Young Children Living with Grandparents Are More Likely to Be Missed in the 2020 Census

Research shows that young children who are not the biological or adopted child of the householder have an elevated risk of being missed in the Census and the largest group of young children who fall into this category are grandchildren of the householder. This paper shows the share of young children in the higher risk categories varies among racial and Hispanic origin groups and across states. Racial minorities tend to have a larger share of young children living with a grandparent householder, and states with relatively large minority populations have a larger share of young children living with a grandparent. The data provided here can help advocates focus census outreach efforts on places and groups where the chance of missing young children in the 2020 Census are the highest.