Lost Time in Census Count

The UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge was recently featured in two news articles covering how the shortened timeline for participation in the 2020 U.S. Census could have catastrophic effects on vulnerable, low-income communities of color.

Paul Ong, research professor and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at UCLA Luskin, spoke to news outlets about the potential impact the new timeline has for participating in the 2020 U.S. Census. The deadline moved from Oct. 31 to Sept. 30, which will “massively and adversely hurt low-income people of color,” Ong told the Orange County Register. “It’s really disappointing to see the Census Bureau ending it one month earlier given the setbacks with the pandemic that already put us on track for a flawed census. The one additional month could have at least somewhat closed the gap. But we’ve lost that time now.” In a Politico story on state and local efforts to encourage census participation, Ong said, “If we don’t have an accurate count, and if we particularly miss the disadvantaged populations who are in need, then it’s those neighborhoods that will be cheated out of money that should be going there.”

Read the Register article here >>> Southern California groups scramble to get accurate census count as deadline looms

Read the Politico article here >>> Cities risk losing out on trillions in federal aid as census deadline looms