Let’s Check In On the ”People” Numbers

By Dr. Ellen O’Sullivan Leisure Lifestyle Consulting

Trends into Possibilities is created by Dr. Ellen O’Sullivan for the California Park & Recreation Society. Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcomed. Please contact Ellen at Ellenosull@gmail.com

Few things are as important to social and community agencies including parks and recreation than information about people.

Who are they? How old are they? Do they live alone or with others? Are they part of a growing diverse population? Is the rate of growth of its city or town growing at higher rates or losing population?

Big Picture – United States

The 2020 Census has been different for a number of reasons including immigration law changes and of course, the pandemic. The numbers have been slow coming out of the Census Bureau and the reports of under-reporting are more numerous than ever mostly due to the widespread impact of COVID. The ‘every decade’ counting of Americans was different in 2020. There were a number of factors that influenced these shift but the three major changes include:

• Stagnation in population growth

• More pronounced aging of the population

• Greater racial and ethnic diversity especially among young people

Slow growth. In fact, the 2020 Census resulted in the second smallest decade long growth in American history which leads to the major finding of stagnation in the population. Previ-