Federal Race & Ethnicity Standards

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is in the process of revising Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (Directive 15), which establish the minimum categories that federal agencies must use to collect race and ethnicity data. If the updated standards are enacted, it will be the first time they have been updated since 1997.

The purpose of these standards is to ensure that federal data collection efforts—including on the decennial census—fully, fairly, and accurately reflect the country’s population. OMB has noted that the current standards do not fully reflect the changing demographics of our society and the growth of multiracial and multiethnic communities. 

More accurate data on race and ethnicity are necessary to reveal and address disparate impacts of laws, programs, and policies and to ensure that public and private programs effectively meet the needs of diverse communities. The data informs policymakers tasked with eliminating disparities and promoting equal opportunities. Additionally, racial and ethnic data help serve communities—especially those historically underrepresented and underserved—on various issues, including poverty, health care, housing, criminal legal system reform, environment, racial equity, education, and infrastructure. 

There are three primary proposed revisions:

  1. Adoption of a combined race and ethnicity question format. The current standard uses two separate questions: one on Hispanic origin followed by another on five racial categories. OMB proposes to combine these two race and ethnicity questions into one question that includes both race and ethnicity, and that would encourage respondents to select all categories that apply.

The problem with the current standard is that there is a growing number of people who do not self-identify with the listed racial categories, which means the resulting data is increasingly less informative and accurate about diversity in this country. For example, some census respondents, particularly Latinos, find the race question following the Hispanic origin question to be confusing if they do not see an answer choice on the race question that matches the way they identify. As a result, many (44% in the 2020 census) skip the race question or check a box for “Some Other Race,” which was intended as a “small, residual” category, and has now become the second largest racial category in this country.

Under the OMB proposal, respondents who select both Hispanic and Black, for example, would be counted under both of these categories.

Even so, some Afro-Latino advocates have expressed concern about, if not outright opposition to, the combined question format. They are worried that some Afro-Latinos may only identify as Latino and not also select Black even though instructions say to select all race and ethnicity categories that apply.

In a country with a long history of anti-Black racism, some people of mixed race and ethnicity may indeed hesitate to self-identify as Black. Fortunately, Census Bureau research testing the proposed change demonstrates that the percentage of Hispanics also checking Black is statistically higher under the combined question when compared to the current two-question standard. Even so, the concerns expressed by some Afro-Latino advocates may be real under either the current or the proposed standards and should be met with ramped up public education about the need for inclusive responses to the combined question. The government has a key role to play in this regard, and so too does philanthropy.

  1. Addition of a new category for persons of Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) origin that is geographically based and separate from the White category. There is currently no distinct ethnicity category for the MENA population to self-identify. Under the OMB proposal, the MENA ethnic category would be added to the combined question format.

Based on extensive research by the Census Bureau that compared the current two-question format to different versions of a combined question shows the combined question with detailed checkboxes and write-in area was the best choice. The detailed combined question yields better data overall on Latino ethnicity, needed data on MENA households, a major decrease in Some Other Race reporting, a more accurate picture of the Non-Hispanic White population, and no negative impacts for other major race groups, such as Black or American Indian/Alaska Native. It also decreased item nonresponse, meaning more people completed the race/ethnicity question than the two-question format.  The OMB proposal recommends the combined question format that the Census Bureau found to be the optimal format.

  1. Requiring the collection of more granular data for all minimum race and ethnicity categories. OMB should require, rather than simply encourage, agencies to collect and publish more detailed data for all minimum race and ethnicity categories whenever possible. Under the OMB proposal, OMB and the Census Bureau will work with stakeholders to finalize which checkboxes, write-ins, detailed instructions, and terminology are used.

Public Comment Period

On January 27, 2023, OMB announced it would be accepting comments on its proposals for revising the race and ethnicity standards. OMB extended the comment period by 15 days, going until April 27, 2023. More than 20,250 comments were filed in response to the notice and request for comments. Here is a sample of partner letters:

Additional comments have been posted publicly here.