The Digital Divide Could Exacerbate the Census Undercount

For the first time in the history of the decennial census, the Census Bureau will encourage most people to fill out the form online. While this is an important step in modernizing the census, it also creates a problem for communities without reliable broadband access.

By Livia Luan and Raima Roy

For the first time in the history of the decennial census, the Census Bureau will encourage most people to fill out the form online. This policy change will modernize the census and make it more accessible to households that enjoy higher incomes and broadband internet connection, but it might leave other, more vulnerable households in the…