Census tries to make young black men count

Census tries to make young black men count

As organizing efforts for the 2010 census shift into high gear, the U.S. Census Bureau is paying particular attention to what they say is one of the hardest-to-count segments of the national populace: 18 to 25 year-old people of color, especially young men. Bureau research published in 2008 and based on census response rates 10 years ago reveals that the populations least likely to be counted are: 1) Economically Disadvantaged, 2) Unattached/Single and 3) Living in High Density Ethnic Enclaves. "We are dealing with a national phenomenon in terms of which groups are consistently undercounted," says Sonny Le, media specialist at the Seattle Regional Census Center. "We're talking primarily about young adults in the African-American, Latino, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities." For Le and his colleagues, understanding why youth in the country's ethnic communities are consistently undercounted is crucial as they plan ways to increase response rates to the 2010 census questionnaire, which will be mailed out to every residence in the United States and Puerto Rico this March. Since 1790, the federal government has been constitutionally mandated to conduct the census -- a complete enumeration of the U.S. population -- every 10 years. One reason for the low response rates, says Le, is perhaps the most obvious: 18 to 25 year-olds now were only children when the last census was conducted. This is their first real experience of the census. They may not know what the census is, let alone how it impacts their communities. Continued at "The Washington Informer":http://www.washingtoninformer.com/wi-web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2767:2010-census-challenge-counting-young-black-men&catid=51:national&Itemid=114