Blacks Voted at a Higher Rate than Whites in 2012 Election — A First, Census Bureau Reports

About two in three eligible blacks (66.2 percent) voted in the 2012 presidential election, higher than the 64.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites who did so, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. This marks the first time that blacks have voted at a higher rate than whites since the Census Bureau started publishing statistics on voting by the eligible citizen population in 1996.

These findings come from The Diversifying Electorate -- Voting Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin in 2012 (and Other Recent Elections), which provides analysis of the likelihood of voting by demographic factors, such as race, Hispanic origin, sex, age and geography (specifically, census divisions). The report draws upon data from the November 2012 Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement and looks at presidential elections back to 1996. Using the race definitions from 1968 and the total voting-age population, whites voted at higher rates than blacks in every presidential election between 1968, when the Census Bureau began publishing voting data by race, and 1992.

Blacks were the only race or ethnic group to show a significant increase between the 2008 and 2012 elections in the likelihood of voting (from 64.7 percent to 66.2 percent). The 2012 increase in voting among blacks continues what has been a long-term trend: since 1996, turnout rates have risen 13 percentage points to the highest levels of any recent presidential election. In contrast, after reaching a high in 2004, non-Hispanic white voting rates have dropped in two consecutive elections. Between 2008 and 2012, rates for non-Hispanic whites dropped from 66.1 percent to 64.1 percent. As recently as 1996, blacks had turnout rates 8 percentage points lower than non-Hispanic whites.

Overall, the percentage of eligible citizens who voted declined from 63.6 percent in 2008 to 61.8 percent in 2012.

Both blacks and non-Hispanic whites had voting rates higher than Hispanics and Asians in the 2012 election (about 48 percent each).

"Blacks have been voting at higher rates, and the Hispanic and Asian populations are growing rapidly, yielding a more diverse electorate," said Thom File, a sociologist in the Census Bureau's Education and Social Stratification Branch and the report's author. "Over the last five presidential elections, the share of voters who were racial or ethnic minorities rose from just over one in six in 1996 to more than one in four in 2012."

Between 1996 and 2012, blacks, Asians and Hispanics all had an increase in their shares of the voting population, with the Hispanic share increasing by about 4 percentage points and the black share by about 3 points.

The number of blacks who voted rose by about 1.7 million between the 2008 and 2012 elections. Likewise, the number of Hispanics who voted increased by 1.4 million and the number of Asians by 550,000. At the same time, the number of non-Hispanic white voters declined by about 2 million ─ the only such drop for any single-race group between elections since 1996. The figures for blacks and Hispanics are not significantly different from each other.

Gender and Age Differences

The report also shows that the "gender gap" in voting persists. In every presidential election since 1996, women have voted at higher rates than men. In 2012, the spread was about 4 percentage points. The gap was especially wide among black voters, among whom it reached 9 percentage points in 2012. Asians are the only race or Hispanic-origin group that showed no significant gender gap.

There were large declines in youth voting among all race groups and Hispanics in 2012. Non-Hispanic whites age 18 to 24 and 25 to 44 showed statistically significant voting rate decreases, as did young Hispanics 18 to 24 years of age. The only race/Hispanic-origin/age combinations showing voting rate increases in 2012 were blacks ages 45 to 64 and 65 and older.
Other highlights:

• Voting rates increase with age: in 2012, the percentage of eligible adults who voted ranged from 41.2 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds, to a high of 71.9 percent for those 65 and older.
• Although blacks voted at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites nationally in 2012, this result was not uniform across the country. In the East North Central, East South Central, Middle Atlantic, and South Atlantic divisions, blacks voted at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites. In the Mountain and Pacific divisions, non-Hispanic whites voted at higher rates than blacks. In the New England, West North Central and West South Central divisions, voting rates for the two groups were not significantly different from each other.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Megacommuters: 600,000 in U.S. Travel 90 Minutes and 50 Miles to Work, and 10.8 Million Travel an Hour Each Way, Census Bureau Reports

About 8.1 percent of U.S. workers have commutes of 60 minutes or longer, 4.3 percent work from home, and nearly 600,000 full-time workers had "megacommutes" of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles. The average one-way daily commute for workers across the country is 25.5 minutes, and one in four commuters leave their county to work.

These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey, which provides local statistics on a variety of topics for even the smallest communities.

According to <Out-of-State and Long Commutes: 2011>, 23.0 percent of workers with long commutes (60 minutes or more) use public transit, compared with 5.3 percent for all workers. Only 61.1 percent of workers with long commutes drove to work alone, compared with 79.9 percent for all workers who worked outside the home.

"The average travel time for workers who commute by public transportation is higher than that of workers who use other modes. For some workers, using transit is a necessity, but others simply choose a longer travel time over sitting in traffic," said Brian McKenzie, a Census Bureau statistician and author of the brief.

