By: Lily Kerr
The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced its plans to implement the revised race-ethnicity standards set forth by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Earlier this year, OMB finalized its highly anticipated revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15). This is the first time SPD 15 has been updated since 1997. To recap, some revisions of interest include an additional race category for individuals with roots in the “Middle East or North Africa” (abbreviated as “MENA”), the ability to select more than one race or ethnic designation on the form, and the incorporation of “Hispanic or Latino” into the list of race categories (rather than listed as a separate ethnicity question).
Since OMB’s March 2024 announcement of the SPD 15 revisions, various federal agencies and offices have started working on updating their materials to comply with the new standards. This implementation process is anticipated to take a significant amount of time over the next several years, which is why federal agencies have been given a deadline of March 28, 2029, to be fully aligned with the revised SPD 15.
The Census Bureau’s plan of implementation will involve a phased approach. Specifically, the first American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates generated using the updated standards will be the 2027 installment, to be released in September of 2028. The first 5-year ACS estimates that will fall solely under the new standards will be the 2027-2031 data, to be released in December of 2032. In the intervening years, the Bureau plans to produce 5-year ACS estimates that will involve a “bridging technique,” the first of which is the 2023-2027 release, slated for December 2028.
The Bureau’s bridging technique will rely on statistical tools provided by OMB’s Federal Committee on SPD 15. The tools will allow data collected under the 1997 SPD 15 to be cross walked onto data collected under the newly revised SPD 15.
The public received further information on the implementation plan during a webinar hosted by the Bureau on November 19, 2024. The content of the webinar was mainly focused on the recently released Federal Register Notice (FRN) regarding the updated code list. During the webinar, Bureau officials walked the audience through the various elements of the revised code list, including a subset of “multicode terms” that capture multiple race/ethnicity designations.
The FRN is open for public comment until February 18, 2025, and instructions on submitting comments are provided in the FRN itself. Importantly, any proposed changes to the code list must meet 3 criteria:
- The update must be backed by strong federal and scientific research and evidence
- Stakeholder feedback must support the update
- The update must align with the definitions of minimum reporting categories included in the revised SPD 15.
DCI will continue to post relevant updates on this matter on our blog.
