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Census.gov Transformation - Pardon Our Dust

Stephen Buckner, Center for New Media and Promotions, U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau has launched a newly redesigned census.gov homepage.

 This is the first of several steps in a progressive series of enhancements to census.gov over the next year to make our content more accessible, useful, comprehensible and interesting to the broadest possible audience.  Our goal is to make it easier for visitors to reach their desired destination, increase user satisfaction, and expand the public’s understanding of how the Census Bureau measures America’s people, places and economy. 

Some of the new features and tools users will experience are:

• A prominent dashboard featuring our economic indicators
• A top dropdown menu for quick navigation to key topics
• A new interactive map showing a mash up of economic and demographic statistics
• A “Stat of the Day” highlighting Census Bureau statistics across all the data we collect
• A “mega footer” with links categorized under familiar topics and highly trafficked pages
• A feature for users to provide feedback
• More prominent placement of our latest releases

We hope the public will gain greater accessibility to our statistics through both their desktops and mobile devices.   Also, users will eventually see improved search and navigation, thematic pages and additional features. 

If you have any comments, please click on the “Tell us what you think” section on the homepage.

 

 

 

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First Population Estimates Since 2010 Census are Released

Written by: Alexa Jones-Puthoff

It probably seems like just yesterday that you filled out and mailed back your 2010 Census form. But it has already been well over a year, and in that time, our society has hardly remained static.

Today, the Census Bureau released its first set of population estimates since the initial release of census results a year ago. These numbers estimate the total population of each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as of July 1, 2011, and measure how much the population has increased or decreased in these jurisdictions since the 2010 Census. A combination of administrative records — including birth and death records and tax returns from the IRS — and survey data are utilized to arrive at these figures.

According to the results, Texas has gained more people since the census than any other state, adding more than a half million people. California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina followed. Altogether, these five states accounted for slightly more than half the nation’s total population growth.

Nationally, the U.S. population growth of 0.92 percent between the census and July 1, 2011, marked its lowest since the mid-1940s.

The fastest-growing state or equivalent since the census was the District of Columbia, whose population rose 2.7 percent. This marks the first time the District of Columbia led states and equivalents in growth since the early 1940s.

The list of fastest-growing states and equivalents includes some states that in recent years have not been there. One state that falls into this category is North Dakota, which ranked 37th in population growth between censuses, but sixth since the 2010 census. Other fast-growing states, such as Texas, Utah, Alaska and Colorado, were no strangers on the list.

California, with 37.7 million residents, remains our most populous state. Wyoming remains the least populous state, with 568,000 residents.

To see the complete list of the fastest-growing states and those with the largest numerical increase, as well as other highlights from the state population estimates, read the press release.

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$35 billion owed in child support payments

Written by: Tim Grall

During a time when the number of people living in poverty reached its largest recorded number in 51 years, 28.3 percent of custodial parents found themselves below the poverty level. For many families, the income from child support is critical in order to care for their dependent children.

According to the 2009 report, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support, child support represented 62.6 percent of the average income for custodial parents below poverty who received full support, compared with 20.8 percent for all custodial parents. In 2009, 49.5 percent of custodial parents worked year-round full time, a decline from the 2007 figure of 53.6 percent. The percentage who participated in at least one public assistance program rose from 31.5 percent in 2007 to 37.7 percent in 2009.

The report focuses on the child support income that the nation’s 13.7 million custodial parents reported receiving, and other types of support such as health insurance and noncash assistance. The average amount of child support received by custodial parents who were owed support payments in 2009 was $3,630, or about $300 per month. More than half (60.3 percent) of custodial parents received some type of noncash support from noncustodial parents on behalf of their children. The most common type of noncash support was gifts for birthdays, holidays or other occasions, followed by clothes, and by food or groceries. Custodial fathers were more likely than custodial mothers to receive this type of assistance (70.4 percent compared with 58.1 percent).

This report is one of several related to children and families released recently by the Census Bureau, including America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961-2008 and Who’s Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2010. The data come from the Child Support Supplement to the April 2010 Current Population Survey.  This supplement is sponsored, in part, by the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Read the press release...

 

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A Slow Economy Can Increase Child Care Provided by Fathers

Written by: Lynda Laughlin

Changes in the use of father-provider child care is often related to changes in the family and the economy. The recent recession was particularly difficult for men. Men had higher jobless rates than women because of steep losses in the manufacturing and construction industries. The more time fathers have available to care for children, the more likely they are to do so.

New data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation indicates that in the spring of 2010, a third of fathers with an employed wife provided a regular source of care for their preschoolers. This is an increase from 29 percent in 2005, when the economy was relativity stronger. 

A father’s involvement in child care tends to be shaped by his employment characteristics. For example, a father’s employment status can determine whether he provides child care while his wife is working. Among married fathers with preschoolers in 2010, a greater percentage of fathers who were not employed cared for their young children than did employed fathers (54 percent compared with 17 percent).

The amount and shift that a father works can often determine his ability to take care of children. Married fathers who work part time are much more likely to be a primary child care provider than are fathers who work full time — 34 percent of fathers compared with 16 percent. The time of day a father works is also an important factor. Married fathers who worked evening or night shifts were twice as likely to be the primary child care provider during the mothers’ work hours than fathers who worked day shifts (28 percent and 14 percent, respectively).

Read the press release...

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More Families Receive Assistance During a Time of Recession

Written by: Shelley Irving

To help cope with challenging economic times, more people have turned to financial assistance programs.  One such assistance program is TANF, which refers to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the program that replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children in 1997, significantly altering the nation’s welfare program.

The Census Bureau reported today that more families received TANF benefits  in 2009 than did in 2006.  The TANF participation rate for all families with children increased from 3.8 percent in 2006 to 4.8 percent in 2009, according to a new Census Bureau report based on the Survey of Income and Program Participation.  Married-couple families, who have the lowest overall rates of TANF participation, saw an increase in their participation rate from 2006 to 2009. 

The report, Comparing Program Participation of TANF and non-TANF Families Before and During a Time of Recession, examines whether participation in TANF and other programs such as WIC and Medicaid increased and employment decreased because of the economic recession.

The report shows that the recent economic recession affected American families with children and that the impact was not just limited to TANF families or poor families. For example, poor non-TANF and other non-TANF families became more likely to receive energy assistance, food Stamps/SNAP, and clothing assistance from 2006 to 2009.  Nonetheless, TANF families remain more likely than non-TANF families to receive assistance from these other assistance programs.

Increases in program participation coincided with decreases in employment.  In 2006, 24.8 percent of poor non-TANF families and 82.4 percent of other non-TANF families had full-time employment in all of the past 12 months, compared with 17.2 percent and 76.0 percent, respectively, in 2009.  TANF families, poor non-TANF families, and other non-TANF families were more likely to have unemployment in one or more of the past 12 months in 2009 than in 2006. 

From 2006 to 2009, participation in programs to help find work and job skills programs increased for both TANF and non-TANF families. For example, from 2006 to 2009, participation in programs to help find work increased from 11.5 percent to 25.0 percent for TANF families, from 3.0 percent to 7.4 percent for poor non-TANF families, and from 0.8 percent to 2.1 percent for other non-TANF families.

To learn more about program participation of TANF and non-TANF families during the recession, view the report.

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