NOV. 7, 2019 — The U.S. Census Bureau today released a series of public service announcements (PSAs) to increase awareness and educate the public on the importance of the 2020 Census. These PSAs, which the Census Bureau encourages partners and stakeholders to use, can be accessed through a PSA toolkit featured on 2020census.gov.

The U.S. Constitution mandates that a census of the population be conducted every decade. Census statistics are used to determine the number of seats each state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives and how billions of dollars in federal funds are distributed annually for critical public services like hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and emergency response.  

The PSAs are available in segments ranging from 15 seconds to a minute that can be aired during unpaid or donated TV, radio and online spots. They include information about our outreach initiatives such as “Statistics in Schools” and “The Undercount of Young Children” as well as general explainers on topics like “What Is the Census” and “How to Take the Census.” 

The PSAs are designed for various audiences and offered in multiple languages. PSAs or scripts will be available in English and 12 non-English languages during 2020 Census operations. These languages include: Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese and Japanese. Paid advertisements reaching these audiences will run starting in early 2020. Other promotional materials will be posted to 2020census.gov as they become available.  

The PSAs are one piece of the Census Bureau’s integrated communications campaign. For example, the campaign includes advertising in 12 non-English languages, partner materials in multiple languages, “Statistics in Schools” activities and outreach to hard-to-count communities. In an effort to reach as many people as possible and ensure a complete and accurate count, the Census Bureau sought input, advice and research from diverse audiences, communities and stakeholders in producing the messages.

To download PSA materials, visit 2020census.gov.

No news release associated with this product. Tip Sheet only.

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