The goal is to help raise awareness of undercounted children in the 2020 census.
Published: September 19, 2020
simply put, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on social-impact publishing, programming and distribution to reach marginalized communities, announced that on September 17, 2020, in partnership with state and county agencies, early childhood educators and librarians across the U.S., will hold virtual pajama parties to watch the animated version of simply put’s WE COUNT! A 2020 Census Counting Book for Young Children (and the Grownups who Love Them) starring Auli’i Cravalho, best known as Disney’s Moana. This is part of simply put’s national 2020 census campaign to increase the number of children counted for the 2020 census, because America is on track to miscount 2 million children ages 0-5.
simply put’s WE COUNT! book empowers children and parents on who, how and why every family counts on the census. It takes complexities of America’s demographics, living arrangements and the census and simplifies them with illustrations of diverse American families, portraits by artists representing their cultural heritage and is offered in 15 languages.
“There’s been misinformation and anxiety about who counts in the census. Auli’i and the pajama parties celebrate that young and old, we all count in the census and in the story of America,” said simply put Executive Director Lisa Bernstein.
“In Moana, the people of my island were counting on me to make a difference. Now our communities are counting on each and every one of us, young and old, to make a difference by taking the census,” said Auli’i Cravalho.
The 2010 census saw young children 0-5, primarily from underserved communities, as the most undercounted demographic with nearly one million children left uncounted. Additionally, young children who were typically missed or miscounted: live in complex households, with families that don’t speak English or are recent immigrants, with single or parents under the age of 29, with non-biological parents; or are afraid that their immigration status may put their family in jeopardy of deportation.
More than $160 billion a year in federal funding for programs that help young children and families survive, including $61 billion for children’s Medicaid and $29 billion for Food Stamps (SNAP), is allocated based purely on the census count. This means that when young children are miscounted, federal funds meant to help them thrive are distributed incorrectly or not at all.
“As of September, only 58 percent of young children living in census tracts with a very high risk of young child undercounts in the 2020 census have been counted. That means nearly two million young children living in the most vulnerable situations must be counted in less than six weeks for a complete census,” said Count All Kids demographer and advisor and former Census Bureau consultant Dr. Bill O’Hare, Ph.D.
simply put’s WE COUNT! book and program have already been adopted by states, cities and organization across the U.S., including Hawaii, Alaska, Los Angeles, US Virgin Islands, the American Library Association, entire counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the NY State Early Childhood Quality Stars Program, the California First 5 Association, California Head Start Association, California WIC, South Carolina’s First Steps Program, Connecticut’s Early Childhood Alliance, and the American Federation of Teachers among others.
For more information on the campaign, creating a virtual pajama party and the WE COUNT! book, visit, http://www.wecountkids.org.