On April 1, the U.S. Census Bureau will begin counting and categorizing Americans—an effort made once every decade since 1790, when Thomas Jefferson launched the first census.*

The 2000 census has profound implications for children. Communities across the country are mobilizing to make sure that more children are counted, and with good reason. Ten years ago, the census double-counted about 4.4 million people, and missed 8.4 million others—for a net undercount of 4 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of the uncounted, more than half—2.1 million—were children.

Why is the census important for children?

• The census determines how much federal money is spent on a region and how many legislators each state sends to Washington. Because of the 1990 undercount, states lost millions of dollars in federal funds for education, day care, health care, and housing assistance.

• The census serves as a national early warning system of social trends affecting families. Among the dramatic findings of the 1990 census was that the number of children living with their grandparents or relatives other than their parents had jumped 44 percent, compared to the preceding decade.

• When children are undercounted, "school planners are confronted with more kids than they expect, resulting in increased class size and overcrowded schools," according to Kids Count Program Coordinator, William O'Hare. A Kids Count report called "The Overlooked Undercount: Children Missed in the Decennial Census," pointed out that in New York City, the 1990 census missed 77,000 children, equivalent to the number of children in 150 average-sized elementary and secondary schools. And in Los Angeles, 52,000 kids went uncounted --the equivalent of 100 average-sized schools.

• Overcounting of older Americans can mislead policy makers in ways that hurt kids. In 1990, people aged 50 and older were overcounted by one percent. So were older teen-agers. Pre-schoolers were three times as likely to missed as younger teens, according to O'Hare. The younger the child, the more likely he or she was to be missed.

• The census can signal important regional demographic changes. For example, Arizona is often considered the land of retirees. The 1990 count revealed a different truth. A Census Bureau Official said, "Most of people who move to Phoenix and to Arizona are younger, in their family formation years."

• The census also helps shape private-sector decisions. "For example, inaccurate data may lead private foundations and nonprofit organizations to make misguided decisions about where to focus resources or may result in missed business opportunities for the private sector," writes O'Hare, of Kids Count.

Obstacles to an Accurate Count in 2000
Though governments, advocacy agencies, and communities are working hard to avoid a recurrence of the 1990 undercount, they face persistent obstacles and new challenges.

Poor children are among the least likely Americans to be counted. Poor children are more likely to live in unstable households where census compliance is low. In Milwaukee, so many children were missed in 1990 that the census count of the number of 1- and 2-year-old children in the entire city was no greater than the number of such children listed on welfare rolls in some inner-city neighborhoods, according to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Employment and Training Institute.

Even more difficult to track: undocumented immigrants. Tougher immigration and welfare reform laws mean that these people will be even less likely to open their doors to census takers. Many fear that sharing such information will lead to their arrest and deportation by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Consequently, Hispanic and Asian-American organizations have asked the federal government to discontinue INS searches for undocumented immigrants until the 2000 census is finished.

Other factors may further exacerbate the undercounting of children this time around, according to Kids Count and other sources. Among them:

• In 2000, people may be more resistant to census questions because of increased distrust of government, and less inclined to answer mailed census questionnaires because of the increase in junk mail.

• More children are living in the regions of the country that, in 1990, had the most egregious undercounts: the South and West. In addition, "People living in distressed inner-city neighborhoods are more likely to be missed in the census, and trends suggest that more kids are living in high-poverty, inner-city neighborhoods," writes O'Hare.

• Children of joint custody are less likely to have a single, reportable place of residence. The number of children living with divorced or separated parents increased by more than one million kids from 1990 to 1998, according to the Census Bureau. Moreover, the proportion of kids living with neither parent is increasing.

• Time-poor parents have less patience for filling out census questionnaires. This is especially true for single parents. In 1990, 25 percent of the nation's children lived with one parent; by 1997, 28 percent did, according to the DHHS study. Because of welfare reform and a stronger economy, more single parents are working.

• More children live in families where English is not the primary language, making it more difficult for adults to fill out census forms. Between 1989 and 1995, the number of 5- to 17-year-olds who spoke a language other than English at home increased from 5.5 million in 1989 to 6.7 million in 1995, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Counting Race
New rules about how the U.S. Census approaches the touchy issue of racial identification could confuse or discourage some people from cooperating, at least according to some experts.

