After Backlash, Census Bureau Halts Disability Changes

Advocates say new format would have reduced numbers
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 6, 2024 2:12 PM CST
Census Bureau Postpones Change on Disability Questions
The Census Bureau is shelving plans to change how it asks about disabilities.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, file)

Facing growing backlash, the Census Bureau on Tuesday paused plans to change how it asks people about disabilities in its most comprehensive survey. Disability advocates had argued that the proposed changes would artificially reduce their numbers by more than 40%, limiting the ability of people with disabilities to get vital resources, per the AP. They also argued that they weren't properly consulted on such a major overhaul.

  • Existing questions: Respondents are asked to answer "yes" or "no" if they have difficulty or "serious difficulty" seeing, even with glasses, or are blind; hearing, or are deaf; concentrating, remembering or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; walking or climbing stairs; dressing or bathing; or performing everyday tasks because of a physical, mental or emotional condition. If the answer is "yes," they are counted as having a disability.

  • Proposed changes: Under the new questions, which follow international standards, respondents would have answered most of the questions with four choices: "no difficulty," "some difficulty," "a lot of difficulty," and "cannot do at all." A person would be counted as disabled if they answered "cannot do at all" or "a lot of difficulty" for any task or function.
  • Results: In a test run, the percentage of respondents who were defined as having a disability went from 13.9% using the current questions to 8.1% under the proposed changes. When the definition was expanded to also include "some difficulty," it grew to 31.7%.

The bureau plans to meet with advocates in the disability community and determine what changes to the questions are needed to better capture the range of disabilities while keeping the current questions about disability on the 2025 American Community Survey, said Census Bureau Director Robert Santos.

(More Census Bureau stories.)

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