Experts are warning that millions of people around the world aren’t being counted in census data, leaving policy makers in the dark about the populations they govern. They say a “quiet crisis” is unfolding with census data not being published due to concerns about declining response rates and the accuracy of data.
In a paper published in Science, researchers from the University of Southampton and the Columbia Climate School point to a “perfect storm” of disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, declining confidence in institutions, and collapsing international support.
“We live in an era of seemingly unlimited data, yet some of our most essential demographic information is deteriorating, introducing known and unknown bias into decision making,” says co-author Dana Thomson, Associate Director of Science Applications at the Center for Integrated Earth System Information (CIESIN), which is part of the Climate School.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional house-to-house interviews and impacted funding. The researchers also highlight growing distrust in national governments, such as the fear some communities have that immigration-related law-enforcement or AI-supported decision making will use their data against them. Others worry about the threat of data leaks and cyber-attacks.
In February of this year, the Trump administration cut support for the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program, which provided vital health data across 90 countries for four decades. Other countries like the U.K., France and the Netherlands have reallocated development assistance to defense spending, reducing both direct bilateral assistance and U.N. multilateral contributions.
“In an era of growing challenges, from climate change to economic inequality, accurate population data is not a luxury–it is essential infrastructure for healthy, resilient, functioning societies,” says WorldPop Director Andrew Tatem, one of the paper’s coauthors.
Adapted from Columbia Climate School article.
