The Count All Kids Campaign has released a report — The Changing Young Child Population of the United States: First Data from the 2020 Census — that points to important trends about young children from birth to age 4.
A key caveat, the report says, is that in the 2020 Census, young children were undercounted by 5.4%, which is higher than any other age group. Among the most undercounted are Black and Hispanic children who “were missed at a higher rate than non-Hispanic young white children.” Undercounts also varied by state. Florida had the largest undercount of -9.87%; and Vermont had the smallest at 0.02%.
Collecting accurate data is crucial because Census numbers are used to allocate federal funding for child-friendly programs such as Head Start, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
Undercounting children leads to inadequate funding for these programs.
Despite the data limitations, the report also points to several national trends. One is a “birth dearth,” a decline in the number of children being born that could affect “institutions like childcare and school systems and how we currently think about the labor force.”
From 2010 to 2020, New Mexico, Mississippi, and California, in that order, have seen the largest decline in the percent of their populations of young children. Massachusetts ranks 32nd on this list. And the District of Columbia and North Dakota are at the bottom of the list with population increases.
Another trend in the data is a “diversity explosion,” the finding that “young children of color make up the majority of the total young child population and are growing steadily in terms of their share among all children (ages 0 to 17).” Specifically, in 2020 53% of children younger than five were children of color, up from 23% in 1980.
The greatest diversity among young children was found in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, California, and Texas, in that order. Massachusetts ranks 27th on this list. And the least diverse places are West Virginia, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Montana.
As the report notes, the trends and weaknesses in national statistics on young children offer challenges and opportunities. The challenges include addressing the undercount. Another Count All Kids report — “What Past Research Tells us about how to Prepare for the 2030 U.S. Census Count of Young Children” — discusses how to do this. The country also has to address the “graying of America,” and determine why the population of young children is declining.
Among the opportunities is a chance to build on “growing bipartisan recognition that providing high-quality experiences for young children is a good investment in our country’s future.”
As the report on the 2020 data concludes, “The statement that young children are the future may sound trite, but it is accurate. How we invest in young children today is vital to the nation’s success.”