What could change?
On the basis of the census data, hundreds of dollars are allocated annually. We have known since a comprehensive analysis in 2021: A total of two trillion dollars of federal funds for states and municipalities are distributed directly or indirectly by census data. It is about services and programs that improve the quality of life in all communities. If this data is fake, the congress can only act in blind flight to respond to the needs of society.
Which programs are specifically about?
It is about services for vocational training and health care for veterans, aid programs for older people. We speak of health care in urban and rural hospitals and their financing. It is about health programs such as Medicaid and Medicare that rely on many millions of people. The funds also maintain motorways, bridges and public transport. The money flows into the improvements of rural infrastructure, economic development, in the expansion of schools, the attitude of teachers – and much, much more.
And who is no longer counted no longer counts?
Yes, people are made invisible in this way.
So does Donald Trump want to make these people disappear, so to speak?
I will not penetrate the world of our president’s world or by the supporters of such an exclusion of certain people from the census. But if this basic data and thus the real living conditions are distorted everywhere in the United States, money flows simply go to the wrong places. Municipalities then either receive more resources than they need and earn, or they do not receive the means they urgently need.
The census data also concern companies, small and large ones that have to decide on these numbers every day. It is about which communities you invest in where you are planning new shops and restaurants or offer banking services. It is important for entrepreneurs to invest in the right places, and you need to know that you have the right type of workforce there that you can also set. In short: every economic decision that drives our growth depends on a precise census. People’s counting data simply penetrates everything-decisions of the government, private or non-profit sector such as foundations or non-governmental organizations.
