Greetings from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch,
We are reaching out to you because of your organization’s interest in ancestry data from the American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is an annual survey that collects population and housing information on communities around the nation. The ACS asks respondents about their racial, ethnic, and ancestral background through three questions: Hispanic origin (Question 5), race (Question 6) and ancestry (Question 13). We are currently researching redundancies in the data to determine whether the ancestry question is still needed. With recent revisions to the race question, we are able to generate estimates for most of the ancestry groups using race data. As a user of this type of information, we want to make sure you are aware of the reasons why we are considering removing the ancestry question and to identify any concerns you may have. Our goal is to make decisions that reflect the best interest of not only our respondents and stakeholders, but of our data users.
In 2020, the Census Bureau implemented changes to the race question, coding, and processing in both the 2020 Census and ACS. These revisions to the race question allowed all respondents, regardless of the race or races they reported, to provide a more detailed origin. Previously, only respondents who reported that they were Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or American Indian or Alaska Native were asked to provide detailed origins. Now those who report their race as White or as Black or African American have a place to report detailed origins. For example, people who identify their race as Black or African American can now report a detailed origin such as Jamaican or Nigerian. Similarly, origins such as Brazilian, Irish, Syrian or Ukrainian can now be reported through the race question. Estimates of these groups will now be available from various race data products.
Due to the similar type of responses being collected from the race question, the question on ancestry may no longer be needed, and therefore may be removed from the ACS as early as 2025. Previous research with the new race responses in the 2016 ACS Content Test showed that many respondents provided detailed origins when given the opportunity to do so in the revised race question, and that the resulting data produced estimates for most groups that were similar to, or higher than, the estimates from ancestry. Although race and ancestry are different concepts, qualitative research indicated that some respondents found the ancestry question duplicative after they had already been asked about detailed racial and Hispanic origins. Furthermore, the nonresponse rate for the ancestry question has increased over time, and now tops 20 percent. Removing the ancestry question would reduce burden on respondents and streamline the way we collect and publish data for many ancestries and ethnic origins.
Our preliminary research with the 2021 ACS shows that 111 out of the 126 ancestry groups in the ACS data products can now be tabulated from race data. Of those, 87 percent were estimated to be either the same size or higher than they were using ancestry data. To learn more about how the race data compare to ancestry data, please see the slides and video (starting at minute 52) from a presentation where we shared our plans and current research with the Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations. You can also read more about the ACS, see the ACS questionnaires, and view a recent ancestry tabulation on data.census.gov.
We intend to release a Federal Register Notice (FRN) in the fall of 2023 to outline our initial recommendation, provide reasoning for any potential changes, describe potential effects on data products and release the estimated size of all ancestry groups using detailed race data. There will be a 60-day public comment period. Then, the Census Bureau will develop a final recommendation to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), followed by a 30-day comment period. We will notify you when the opportunities to provide comments become available. Please note that OMB is also reviewing the federal standards for collection of data on race and ethnicity, or Statistical Policy Directive 15 (SPD-15), and plans to release any revisions by the summer of 2024. The Census Bureau’s final recommendation on ancestry will not be submitted to OMB for review and public comment until after any revisions to SPD-15 are made.
In the meantime, we can respond to your questions or concerns through email or through a briefing with you or your organization. Please direct any questions or briefing requests to Angie Buchanan, Merarys Rios, or Roberto Ramirez by emailing us at POP.Ethnicity.and.Ancestry@census.gov.
Sincerely,
Roberto Ramirez, Assistant Division Chief, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Merarys Rios, Chief, Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Angie Buchanan, Statistician, Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau