2020 Census: Make sure your child counts
This spring, the U.S. Census Bureau is conducting the decennial census to count the number of people living in the United States. This information is used for many things, including allocating funding for an array of public services.
Some households don’t know how to include their kids in the census count. In fact, in the 2010 decennial census, nearly five percent of young children were not counted nationwide—that’s nearly 1 million kids, according to the Census Bureau.
Our state leaders are particularly concerned for the 2020 Census, because nearly 40 thousand kids, or about 10%, of Missouri’s children younger than five live in hard-to-count areas. Moreover, young children—newborns to age five– are more likely to be missed than any other age group. And for every Missouri adult or child who is not counted, our state will lose $1,300 in federal funds per year, according to the Missouri 2020 Complete Committee.
When responding to the 2020 Census, remember to count all children who live in your home most of the time. The U.S. Census offers families and caregivers some guidelines to help make an accurate count:
- Count children in the home where they live and sleep most of the time, even if their parents do not live there.
- Remember to count newborns. If your baby is still in the hospital on Census Day, April 1, 2020, then count your baby at the home where he or she will live.
- When children spend time in more than one home, count them where they stay most often. If their time is divided equally, count them where they are staying as of April 1, 2020. Make sure to discuss this with the other caregivers to ensure kids are accurately counted.
- If you’re taking care of a friend’s or family member’s child, and the child does not have a permanent place to live, count the child if he or she is staying with you.
The U.S. Census happens only once every decade, but it will impact your everyday life—from the roads you drive on, to your quality of healthcare, to your child’s classroom size—for the next ten years. Data derived from the census guides the disbursement of billions of federal dollars every year to all 50 states. The funds are earmarked for programs that impact all of us. For instance, Missouri received $16.5 billion in 2016 for federal programs such as Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch Program (Free and Reduced Lunch), and Section 8 housing. An undercount in 2020 would mean fewer dollars for those services in the future.
The census only takes about 10 minutes to complete and the results will have a profound and lasting impact on the health and well-being of all Missourians, including newborns and children.
April 22, 2020