Rail travel accounted for 11.8 percent of workers with long commutes, and other forms of public transportation accounted for 11.2 percent.

Workers who live in New York state show the highest rate of long commutes at 16.2 percent, followed by Maryland and New Jersey at 14.8 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. The estimates for Maryland and New Jersey are not statistically different from each other. These states and several others with high rates of long commutes contain or are adjacent to large metropolitan areas.

Based on the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, 586,805 full-time workers are mega commuters -- one in 122 of full-time workers. Mega commuters were more likely to be male, older, married, make a higher salary, and have a spouse who does not work. Of the total mega commutes, 75.4 percent were male and 24.6 percent women. Mega commuters were also more likely to depart for work before 6 a.m. Metro areas with large populations tend to attract large flows of mega commuters, according to <Mega Commuting in the U.S.>.

Commuting Across County Lines

More than a fourth of all U.S. workers commute outside the county where they live, according to <County-to-County Commuting Flows: 2006-2010>, a report on commutes between counties. About 27.4 percent of all U.S. workers traveled outside the county where they live for work during a typical week, compared with 26.7 percent in 2000.

<See the Commuting Flows in Your County>

Small counties and county equivalents dominate the list of counties with the highest percentage of workers commuting outside the county where they live. Several of these counties are in Virginia or Georgia within close proximity to metro areas such as Washington, D.C., and Atlanta: including Manassas Park, Va. (91.2 percent), Echols County, Ga. (85.3 percent), Storey County, Ga. (84.6 percent), Camden County, N.C. (83.2 percent), Long County, Ga. (82.1 percent), Carroll County, Miss. (81.8 percent), and Falls Church, Va. (81.8 percent). Because of the margins of error, these percentages are not statistically different from several of the others.

Three counties in the New York City metropolitan area had the highest number of commuters leaving the county where they live for another county. They include workers living in Kings County (Brooklyn), Queens County (Queens) and Bronx County (The Bronx) traveling to New York County (Manhattan) for work.

Workers commuting from Los Angeles County to Orange County, and from Orange County to Los Angeles County in California represented the fourth and fifth largest flows of commuters across county lines, followed by three combinations in the Houston or Dallas metro areas in Texas.

Out-of-State Commutes

The Census Bureau also examined workers who commute across state lines.
In five states and the District of Columbia, one in 10 workers lived in a different state, according to the <Out-of-State and Long Commutes: 2011> brief. Among these are several small Eastern states, including Delaware (14.8 percent), Rhode Island (12.8 percent), New Hampshire (10.8 percent) and West Virginia (10.0 percent). North Dakota also showed a high rate of workers who live in a different state at 11.6 percent. The percentages for New Hampshire and North Dakota are not statistically different from each other.
 
Among all workers in the District of Columbia, 72.4 percent live in a different state. Workers from just two states, Maryland and Virginia, accounted for 70.4 percent who work in the District of Columbia.

"The District of Columbia is a job center for all of its adjoining counties in Maryland and Virginia," McKenzie said. "No other state's workforce exceeded 20.0 percent in its rate of out-of-state commuters."

New Hampshire (17.0), Delaware (16.4), Rhode Island (15.6), New Jersey (14.0) and West Virginia (12.1) also had high percentages of residents leaving the state for work. The percentage for Delaware is not statistically different from the percentages of New Hampshire and Rode Island.

The District of Columbia also had the highest rate of residents traveling across state lines to work at 25.2 percent, followed by Maryland at 18.3 percent. About 12.0 percent of Maryland workers commute to the District of Columbia, and about 13.0 percent of workers living in the nation's capital commute to Maryland.

The Census Bureau is also releasing an <infographic> that provides a statistical snapshot about home-based workers in the United States. This infographic presents recent historical trends as well as economic and social characteristics of people working from home at least one day per week. The infographic looks at statistics from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the American Community Survey. To learn more about home-based workers, please visit: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/employment_occupations/cb12-188.html.

The American Community Survey data collected on commuting are used to make transportation planning decisions by planners and governments, from the smallest towns to the U.S. as well as marketers and employers.

The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the nation. The results are used by everyone from town and city planners to retailers and homebuilders. The survey is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as education, occupation, language, ancestry and housing costs for even the smallest communities. Ever since Thomas Jefferson directed the first census in 1790, the census has collected detailed characteristics about our nation's people. Questions about jobs and the economy were added 20 years later under James Madison, who said such information would allow Congress to "adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community," and over the decades allow America "an opportunity of marking the progress of the society."

