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Between a global pandemic, racial unrest, natural disasters and a contested election, 2020 has, in many ways, been a dismal year. However, some good things did come out of this year. During this season of thankfulness and gratitude, we at the APM Research Lab thought we would highlight some bright spots of 2020.
Read MoreCOVID-19 mortality rates are higher for nearly every community of color in nearly every state, as thoroughly documented in our Color of Coronavirus project. With the advent of COVID-19 vaccines, the question has become: how likely are different racial and ethnic groups to get vaccinated?
Read MoreAs we previously reported, first-time college enrollment took a big hit this fall due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At the time of our last report, the biggest unanswered question was whether BIPOC students, already underrepresented in the halls of higher education, were disproportionately represented among these declines. New data answers that question with a resounding “yes.”
Read MoreHow did the 2020 Presidential political polls do in estimating votes for Biden and Trump? Here's an preliminary analysis of what went wrong and right with polls. Most polls accurately reflected the outcomes, even if the margin between the candidates was over-estimated. Polling in some states was better than in others. The polls generally did a better job estimating support for Biden than Trump.
Read MoreNew data shows that many would-be college students are choosing not to enroll in undergraduate institutions during the coronavirus pandemic. In total, first-time beginning student enrollment this fall dropped by 16.1% from the previous year—and this subset of enrollment losses has driven an overall decline in undergraduate enrollment on the national level.
Read MoreA subtle shift in the composition of eligible voters could prove pivotal in three battleground Midwestern congressional races being closely watched: Minnesota’s 1st and 7th districts and Nebraska’s 2nd. All have experienced a changing electorate since the 2018 midterms—in ways that mostly favor Democrats. In all three, voters of color have swelled, while only one has seen its number of White voters grow.
Read MoreDid you know that 1 in every 66 potential voters is a Mexican immigrant? Immigrants now represent nearly 10% of all eligible voters in the U.S. In the 13 battleground states that President Trump won or lost by five percentage points or less in 2016, immigrants now make up a higher proportion of potential voters than his margin was in every state but Maine. Explore the number and countries of origin for immigrant voters in every state.
Read MoreOur latest analysis shows the summer of 2020 has been marked by a troubling U-shaped trend in reported COVID-19 deaths across all race groups, with the sharpest rise most recently in deaths among Latinos. With the school year already begun in many parts of the country or just around the corner in others—introducing countless new avenues for coronavirus exposures—these trends foretell a frightening fall for all Americans.
Read MoreMy family buried my grandmother the day that coronavirus deaths in the United States crossed the 100,000 threshold. It was a small Catholic mass; only her four living children (including my mother) and their spouses attended. They sat in separate pews, and the priest who led the service wore a face mask.
And I watched the whole thing—the viewing and the service—on a webcast from the comfort of my apartment in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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