"Since its inception, when blacks were counted as 3/5ths of a person, the census always has reflected how race is perceived in America," writes Jeff Kunerth, a reporter for The Orlando Sentinel Tribune.

In the early years of the U.S. Census, the primary reason census-takers categorized people by race was to count slaves. Until 1960, census-takers went door to door, identifying the race of the individual—who had no choice in the matter—based on appearance and on how their neighbors perceived them. If a person was known to have any African ancestry, he or she was checked off as black. The government often used census information as a tool of discrimination.

After 1960, however, census statistics regarding race were used for very different reasons: to support integration and civil rights; and as a key determinant of how, and in which communities, government monies are invested.

Now comes another sea-change.

• During the past three decades, the number of interracial marriages in the nation has jumped from 100,000 to more than 1.5 million. In the same period, the number of children with parents of different races more than quadrupled—to an estimated 2 million.

• Children of mixed race are much more widely accepted, often admired, than in the past. Today, more Americans "may be willing to identify themselves as mixed-race because of high-profile celebrities such as golfer Tiger Woods, singer Mariah Carey and baseball player Derek Jeter who identify themselves as multiracial," Kunerth adds.

• An increasing number of Americans are identifying themselves as Native American, a trend that demographers and tribal leaders as the "Dancing With Wolves" phenomenon. Between 1980 and 1990, the number of Americans identifying themselves as Native Americans grew by 500,000 and demographers predict the 2000 census will produce another jump.

The new census rules reflect a growing awareness of this change, and America's complex racial heritage. Out: the old way of categorizing race. In: a new census form that will, for the first time, allow Americans to identify themselves as a combination of races. In other words, rather than checking a single box for white, a person might check off Caucasian, African-American, and Asian, thereby more accurately identifying their racial heritage.

However, some political and community leaders worry that the new approach could result in reduced political power for minority groups. Such a dramatic change in how race is counted could lead to a redistribution of federal money and political representation.

"For Asian-Americans, what that means is we are going to lose numbers again and the undercount will be even more problematic," said John Tateishi, director of the Japanese American Citizens League in San Francisco, quoted in the Orlando Sentinel Tribune. Why? Because Asian-Americans have a high rate of interracial marriage. More than half of Japanese-Americans have married someone who is not Asian. Moreover, the Asian count will be spread out among a number of new categories. In the 2000 census, there is no single Asian category. Instead, nationalities are listed - Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean.

African-American communities could feel the brunt of the change, if high numbers of blacks check off their ancestry as a mixture. Some black politicians and activists have been using the slogan, "Back to Black," to urge people to identify themselves solely as African-Americans on the census.

The ironies of all of this won't be lost on future historians and social scientists.

How You Can Help
Efforts are underway to avoid a repeat of the 1990s undercount. Your organization, religious institution, school or community can help minimize the census undercount of children and others by joining or assisting the Census Bureau's Partnership Program. The Bureau's site offers census information about census partners, local contacts, and partnership ideas, including: how to produce messages and promotional materials tailored to your community; placing information about the census in mailings, paychecks or utility bills; and printing census messages on bags, envelopes and sales bulletins.

Also, conducting telephone campaigns; taking advantage of community events such as parades, fairs, and ethnic festivals; and providing the Census Bureau with a list of places (soup kitchens, shelters, food pantries) where transient people obtain services.

The Census Bureau also invites communities and organizations to use their Web sites to educate the public about the census, and its importance to children—and to link to the Census Bureau's home page, so that the bureau can share your approach with other communities across the country.

For more information, check out the following resources.

• Read "The Overlooked Undercount: Children Missed in the Decennial Census."
• Kids Count, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, also has good information.

And let Connect for Kids know, too, what you're doing to make kids count!

*An early count has already begun in Alaska.

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Richard Louv senior editor of Connect for Kids, writes for The San Diego Union-Tribune, and is the author of several books about children and community, including "The Web of Life: Weaving the Values that Sustain Us" (Conari Press), and the upcoming "Fly-Fishing for Sharks: An American Journey"(Simon & Schuster), from which parts of this article are adapted.