The Census Bureau’s First Ever Data on LGBTQ+ People Indicates Deep Disparities – By Chabeli Carrazana and Orion Rummler (The 19th) / Sept 27 2021
Sexual orientation and gender identity were added to the U.S. Census Bureau’s survey of the pandemic this summer — the first time a national government survey has captured the LGBTQ+ economic experience.
Originally published by The 19th
The U.S. Census Bureau in July began asking Americans about their sexual orientation and gender identity — a watershed moment that marks the first time the federal government has tried to capture data on LGBTQ+ Americans in its large real-time national surveys.
The results so far are preliminary, but they do indicate that the disparities queer Americans experienced prior to the pandemic have continued to endure 18 months in. For some, those disparities have grown deeper.
According to the data, which captures results from July 21 to September 13, LGBTQ+ people often reported being more likely than non-LGBTQ+ people to have lost employment, not have enough to eat, be at elevated risk of eviction or foreclosure, and face difficulty paying for basic household expenses, according to the census’ Household Pulse Survey, a report that measures how Americans are faring on key economic markers during the pandemic.
While think tanks like the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law and advocate-led research groups have previously studied LGBTQ+ poverty, no large government population surveys, like those conducted by the census or the Treasury Department, have attempted to capture the real-time economic experiences of LGBTQ+ people.
