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Blacks Voted at a Higher Rate than Whites in 2012 Election — A First, Census Bureau Reports
Blacks Voted at a Higher Rate than Whites in 2012 Election — A First, Census Bureau Reports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
About two in three eligible blacks (66.2 percent) voted in the 2012 presidential election, higher than the 64.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites who did so, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. This marks the first time that blacks have voted at a higher rate than whites since the Census Bureau started publishing statistics on voting by the eligible citizen population in 1996.
These findings come from The Diversifying Electorate — Voting Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin in 2012 (and Other Recent Elections), which provides analysis of the likelihood of voting by demographic factors, such as race, Hispanic origin, sex, age and geography (specifically, census divisions). The report draws upon data from the November 2012 Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement and looks at presidential elections back to 1996. Using the race definitions from 1968 and the total voting-age population, whites voted at higher rates than blacks in every presidential election between 1968, when the Census Bureau began publishing voting data by race, and 1992.
Blacks were the only race or ethnic group to show a significant increase between the 2008 and 2012 elections in the likelihood of voting (from 64.7 percent to 66.2 percent). The 2012 increase in voting among blacks continues what has been a long-term trend: since 1996, turnout rates have risen 13 percentage points to the highest levels of any recent presidential election. In contrast, after reaching a high in 2004, non-Hispanic white voting rates have dropped in two consecutive elections. Between 2008 and 2012, rates for non-Hispanic whites dropped from 66.1 percent to 64.1 percent. As recently as 1996, blacks had turnout rates 8 percentage points lower than non-Hispanic whites.
Overall, the percentage of eligible citizens who voted declined from 63.6 percent in 2008 to 61.8 percent in 2012.
Both blacks and non-Hispanic whites had voting rates higher than Hispanics and Asians in the 2012 election (about 48 percent each).
About 6 in 10 Recent Moms in Their Early 20s are Unmarried, Census Bureau Reports
About 6 in 10 Recent Moms in Their Early 20s are Unmarried, Census Bureau Reports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
As of 2011, 62 percent of women age 20 to 24 who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This compares with 17 percent among women age 35 to 39.
The information comes from Social and Economic Characteristics of Currently Unmarried Women with a Recent Birth: 2011, an American Community Survey report. The analysis is based on separate survey questions on whether women have given birth to any children in the past 12 months and what their marital status is. The statistics in the report are presented at the national and state levels, with a separate table and map containing metropolitan area data.
"This is the first report from the Census Bureau showing geographic variation in recent births to unmarried women, as well as characteristics of the women such as educational attainment," said Rose Kreider, a family demographer with the Census Bureau and one of the report’s authors. "The American Community Survey is the nation’s exclusive source of data on the demographic characteristics of mothers with this level of geographic detail."
In 2011, 4.1 million women reported that they had given birth in the last year. Of these women, 36 percent were unmarried at the time of the survey, an increase from 2005 when an estimated 31 percent of recent births were to unmarried women (2005 was the earliest year for which statistics are available from the American Community Survey).
"The increased share of unmarried recent mothers is one measure of the nation’s changing family structure," Kreider said. "Nonmarital fertility has been climbing steadily since the 1940s and has risen even more markedly in recent years."
Facts for Features — Father’s Day: June 16, 2013
Facts for Features — Father’s Day: June 16, 2013
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The idea of Father’s Day was conceived slightly more than a century ago by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. A day in June was chosen for the first Father’s Day celebration, June 17, 1910, proclaimed by Spokane’s mayor because it was the month of Smart’s birth. The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Father’s Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.
Facts for Features — Mother’s Day: May 12, 2013
Facts for Features — Mother’s Day: May 12, 2013
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The driving force behind Mother’s Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
Child Care Costs on the Upswing, Census Bureau Reports
Child Care Costs on the Upswing, Census Bureau Reports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Child care costs have nearly doubled in the last quarter century while the percentage of families who pay for child care has declined, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report Who’s Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2011 released today. The percent of family income spent on child care has stayed constant between 1986 (the first time these data were collected) and 2011, at around 7 percent, for families who paid for child care even though the cost of child care has increased over time.
