Covid-19. Pandemic. Stimulus payment. Unemployment. Reopening.
These are some of the phrases echoed throughout conversations with friends, family, colleagues, doctors, scientists, and government officials since March. Our knowledge regarding Covid-19 has evolved over the past five months, yet uncertainty continues to linger.
Read MoreA lot is going on in our lives right now, but we hope you will take 5 minutes to join us to support a fair and accurate census count. Like you, we at CTData care about an accurate count in Census 2020. There is funding, representation, and data at stake. We are concerned that the U.S. Census Bureau has recently shortened the timeline for the decennial count and that Congress isn’t funding census operations at a level that meets the needs in Connecticut and other states.
We’re excited to share some good news during these challenging times! CTData received the 2020 Connecticut Entrepreneur Award for Education, earning the top spot in community voting for this category.
Read MoreTurn on any news outlet and data privacy and accuracy sit at the forefront of the conversation. No organization is too small or too large to outwit potential privacy breaches, not even the federal government.
Read MoreHealth care, the economy, major events, our day-to-day lives—Covid-19 has spared nothing on its path of disruption. Even the census had to adjust its 230-year-old process to prioritize the health and safety of census takers (workers) and respondents.
Read MoreAs Connecticut businesses begin to open their doors, new business registrations in the state have been steadily rising for the past 12 weeks. When comparing data from 2019 to 2020, new business registrations are higher now than in the same week of 2019. Though most weeks have lagged behind 2019, with Week 12 (the week of March 22, 2020) being the lowest, 2020 registrations began passing 2019 in the past few weeks.
Read More“How are you?” This seemingly standard question has become increasingly hard to answer. Every day, we see or experience the horrific implications surrounding Covid-19 whether it’s death rates, rising confirmed cases, skyrocketing job loss, or simply not being able to hug a friend or family member. We can’t fully understand the health and wellbeing of our residents during this time without examining mental health. In this analysis, we look at how different populations in Connecticut are faring when it comes to mental health.
Read MoreOn June 10, 2020, a data community of practice met virtually. This group is made up of Connecticut data creators and users. We gathered to talk about equity and ethics in our data work, especially amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read MoreTo help promote statewide data transparency, we developed the Connecticut Quasi-Public Organization Data Portal in partnership with the Office of the State Comptroller.
Read MoreCTData stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. We condemn police violence and racism.
Read MoreAs the response rate in Connecticut nears 65%, our recent analysis shows that there are still many tracts that are struggling to increase their self-response rates. While we don’t typically think about the world around us as census tracts, they allow us to really focus our efforts on encouraging people to be counted in very specific areas.
There are two tools you will learn about in this post. First is the U.S. Census Bureau’s own Response Rates map. The second is the Census 2020 Hard to Count Map. I use both for different purposes, and by the end of this post, you will be using them, too.
Read MoreDoes your town or your organization need business listings, such as restaurants and hair salons, to assist with Covid-19 state reopening?
CTData can help! Reach out to info@ctdata.org and let us know what you’re looking for.
In the meantime, take a look at Hartford’s lists of barbershops & restaurants which CTData was able to put together using state licensing data, SOTS business registrations, and Yelp.
Read MoreOur analysis of Census 2020 self-response rates in Connecticut by tract with demographic characteristics found that many tracts in Connecticut are struggling with their self-response rate. These include rates lower than Connecticut’s average among our major cities, tracts with over 50% Hispanic or black residents, tracts with fewer home-owners and more multi-family homes, tracts that received bilingual census mailings, and tracts with less Internet access. Learn more about the details and resources you can access to support these tracts.
Read MoreData shouldn’t be confined to a spreadsheet. Don’t get us wrong—we love a good spreadsheet as much as the next data person, but when endless rows and columns of data overwhelms rather than informs, it’s not serving its highest purpose to help improve outcomes and inspire change.
Read MoreOn April 23, the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting data on the effects of COVID-19 on American households, called the Household Pulse Survey. The survey explores: loss in employment income; expected loss in employment income; food scarcity; delayed medical care; housing insecurity; and K-12 educational changes. Connecticut saw the biggest increase between the first two weeks in the delay of medical care. In addition, over 50% of households have experienced income loss since March 13, 2020.
Read MoreLike many of our partners, with every new data point, news article, and piece of information, more questions continue to arise. This week, we dove into the COVID-19 death data to highlight how a simple difference in data definitions can influence key takeaways. To do this, we compared day by day deaths to cumulative deaths.
Read MoreWith unemployment rates and claims for unemployment benefits rising, Connecticut businesses are grappling with how to be more agile, moving their work online, and altering business-as-usual to safely return employees to work. The State has developed advisory groups such as Reopen Connecticut Advisory Board and hired consulting firms to understand and plan for the next phase. These efforts assume that employees feel safe returning to work and that businesses have enough reserves to manage through the crisis. Survey results suggest that may not be the case in Connecticut.
Read MoreConnecticut remained in 15th place among the 50 states this week. As of May 12 the self-response rate was 62.6%, getting us closer to our 2010 final self-response rate of 69.5%. Each of the municipalities that have the highest self-response rates were within 4 percentage points of their final 2010 rate as of May 12, 2020. However, seven towns in Connecticut that have surpassed their 2010 self-response rate as of May 12, 2020 get to celebrate. Sprague reached their 2010 rate (43.8%) earliest on April 15. This town also saw the large surge from their 2010 rate, at 57.4% as of May 12, over thirteen percentage points above their 2010 rate. Colebrook met their 2010 rate and joined the club as of May 9.
Read MoreWhat you need to know: Changes to the 2020 Census timeline will likely leave state legislators with little time to redraw Connecticut’s congressional and legislative districts if needed. Clarification to the state constitution is urgently needed to ensure that the legislature—not the court—can determine Connecticut’s districts.
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