Economy

One-Third of Americans Question How 2020 Census Data Will Be Used, Shared

Paul Ausick

Published: February 21, 2020 11:55 am

Americans’ trust in the federal government fell to just 25% in a 2019 survey conducted by Pew Research. A new survey conducted by the Urban Institute found that nearly a third (32.3%) of Americans are either extremely or very concerned about how the data they provide for the 2020 Census will be used and with which other federal agencies the data will be shared.

The Urban Institute survey result should be no surprise given the lack of trust in U.S. government institutions. More than a third (36%) of respondents to the Pew survey link the lack of trust to the government’s poor performance, because it does either too much or too little, or it does the wrong things or even does nothing at all. The president and his administration are mentioned by name in 14% of written answers as contributing to the lack of trust, while Democrats get a smaller share of the blame. Fully 10% attribute the decline of trust in the news media.

The impact of this wariness is particularly important for the Census Bureau. The number of Americans who answer the surveys that will soon begin being mailed out affects the number of representatives a state has in the U.S. Congress and how federal dollars will be spread among the states.

Fortunately, perhaps, the vast majority of Americans (77.2%) plan to return the census surveys, setting aside their misgivings about how the data will be used and shared. Among millennials, however, just 67% plan to return the census forms. The planned return rate also was lower among Hispanics (71%) and people in families that include immigrants (69%), according to a report from Pew Research.

Nearly 70% of Americans continue to believe that the Census Bureau will ask which people in their households are citizens, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such a question could not be included in the survey.

Almost another third (31.6%) believe it is extremely or very likely that the census will be used to identify people living in the United States without documentation, despite federal laws that prohibit the Census Bureau from doing so. Another third believe it is somewhat likely that this kind of identification will occur.

Unsurprisingly, the belief that census data will be used to find undocumented residents is most common among Americans in families that include non-citizens (40.6%) and in immigrant families concerned about deportation (46.4%).

Census Bureau data is vital for keeping track of state population changes and where the country’s most expensive cities are located for those Americans planning to make a move.