Written by Wenona Wolf, Communication and Development Manager

All people—including children—have the right to be counted and be represented in our democracy, but with no real political or economic power, young children rely on adults to protect and advocate for them. Unfortunately, without intervention, the 2020 U.S. Census will likely undercount about 1 million children under five, posing a threat to their well-being. In Wisconsin, nearly 43,000 live in hard-to-count census tracts, meaning these children are in danger of not being counted by the 2020 census.

The United States is on track to undercounting roughly 1 million kids because of underfunding and poor management at the Census Bureau, new methods of collecting data, and unconstitutional practices. The U.S. Census has been consistently undercounting children since 1980 and that problem has continued to grow in magnitude. If the numbers are wrong in 2020, we live with the consequences for 10 years. One of those consequences is putting millions of dollars of federal funding at risk—funding that helps strengthen children and families in our country and right here in Wisconsin.

A census undercount in Wisconsin will not only hurt those who are not counted, it will hurt all Wisconsinites. The undercount will put federal funding for programs like BadgerCare, Head Start, school lunches, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known has food stamps, at risk. These programs are crucial in ensuring Wisconsin’s children and families thrive—especially those furthest from opportunity. Jeopardizing these programs will put the well-being of thousands of children and families at risk, and ultimately, the entire health and well-being of our state at risk.

In addition, an accurate census count is the foundation of the work we do at Kids Forward. We rely on accurate data from the Census Bureau to get a reliable picture of child, family, and community well-being across Wisconsin. Furthermore, an inaccurate census count will hurt children of color, immigrant children, and those furthest from opportunity the most. In the 2010 census, African-American and Latino children were twice as likely to be undercounted. AND children and families in rural areas and American Indian children living on reservations are at high risk of being undercounted as well. Failing to count these children will jeopardize the vital programs these children rely on and will muffle their voices—further withholding political power from families and communities that are so often underrepresented.

It’s up to every policymaker and every community in our nation to do right by our kids: to make sure they count in the 2020 Census. Federal legislators need to continue allocating sufficient funds to support a more accurate census than we had in 2010. Also, it’s important that various public agencies, early childhood programs, health care professionals, religions and civic organizations, business and other community stakeholders come together and bridge the digital divide to increase participation in the first electronic census.

For more information about the census and the well-being of Wisconsin kids, as well as kids across the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, view or download the 2018 KIDS COUNT® Data Book.