“Perhaps the most critical decision parents make in balancing their work and home life is choosing the type of care to provide for their children while they work,” said report author Lynda Laughlin, a family demographer in the Census Bureau’s Fertility and Family Statistics Branch. “Child care arrangements and the financial burden they impose on families are important issues for policymakers and anyone concerned about the welfare of children. This report is unique in that it is not only the sole study from the Census Bureau on this topic, but also provides a consistent time-series on trends going back to the mid-1980s.”
chart: Average Weekly Cost of Child Care for Families with Employed MothersFamilies with an employed mother and children younger than 15 (see chart) paid an average of $143 per week for child care in 2011, up from $84 in 1985 (in constant 2011 dollars).
The median wage for a full-time child care worker did not increase over the last 20 years. The median wage for a child care worker in 2011 was $19,098, not different from $19,680 in 1990 (in constant 2011 dollars).
The percent of families who reported they made a cash payment for child care for at least one of their children declined from 42 percent to 32 percent between 1997 and 2011.
Since 1997, the use of organized day care centers and father-provided care for preschoolers has increased, while the proportion of children cared for by nonrelatives in the provider’s home has declined. (There was a change in the data collection methodology in the mid-1990s; 1997 was the first year of data that was affected by this change.)
The report, Who’s Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2011, and accompanying detailed tables provide data on child care arrangements of preschoolers and grade-schoolers by various demographic characteristics of employed and nonemployed mothers. They also examine the size of weekly child care payments made by selected characteristics of the family.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
2020 Census
Local Administrative Records and Their Use in the Challenge Program and Decennial
GAO-13-269, Feb 21, 2013
Critical Infrastructure Protection
DHS List of Priority Assets Needs to Be Validated and Reported to Congress
GAO-13-296, Mar 25, 2013
High-Containment Laboratories
Assessment of the Nation’s Need Is Missing
GAO-13-466R, Feb 25, 2013
Worker and Family Assistance
Summary of Proposals to Address Income Eligibility Requirement for Federal Foster Care Reimbursement
GAO-13-323R, Mar 25, 2013
The Decline in Private School Enrollment
The Decline in Private School Enrollment (PDF)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Private schools represent a significant part of the education sector and provide an opportunity for children to attend schools, at cost, that may offer benefits unavailable in the public school system. Parents might choose to send their children to private schools for a variety of reasons, including the availability of academic programs and extracurricular activities, religious reasons, dissatisfaction with the local public schools, and school characteristics such as class size and student-teacher ratios.
Over the last decade, government statistics seem to show that private school enrollment has declined. Although the trend has been noted (Aud et al., 2011), the phenomenon has not been examined in detail. Since private schools represent a sizable portion of the education sector, a decline in enrollment would warrant attention. Specifically, is the decline the result of a particular data collection system associated with a specific survey, or a real trend? Does the trend hold for various socio-demographic subgroups? If so, what are potential underlying causes? This paper seeks to provide relevant background information on the topic by comparing trends across datasets and subgroups and exploring possible underlying causes of the decline in private school enrollment.
Megacommuters: 600,000 in U.S. Travel 90 Minutes and 50 Miles to Work, and 10.8 Million Travel an Hour Each Way, Census Bureau Reports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
About 8.1 percent of U.S. workers have commutes of 60 minutes or longer, 4.3 percent work from home, and nearly 600,000 full-time workers had "megacommutes" of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles. The average one-way daily commute for workers across the country is 25.5 minutes, and one in four commuters leave their county to work.
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, which provides local statistics on a variety of topics for even the smallest communities.
According to <Out-of-State and Long Commutes: 2011>, 23.0 percent of workers with long commutes (60 minutes or more) use public transit, compared with 5.3 percent for all workers. Only 61.1 percent of workers with long commutes drove to work alone, compared with 79.9 percent for all workers who worked outside the home.
"The average travel time for workers who commute by public transportation is higher than that of workers who use other modes. For some workers, using transit is a necessity, but others simply choose a longer travel time over sitting in traffic," said Brian McKenzie, a Census Bureau statistician and author of the brief.
Rail travel accounted for 11.8 percent of workers with long commutes, and other forms of public transportation accounted for 11.2 percent.
Workers who live in New York state show the highest rate of long commutes at 16.2 percent, followed by Maryland and New Jersey at 14.8 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. The estimates for Maryland and New Jersey are not statistically different from each other. These states and several others with high rates of long commutes contain or are adjacent to large metropolitan areas.
