The Nation’s Preexisting Condition: How Rising Inequality Exacerbated the Economic Toll of the Coronavirus

Rising income inequality and a shift to lower-wage service jobs placed millions of working Americans in vulnerable economic positions with limited savings or job benefits to cushion the coronavirus pandemic’s economic toll.

PRB’s Population Bulletin provides a basic understanding of demography and demographic processes, including fertility, mortality, and migration, and their effects on the world.

The 2020 Census took place during the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters, complicating data collection and processing, and prompting concerns about accuracy—but data quality measures help us assess census accuracy and completeness.

The past two decades have been tumultuous for the United States. During the first 20 years of the 21st century, the nation experienced a major terrorist attack, a housing market meltdown, a severe economic recession, a significant downturn in the stock market, and a pandemic that led to the highest …

Self-response rates are lowest in neighborhoods with high concentrations of racial and ethnic minorities in the young child population, which could mean fewer dollars for communities that need funds the most.

Just as the 2020 Census is getting underway, many colleges and universities across the country are closing their campuses and moving classes online in response to concerns about the coronavirus or COVID-19.

(Issue 40) Understanding the characteristics of those with dementia can help lawmakers design policies that better meet the needs of this rapidly growing population and their families.

The COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe in 2020 will have long-term and widespread effects on the U.S. economy and labor force. A PRB analysis finds that workers in one of the hardest-hit sectors—food preparation and server-related occupations—are among the most economically vulnerable.

Older Americans on average have a higher level of age-related health problems than their counterparts in Europe and many other countries (see table). That’s according to a recent Lancet study that shows the United States ranked 53rd out of 195 countries.

Children under the age of 5 face the highest risk of being undercounted in the U.S. decennial census. In the 2010 Census, there was a net undercount of almost 1 million young children. PRB estimates that at least 4 million children live in areas with a very high risk of undercounting young childr…

The current growth of the population ages 65 and older is unprecedented in U.S. history and has important implications for policymakers. Although government programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid have helped reduce poverty and improve the health of the older population, current pro…

The Census Bureau’s state-level population estimates for 2018 provide a window into the potential redistribution of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives when the 2020 Census numbers are released. Based on these 2018 population estimates, 13 states would see changes in their number of congressi…