2020 Census: The Importance of Counting Every Child 5 and Under

A sleeping toddler lays on a man's chest

April 1, 2020, is Census Day

The Census is your chance to make sure your community counts. Participating in the Census will help make sure your community over the next 10 years receives:

  • Fair representation in Congress;
  • Financial resources for health, schools, transportation and more; and
  • Help for information leaders to plan your community’s future. [1]
Source: NC Child

More than $5 billion of North Carolina’s federal funding for children’s services is at stake in the census, so it’s critical to get the count right. That’s about $1,600 for each person in federal funding for the state. [2]

However, in the 2010 Census, nearly 1 million children (4.6% of children under the age of 5) were not counted, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, children under age 5 are one of the largest groups of undercounted people in the United States. [3] If missed in the Census, young children in hard to count communities also stand to suffer the most from reductions in funding to vital programs. [4]

Who is Hard-to-Count?

  • Low-income households
  • People of color
  • Non-native English speakers
  • “Complex” families [4] (for example, those with multiple generations of a family, unrelated families living together and blended or foster families.) [3]
  • Immigrants
  • Children <6
  • Renters [2]
Source: N.C. Counts Coalition

In North Carolina, 950,000 residents live in a hard-to-count community, [2] leaving 73,000 young children at risk of being missed in the 2020 Census. [4]

Nearly 1 in 5 of America’s infants are growing up in poverty, putting them at a greater risk to fall behind their peers in language development, reading proficiency, and experience learning disabilities and developmental delays. It is critical to invest in programs such as Early Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant that ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive. [5]

What Can You Do?

  • Help spread the word! Share this article by clicking on the social media icons below.
  • Learn more about the 2020 Census and find more resources and shareable materials here.
  • Tell the people in your life who care for children 5 and under to count every child in the 2020 Census on April 1.

Because census results help determine where federal funds are distributed for programs that are important for children, an accurate count can shape a child’s future for the next decade and beyond. It’s important to count young children now so they have the resources they need as they grow up. It all begins with responding to the 2020 Census. [3]


[1] North Carolina Census. Retrieved November 21, 2019.

[2] NC Counts Coalition. 2020 Census. PowerPoint. 2019.

[3] United States Census Bureau. Children Under 5 Among Most Undercounted in Last Census. Retrieved November 21, 2019.

[4] NC Child. Census 2020: Will N.C. Children Get Their Fair Share of Federal Investments? PowerPoint. 2019.

[5] Think Babies. Census Poverty Data Support Toolkit. 2019.