changes in definitions in 2020 census regarding cdp's and townships

changes in definitions in 2020 census regarding cdp

National What The New Census Data Can - And Can't - Tell Us About People Living In The U.S.

'It's not just a straightforward line over time in measuring that population.' But in fact, other ways in which we have shaped the census actually have an effect on that white count,' Morning says. 'It's true that 'White' is the single race category that has always been with us since our very first census in 1790. Some data crunchers have used historic terms to describe the 2.6% drop in what the bureau has called the 'non-Hispanic white alone' population (that is, people who checked off only the 'White' box and did not identify as Hispanic or Latino) - the supposed 'first' time this group has not grown in the more than two centuries since the country's original count.īut comparing race data from the 2020 census with data from earlier counts can be a bit like comparing 'apples and oranges,' notes Ann Morning, a sociologist and demographer at New York University who has served on one of the bureau's committees of outside advisers. But the country's ever-changing ideas about race and ethnicity are continuing to push academics, policymakers and other members of the public to reassess whiteness and the census data used to redraw voting maps, combat racial discrimination, guide federal funding and inform research and planning for the next 10 years.Ĭomparing race data over time can be like comparing 'apples and oranges'

'Why are many of us so interested in watching what's happening with this specific group of non-Hispanic white Americans? It's puzzling to me that we are so concerned about it.'įor decades in the news media, a population the bureau recently described as 'White alone non-Hispanic' has become synonymous with the white population of the United States. 'There are a lot of complications involved with how we categorize race, including the white population,' says Jennifer Richeson, a psychologist at Yale University who studies racial identity. Some recent analysis of the new census data, however, has homed in on a more narrowly defined group with falling numbers - people who only marked the 'White' box for the race question and did not identify as Hispanic or Latino (which is not a racial category according to federal standards).

Changes in definitions in 2020 census regarding cdp's and townships