New Research Identifies New York’s Hardest-to-Count Communities for 2020 Census

In the face of historic challenges ahead of the 2020 Census, New York’s foundations and nonprofits must step forward to invest in aggressive efforts to ensure those in marginalized, hard-to-reach communities are fully counted, according to a new report issued today. The report is funded by the New York State Census Equity Fund in which The New York Women’s Foundation is a proud contributor and supporter.

In part with our commitment to making New York City and the country a democracy that works for all, we are a proud funder in the New York State Census Equity Fund which is housed in the New York Community Trust. A new report issued today by the Fund in partnership with the Rockefeller Institute identifies 50 communities across the state that are most at risk to be undercounted in 2020 and includes recommendations for how New York’s foundations and nonprofits can do their part in ensuring that these communities get the support that they need.
Two key challenges to New York for the 2020 Census are:

1. The consequences of a potential addition of a citizenship question: Many of our grantee partners have highlighted concerns that immigrants and their families will be afraid to participate in the census – especially due to mounting efforts by the government to separate parents and children at the border and increased raids by ICE.
2. The move to online questionnaires: For the first time, census data will be collected online which can lead to undercounting for individuals who do not have reliable internet access – most of whom live in areas that are already historically undercounted.

The report highlights additional concerns as New York had one of the lowest response rates in the country during the most recent census in 2020. The low response rate was especially acute among some populations that are already historically underinvested and marginalized including communities of color, low-income households, immigrants, rural households and young children
We invite you to read the report and its recommendations for how state’s philanthropic communities can help support a complete count in light of these challenges. Click here to read the report.