Based on the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, 586,805 full-time workers are mega commuters — one in 122 of full-time workers. Mega commuters were more likely to be male, older, married, make a higher salary, and have a spouse who does not work. Of the total mega commutes, 75.4 percent were male and 24.6 percent women. Mega commuters were also more likely to depart for work before 6 a.m. Metro areas with large populations tend to attract large flows of mega commuters, according to <Mega Commuting in the U.S.>.
Health Status, Health Insurance and Medical Services Utilization: 2001-2011
Health Status, Health Insurance and Medical Services Utilization: 2001-2011
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
A table package that highlights the relationship between the use of medical services (such as visits to doctors and nights spent in the hospital), health status, health insurance coverage and other demographic and economic characteristics. The statistics come from the Survey of Income and Program Participation.
Census Bureau Report Shows 30 Percent of Adults Receiving Government Assistance Have a Disability
Census Bureau Report Shows 30 Percent of Adults Receiving Government Assistance Have a Disability
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Among the 46.0 million adults who received income-based government assistance in 2011, 30.4 percent of them had a disability, according to a report released today from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The report, Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011, offers information about the occurrence of disabilities among people 18 and older who received income-based government assistance. The information is based on data from the 2011 American Community Survey.
…
People with a disability include those having vision, hearing, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care or independent living difficulties. Among recipients of public assistance, 18.2 percent had difficulty walking or climbing stairs, 14.6 percent had trouble leaving home to go shopping or visit the doctor without assistance, and 14.2 percent encountered trouble with memory, concentration, or making decisions.Recipients received assistance in three forms: cash assistance (cash or money income), in-kind assistance (services, goods or vouchers) or both cash and in-kind assistance. Among people who received both cash and in-kind assistance, 58.3 percent had a disability. Among recipients of only cash assistance, 33.2 percent had a disability. Recipients of only in-kind benefits had the lowest disability rate at 22.6 percent.
This report also found that 22 states had disability rates above the national estimate of 30.4 percent among those receiving assistance. In comparison, 15 states had rates below the national estimate.
States west of the Appalachian Mountains had higher rates of disability among recipients of income-based assistance. In comparison, states in the Southwest and along the Eastern Seaboard had lower rates.
West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas were three of the top five states for disability prevalence in the total population, as well as in the total population receiving government assistance. In West Virginia, 26.8 percent of people with disabilities reported having ambulatory difficulty, defined as severe difficulties walking or climbing stairs.
Poverty Rates for Selected Detailed Race and Hispanic Groups by State and Place: 2007–2011
Poverty Rates for Selected Detailed Race and Hispanic Groups by State and Place: 2007–2011 (PDF)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Poverty rates are important indicators of community well-being and are used by government agencies and organizations to allocate need-based resources. The American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data allow for the analysis of poverty rates by race and Hispanic origin for many levels of geography.
In this report, poverty rates are summarized by race and Hispanic origin for the United States, each state, and the District of Columbia.
Poverty rates are also presented for selected detailed race and origin groups in the cities and towns with the largest populations of these groups. For the nation and selected places, poverty rates are summarized for detailed Asian groups with populations of 750,000 or more, detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander groups with populations of 25,000 or more, and detailed Hispanic groups with populations of 1 million or more.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
FACILITY SECURITY
Greater Outreach by DHS on Standards and Management Practices Could Benefit Federal Agencies
GAO-13-222
FACILITY SECURITY
Results of GAO’s Survey on the Physical Security of Federal Facilities (GAO-13-223SP, January 2013), an E-supplement to GAO-13-222
GAO-13-223SP
INFORMATION SECURITY
Actions Needed by Census Bureau to Address Weaknesses
GAO-13-63
Census Bureau Reports Increased State Government Revenues and General Expenditures for 2011
Census Bureau Reports Increased State Government Revenues and General Expenditures for 2011
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Total state government revenue increased to $2.3 trillion in 2011, up 11.3 percent from $2.0 trillion in 2010, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Total state government revenue includes general revenues (mainly tax revenue), utility revenue, liquor store revenue and insurance trust revenue. General revenues were $1.7 trillion in 2011, a 5.7 percent increase from 2010. General expenditures by state governments rose 3.7 percent in 2011 to $1.7 trillion.
