Statement on Updated Race and Ethnicity Standards
March 28, 2024 — The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today published the results of their Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15) review and issued updated standards for maintaining, collecting and presenting race and ethnicity data.
The U.S. Census Bureau commends the scientific integrity and collaboration with our fellow federal statistical agencies and departments throughout this process. These efforts aim to improve federal race and ethnicity statistics and ensure data more accurately reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. population.
As the Census Bureau follows the race and ethnicity standards directed by OMB, we will begin the process of reviewing the updated SPD 15. We will keep the public informed and determine a regular cadence for communications as we develop plans to implement the changes in our censuses and surveys.
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OMB Publishes Revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
By Dr. Karin Orvis, Chief Statistician of the United States
Earlier today, OMB published a set of revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (Directive No. 15): Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, the first since 1997. This process started in June 2022, with the first convening of the Interagency Technical Working Group of Federal Government career staff who represent programs that collect or use race and ethnicity data. Since that first convening, we’ve reviewed 20,000 comments and held almost 100 listening sessions to finalize the important standards we are announcing today.
Thanks to the hard work of staff across dozens of federal agencies and input from thousands of members of the public, these updated standards will help create more useful, accurate, and up to date federal data on race and ethnicity. These revisions will enhance our ability to compare information and data across federal agencies, and also to understand how well federal programs serve a diverse America.
You can read the updated Directive No. 15 on the Federal Register as well as at www.spd15revision.gov.
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