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Census Bureau Report Shows 30 Percent of Adults Receiving Government Assistance Have a Disability

Among the 46.0 million adults who received income-based government assistance in 2011, 30.4 percent of them had a disability, according to a report released today from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report, Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011, offers information about the occurrence of disabilities among people 18 and older who received income-based government assistance. The information is based on data from the 2011 American Community Survey.

"On average, people with disabilities have lower employment and earnings; therefore, understanding what assistance people with disabilities receive may help governments better coordinate and administer their programs," said Bernice Boursiquot, a Census Bureau statistician and co-author of the report.

People with a disability include those having vision, hearing, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care or independent living difficulties. Among recipients of public assistance, 18.2 percent had difficulty walking or climbing stairs, 14.6 percent had trouble leaving home to go shopping or visit the doctor without assistance, and 14.2 percent encountered trouble with memory, concentration, or making decisions.

Recipients received assistance in three forms: cash assistance (cash or money income), in-kind assistance (services, goods or vouchers) or both cash and in-kind assistance. Among people who received both cash and in-kind assistance, 58.3 percent had a disability. Among recipients of only cash assistance, 33.2 percent had a disability. Recipients of only in-kind benefits had the lowest disability rate at 22.6 percent.

This report also found that 22 states had disability rates above the national estimate of 30.4 percent among those receiving assistance. In comparison, 15 states had rates below the national estimate.

States west of the Appalachian Mountains had higher rates of disability among recipients of income-based assistance. In comparison, states in the Southwest and along the Eastern Seaboard had lower rates.

West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas were three of the top five states for disability prevalence in the total population, as well as in the total population receiving government assistance. In West Virginia, 26.8 percent of people with disabilities reported having ambulatory difficulty, defined as severe difficulties walking or climbing stairs.

The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the nation. The results are used by everyone from town and city planners to retailers and homebuilders. The survey is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as education, occupation, language, and ancestry and housing costs for even the smallest communities. Ever since Thomas Jefferson directed the first census in 1790, the census has collected detailed characteristics about our nation's people. Questions about jobs and the economy were added 20 years later under James Madison, who said such information would allow Congress to "adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community," and over the decades allow America "an opportunity of marking the progress of the society."

 

Source: Census Bureau

 

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

 

OFCCP New Census EEO Tab WebEx Session

The new EEO tabulation will replace the Census 2000 Special EEO File that federal contractors currently use to determine the availability of qualified minorities and women for job openings, and to develop written affirmative action programs (AAPs), as required by Executive Order (EO) 11246.

OFCCP is now in the process of determining when contractors must begin using the new EEO tabulation in the development of their AAPs. As part of this process, we invite your organization to participate in a conference call to share with us your thoughts and concerns regarding the timing of the deployment of the new EEO tabulation. This telephonic listening session will take place on Wednesday, February 6, 2013, at 1:30 pm, Eastern Standard Time (EST).

The session will be held on February 6, 2013 at 1:30 PM EST. To register please go to: https://doltraining.webex.com/doltraining/onstage/g.php?d=662266172&t=a&EA=jordan.lisa%40dol.gov&ET=668f404167424f4e838215dc23c96075&ETR=1842e96ea6920bdd4760a7de589fb7e8&RT=MiMxMQ==&p.

Source: Department of Labor

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

New Analyses of Census Bureau Data

Three new American Community Survey briefs released today from the U.S. Census Bureau focus on individuals 65 and older in the labor force, students who are working or have worked in the past year, and the self-employed.

The percentage of people 65 and older in the labor force increased from 12.1 percent in 1990 to 16.1 percent in 2010. The increase was greater for women.

“As with all age groups, the increase in labor force participation of women has been a driving factor for this overall trend,” said Braedyn Kromer, an analyst in the Census Bureau's Labor Force Statistics Branch.

Between 1990 and 2010, women 65 and older experienced a 4.1 percentage point increase in labor force participation, while women 16 to 64 experienced a 1.9 percentage point increase. This compares with a 3.2 percentage point increase in the labor force participation rate for men 65 and older and a 5.2 percentage point decline in the participation rate for men 16 to 64.

These statistics are part of a series of short, topic-based briefs produced to highlight results from the 2011 American Community Survey. The three briefs released today are Labor Force Participation and Work Status of People 65 Years and Older, School Enrollment and Work Status: 2011 and Changes in Self-Employment: 2010 to 2011.

“The American Community Survey allows us to measure important demographic characteristics of the nation's labor force and helps identify the impacts of changes in the labor market,” said Jennifer Cheeseman Day, assistant division chief for employment characteristics in the Census Bureau's Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division.

The School Enrollment and Work Status: 2011 brief highlights statistics on school enrollment and examines the proportion of students who worked and the amount of time they worked over the previous year. For example, the majority of undergraduate college students, 72 percent, worked during the year. Some other highlights included in the brief are:

• In 2011, 20 percent of college undergraduate students worked full-time, year-round.
• Almost half of graduate students worked full-time, year-round.
• The majority of graduate students, 82 percent, worked at least part-time during the year.