The findings are from the 2011 Annual Survey of State Government Finances, which shows revenues, expenditures, debt, and cash and security holdings for each state as well as a national summary of state government finances.
The increase in state government revenue in 2011 was mainly because of a $141.0 billion increase in social insurance trust revenue. Social insurance trust revenue includes employee retirement investments, which had gains in 2011. There was also an increase in tax revenue as government taxes collected in 2011 ($757.9 billion) grew 8.0 percent over 2010 ($701.7 billion) and accounted for 45.9 percent of general revenue.
Expenditures for education ($592.3 billion), public welfare ($496.8 billion) and health and hospitals ($125.7 billion) represented the top three expenditures in state government budgets.
State government budgets depend mostly on revenue from general sources: taxes, federal grants, service charges and other miscellaneous revenues. General revenues fund most state programs and in general comprise the bulk of state government revenue (72.9 percent in 2011).
Facts for Features: Thanksgiving Day: Nov. 22, 2012
Facts for Features: Thanksgiving Day: Nov. 22, 2012
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, early settlers of Plymouth Colony, held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation’s first Thanksgiving. Historians have also recorded ceremonies of thanks among other groups of European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Virginia in 1619. The legacy of thanks and the feast have survived the centuries, as the event became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional fifth Thursday.
American Householders are Getting Older, Census Bureau Reports
American Householders are Getting Older, Census Bureau Reports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the percentage of households headed by older adults has grown significantly over the last half century. The share of householders age 75 and older grew from 6 percent in 1960 to 10 percent in 2012.
In 1960, 32 percent of all households in the country were headed by 30- to 44-year-olds (see Figure 1). However, by 2012, the percentage of these households had fallen to 26 percent, after peaking at 34 percent in 1990. The share of households headed by older adults expanded as the number of 45- to 64-year-old householders shrank in the 1980s and 1990s but began growing again in 2000. These households now make up 39 percent of households in 2012.
These statistics come from America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2012, a series of tables from the 2012 Current Population Survey. The tables provide a look at the socio-economic characteristics of families and households at the national level. A series of 13 graphs showing historical trends are also available with these estimates.
“These changes are related to baby boomers, that large segment of the American population born between 1946 and 1964,” said Jonathan Vespa, a demographer with the Census Bureau’s Fertility and Family Statistics Branch. “As they moved through young adulthood to middle age, and now into older adulthood, we can see an accordion-like effect on the age groups as they expand and shrink.”
A large proportion of older householders live alone (see Figure 2). In 2012, more than half of householders 75 and older lived alone, compared with almost a quarter of householders under age 30.
Census Bureau Releases 2009-2011 American Community Survey Estimates; Also Releasing Two Briefs on Marital Events of Group Quarters Population and Multigenerational Households
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau today released the latest findings from the American Community Survey, the primary source of small-area estimates available on a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the country and in Puerto Rico. The estimates released today cover a three-year period from 2009 to 2011 and are available for areas with a population of 20,000 or more.
In addition, the Census Bureau is releasing two briefs based on these new estimates, focusing on subpopulations better measured using the larger three-year sample of data files. One brief covers recent marital events in group quarters (military quarters, adult correctional facilities and nursing facilities) and the other is about multigenerational households (three or more generations living together).
"The American Community Survey estimates provide timely local demographic, economic, social and housing statistics for small communities across the country and in Puerto Rico to a wide range of users," said Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director. "The results are used by everyone from retailers and homebuilders to town and city planners. The statistics are indispensable to anyone who has to make decisions in the communities."
Since the first census in 1790, conducted under the direction of Thomas Jefferson, census questions have collected information on the demographic characteristics of the nation’s people.
The survey is the primary source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as education, income, poverty, occupation, language, nativity, ancestry and homeownership.
Census Bureau Reports Foreign-Born from Asia Likelier to be Married and to Live in Multigenerational Households
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
In 2011, the foreign-born from Asia were more likely to be married compared with the total foreign-born and native-born. Households with a householder born in Asia were also more likely to be multigenerational, according to statistics from the 2011 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The percentage of foreign-born from Asia who were married was higher (65.8 percent) than for all foreign-born (58.3 percent) or for native-born (46.5 percent). In addition, multigenerational households — three or more generations living together — were more common among households with a householder born in Asia (9.4 percent) than a native-born householder (4.9 percent). Among major country-of-birth groups from Asia, households with a householder born in the Philippines (14.8 percent) or in Vietnam (12.3 percent) were the most likely to be multigenerational.
