Fact Sheet: Why the Census Matters for Women & Girls

This fact sheet from the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty & Inequality highlights the importance of the Census for women and girls. From their website:

Census data help guide the distribution of federal funds for programs that serve millions of women and girls with low incomes. The data also help us make decisions about how to support women, girls, and their communities. This fact sheet, published jointly with the National Women’s Law Center, highlights barriers to fairly and accurately counting women and girls in the decennial census and programs that could be impacted by an inaccurate count.

Key Takeaways

Census data help guide the distribution of over $1.5 trillion each year in federal funds—including funding for programs that serve tens of millions of women and girls, particularly with low incomes.
A fair and accurate count will help ensure the quality of census-derived data and research on women’s and girls’ economic security, while also ensuring that women and girls receive their fair share of political representation.
Many women and girls fall into one or more “hard to count” groups and require intentional outreach to ensure a fair and accurate count.