The Changes in Self-Employment: 2010 to 2011 brief examines changes in self-employment from 2010 to 2011 for the United States, the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Self-employment refers to individuals working in their own incorporated or nonincorporated businesses. Some highlights included in the brief are:

• Incorporated self-employment fell as a share of total employment nationally and in 13 states between 2010 and 2011. It increased in one state and was essentially unchanged in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
• From 2010 to 2011, the share of nonincorporated self-employment of total employment decreased nationally and in five states (Colorado, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas) and the District of Columbia. It increased in one state and Puerto Rico and was essentially unchanged in 44 states.
• In general, incorporated self-employed workers were more likely to work in management and professional occupations and had higher employment outcomes in 2011 than nonincorporated self-employed workers. The higher employment outcomes show that they were more likely to work full-time, year-round, have health insurance and earned higher incomes.

The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the nation. The results are used by everyone from town and city planners to retailers and homebuilders. The survey is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as education, occupation, language, ancestry and housing costs for even the smallest communities. Ever since Thomas Jefferson directed the first census in 1790, the census has collected detailed characteristics about our nation's people. Questions about jobs and the economy were added 20 years later under James Madison, who said such information would allow Congress to “adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community,” and over the decades, allow America “an opportunity of marking the progress of the society.”

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Fast Growth in Ph.D.s and Master's Degree Holders

From 2002 to 2012, the highest rate of increases in education attainment levels were doctorate and master's degrees, according to new statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. The population with a doctorate grew by about 1 million, or 45 percent, while those who held a master's climbed by 5 million, or 43 percent.

Meanwhile, the population with an associate degree rose by 5 million, or 31 percent. Those whose highest degree was a bachelor's degree grew at a smaller rate: 25 percent to 41 million. Meanwhile, the number of those without a high school or GED diploma declined by 13 percent, falling to 25 million. The rates of increase for doctorate and master's holders were not significantly different from one another.

The statistics come from Educational Attainment in the United States: 2012, a series of national-level tables showing attainment levels by a wide range of demographic characteristics, including sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, household relationship, citizenship and nativity, labor force status, occupation and industry. Also included are detailed information on years of school completed, showing for each level of attainment exactly how many years of education adults have. A variety of historical time series tables going back to 1940 are also provided, as are graphs illustrating historical data.

Women outnumbered men in 2012 among people whose highest level of education was a bachelor's degree (21 million versus 19 million) or a master's degree (9 million compared with 7.4 million). Conversely, more men had doctorate (2 million versus 1.2 million) or professional degrees (1.8 million compared with 1.2 million). Between 2002 and 2012, however, the gap between the number of men and women with professional degrees shrank.

The tabulations also show that education continues to pay off. Among people 25 and older who had any earnings in 2011, average earnings were $59,415 for people with a bachelor's degree (but no graduate degree), compared with $32,493 for people with a high school diploma, but no college.

These statistics come from the Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic Supplement, which is conducted in February, March and April each year at about 100,000 addresses nationwide.

 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

 

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Census Bureau to Complete Regional Office Realignment

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S Census Bureau's 18-month agenda to realign its field offices across the nation for the first time in 50 years will be completed by January 2013. The restructuring, announced on June 29, 2011, closes regional offices in Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City and Seattle.

The field realignment is part of the digital transformation of the Census Bureau, moving from a bricks-and-mortar model of regional offices to a virtual management structure, and leverages modern survey practices, such as telework, and better tools for field interviews. The new alignment creates an increase of timely information and a more efficient data collection process, while reducing the cost of surveys by an estimated $15 million to $18 million annually.

To read more, click here.

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Census Bureau Releases Profile of America's Workforce

Source: United States Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau released the 2006-2010 American Community Survey Equal Employment Opportunity Tabulation. The tabulation consists of 107 tables about the labor force crossed by sex, race and ethnicity. The U.S. Census Bureau has produced this tabulation after every decennial census since the 1970s. However, for the first time, this tabulation uses American Community Survey (2006-2010) estimates.

The tabulation -- available on American FactFinder (the Census Bureau's online statistics search tool) -- is produced for the federal agencies responsible for monitoring employment practices and enforcing civil rights laws for the workforce. Employers use these estimates to measure their compliance with laws and regulations. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs at the Department of Labor, and the Office of Personnel Management sponsored this tabulation.

The latest tabulation provides information about the labor force across several variables, including detailed occupations, industry, earnings, education, and age by residence, worksite and commuting flows for the nation, states, metro areas, counties and places. The estimates include new tables on unemployment status and citizenship status.

 Click here to read the full article.

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This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.