The metro areas with the largest foreign-born populations from Asia were Los Angeles and New York, both with more than 1.5 million, followed by San Francisco (707,000), Chicago (439,000) and Washington (432,000). (See graphs). (The totals for Chicago and Washington are not statistically different from one another).
In 2011, about 13 percent of the 311.6 million people living in the United States were foreign-born, including 11.6 million from Asia, accounting for more than one-fourth (29 percent) of all foreign-born.
2010 Census Shows Multiple-Race Population Grew Faster Than Single-Race Population
2010 Census Shows Multiple-Race Population Grew Faster Than Single-Race Population
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The 2010 Census showed that people who reported multiple races grew by a larger percentage than those reporting a single race. According to the 2010 Census brief The Two or More Races Population: 2010, the population reporting multiple races (9.0 million) grew by 32.0 percent from 2000 to 2010, compared with those who reported a single race, which grew by 9.2 percent.
Overall, the total U.S. population increased by 9.7 percent since 2000, however, many multiple-race groups increased by 50 percent or more.
The first time in U.S. history that people were presented with the option to self-identify with more than one race came on the 2000 Census questionnaire. Therefore, the examination of data from the 2000 and 2010 censuses provides the first comparisons on multiple-race combinations in the United States. An effective way to compare the multiple-race data is to examine changes in specific combinations, such as white and black, white and Asian, or black and Asian.
Populations Increasing in Many Downtowns, Census Bureau Reports
Populations Increasing in Many Downtowns, Census Bureau Reports
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
A U.S. Census Bureau report released today shows that in many of the largest cities of the most-populous metro areas, downtown is becoming a place not only to work but also to live. Between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, metro areas with 5 million or more people experienced double-digit population growth rates within their downtown areas (within a two-mile radius of their largest city’s city hall), more than double the rate of these areas overall.
Chicago experienced the largest numeric gain in its downtown area, with a net increase of 48,000 residents over 10 years. New York, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and Washington also posted large population increases close to city hall. These downtown gains were not universal, however: New Orleans and Baltimore experienced the greatest population declines in their downtown areas (35,000 and slightly more than 10,000, respectively). Two smaller areas in Ohio — Dayton and Toledo — also saw downtown declines of more than 10,000.
These are just some of the findings in the new 2010 Census special report, Patterns of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Population Change: 2000 to 2010. The report uses 2010 Census results to examine contemporary geographic patterns (as well as changes since the 2000 Census) of population density and distribution by race, Hispanic origin, age and sex for metro and micro areas collectively as well as individually. Metro areas contain at least one urbanized area of 50,000 population or more, while micro areas contain at least one urban cluster of less than 50,000, but at least 10,000.
Census Bureau Releases Report on 2010 Census Emergency and Transitional Shelter Population
Census Bureau Releases Report on 2010 Census Emergency and Transitional Shelter Population
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau today released a 2010 Census special report, The Emergency and Transitional Shelter Population: 2010, providing information on people counted at emergency and transitional shelters (with sleeping facilities) for people experiencing homelessness.
In the 2010 Census, emergency and transitional shelters were defined as places where people experiencing homelessness stay overnight. Examples include missions; hotels and motels used to shelter people experiencing homelessness; shelters for children who are runaways, neglected or experiencing homelessness; and similar places known to shelter people experiencing homelessness.
The emergency and transitional shelter population is one of many types that make up the total group quarters population. People in emergency and transitional shelters were enumerated in the 2010 Census as part of the Service-Based Enumeration Operation, which also included enumeration at soup kitchens, regularly scheduled mobile food vans and targeted nonsheltered outdoor locations.
The Census Bureau stresses that this special report presents statistics for people enumerated at emergency and transitional shelters only, and should not be misconstrued as a count of the entire population experiencing homelessness. The Census Bureau does not produce or publish a total count of the homeless population. Further, it is important to recognize that there is no standard or agreed upon definition of what constitutes homelessness. Also, people experiencing homelessness can be counted and included in the census through various operations, but those operations do not separately identify, or even collect information to separately identify, people who might be experiencing homelessness.
