Research & Analysis
The census gap: governing with fifteen-year-old numbers
What changes when the most important baseline is out of date.
Baselines age
When a census is delayed, every per-person indicator inherits an older population. Rates that look like policy success can be arithmetic: the denominator stopped moving.
This piece is about measurement. It does not assign blame to a government for a postponed count; it shows what the gap does to interpretation.