PRB's @Diana Elliott just published a short explainer on how administrative records were used in the 2020 Census and what's planned (or still unknown) for 2030: https://www.prb.org/news/counting-on-administrative-records/
Stakeholders "deserve transparency into the Bureau's plans as soon as possible," she said.
Some unanswered questions:
- Will admin records help reduce the longstanding undercount of young children, or will they reproduce those same gaps?
- What happens as some states limit data sharing with the federal government, and fewer people participate in the public programs that generate these records?
- If detailed operational plans aren't avaiable until close to 2030, will there be enough time for researchers, states, and community organizations to weigh in?
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Mark Mather
Associate VP
PRB
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