According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only just under 40% of New Yorkers have responded to the 2020 Census as of late April.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep parts of the country under restrictions, the U.S. Census Bureau and local officials are reminding people to fill out the 2020 Census. NYC Census 2020 held its second citywide “Text Out The Count” mobilization on April 23 to boost census participation across the city. The effort had a special focus on neighborhoods with lower census self-response rates.
“The truth is, there are so many within this nation who are disenfranchised from receiving adequate and affordable care due to socio-economic circumstances,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson in a statement. “This virus will have dire consequences on so many, but specifically African Americans, who suffer from higher rates of chronic illness. When the administration is not working for communities, those communities can suffer. We want to make
sure to get the information out to our communities as much as possible.”
The local census campaign changed its outreach to reach New Yorkers remotely by clawing back investments in subway advertisements, shifting more resources to TV, foreign language radio and digital advertising and embarking on March 22 and 23 hosting the first ever citywide peer-to-peer textathon.
Even rapper Cardi B got in on the efforts calling on New Yorkers to fill out the census in a PSA. The PSA features Cardi B emphasizing how the census is safe, easy to fill out, and vital for New Yorkers to make their voices heard and their communities counted, and touting the online options for filling out the census.
“When you take a few minutes to fill out the census, you make sure that your community in New York City is counted and that it receives its fair share of critical resources for children’s health insurance, hospitals, senior centers, and more,” said Julie Menin, director of NYC Census 2020.
“While the U.S. Census Bureau has delayed their field outreach by two weeks. By filling out the census now, you are ensuring that no Census Bureau workers will need to visit your home later this summer.”
Amid the current COVID-19 health crisis, officials are also using the situation as an example as to why full participation in the 2020 Census is needed. Census data determines allocations for funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and hospitals. Data is also used by public health officials to get the foundational data that public health experts use to plan for and manage situations like COVID-19.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently sent reminder notice postcards to an estimated 69 million households that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. About 53.4% of households across the country have already responded since invitations began arriving in mailboxes on March 12.
According to the Census Bureau’s online response map tracking the nation’s participation in the census, almost 79 million households have already responded online, by phone or by mail. Households will receive another reminder postcard in the mail through May 9. The Census Bureau pushed back this mailing to allow the paper questionnaire package to arrive several days ahead of the postcard.
Households who do not respond to the 2020 Census will receive a visit from an enumerator (census taker) later on this year.
