Biden Is Reviving An Effort To Change How The Census Asks About Race And Ethnicity

Biden Is Reviving An Effort To Change How The Census Asks About Race And Ethnicity Enlarge this image toggle caption Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images President Biden's White House is reviving a previously stalled review of proposed policy changes that could allow the Census Bureau to ask about people's race and ethnicity in a radical new way in time for the 2030 head count, NPR has learned. First proposed in 2016, the recommendations lost steam during former President Donald Trump's administration despite years of research by the bureau that suggested a new question format would improve the accuracy of 2020 census data about Latinos and people with roots in the Middle East or North Africa. The document lists headings for redacted descriptions of the group's "recommended improvements," including "Improve data quality: Allow flexibility in question format for self-reported race and ethnicity." Sponsor Message During the hearing, Santos suggested that if OMB ultimately approves the proposed policy changes, the bureau may not have to wait until the 2030 census to use a combined race-ethnicity question, which Santos said could potentially be incorporated into the bureau's ongoing American Community Survey.