangement at the time of the 1990 Census.
Moreover, many parents tend to fill in household members based on age, with the oldest residents listed first and youngest last. “The persons listed last are in highest jeopardy of being left off the form if the respondent runs of space or gets interrupted,” O’Hare said.
Moreover, the 2000 Census form will provide only enough space for six household members. Yet in 1990, 2.4 million children lived in households with eight or more family members, and the 1998 population survey found 5.6 million children living in households with seven or more people.
An accurate 2000 Census count deserves the “highest priority,” since it will help health experts set public policy for the 21st Century, O’Hare said.
The Overlooked Undercount: Children Missed in the Decennial Census is available from the Annie E. Casey Foundation at http://www.aecf.org.