---
title: Cause Census
group: Research
order: 4
summary: Explore coverage of 17 cause areas and capture source-linked estimates with units, years, uncertainty and value assumptions.
status: live
statusNote: Live cause filters and evidence-capture software are available. Existing mappings are editorial hypotheses; a complete global funding or depth census has not been produced.
conditions: [symptom-trap, story-bias]
firstMilestone: Sourced estimates of scale, neglectedness and solvability for all 17 cause areas in the Cause Atlas, each with its framework assumptions stated.
help:
  - Pick a cause area in src/data/causes.json and add a sourced estimate of how much money goes to it, by pull request.
  - Open an issue labeled program proposing a cause area the Atlas leaves out.
  - Help code organizations by depth for the Depth Census.
related: [/record/cause-atlas/, /open-problems/the-depth-census/, /record/gap-map/, /tools/values-compass/]
sources:
  - title: A framework for comparing global problems in terms of expected impact
    publisher: Robert Wiblin, 80,000 Hours
    year: 2016
    url: https://80000hours.org/articles/problem-framework/
---

## Use the live research desk

Filter the cause map by text and proposed upstream source, then start a [census observation](#workspace-cause-census). Record a primary source, coverage, unit, reference year and uncertainty. A blank value stays unknown; a reported zero stays zero. The map counts entries in this Record, not global need or funding.

Your workspace stays in this browser. Save records, edit them or fork frozen versions, export JSON, a research memo or CSV, and import a backup with an explicit replacement step. Deleting or clearing offers an undo while the page remains open. No notes are submitted to Charitology. The institutional goals below remain the program’s longer-term charter.

## What it is

The Cause Census maps every cause area Charitology tracks, from global health to arts and culture. For each cause it aims to answer the three questions that 80,000 Hours sets out in its framework for comparing global problems: how big is the problem, how neglected is it and how much would more effort solve? The census adds a fourth question of its own: where on the [depth scale](/method/#depth) does the money already going to this cause act?

## How it works

The census starts from the [Cause Atlas](/record/cause-atlas/), which places 17 cause areas on five dimensions, such as whom a cause protects and how certain its results are. Those positions are editorial judgments, and the data file says so. The census would add sourced estimates on top: how many people or beings a problem affects, how much money already goes to it and what the evidence says about progress per dollar.

Every estimate would carry its assumptions, and scale needs the most care. A problem’s size depends on what you count: lives, rights, species, future people or the health of a community. So the census would report scale through more than one [moral framework](/method/#frameworks) and show where the ranking changes.

## Why it matters for the system

The [Story Bias](/diagnosis/story-bias/) asks how faces and headlines might pull attention away from the scale of a need. That mechanism is debated; it should be tested rather than assumed. A public census would put the size of each problem next to the attention it gets, so a giver can see the gap for themselves.

The depth question treats the [Symptom Trap](/diagnosis/symptom-trap/). Within each cause, the census would ask how much money goes to relief and how much to work on sources. That is the [Depth Census](/open-problems/the-depth-census/) carried out one cause at a time. Charitology has not established that mix; the census would provide a baseline.

## Risks and limits

Numbers can hide value judgments. Neglectedness can only be measured for resources someone tracks, such as grants, so informal giving and volunteer time are easy to miss. The census would label each number with its source, its year and the judgment behind it.

## What success looks like

Within five years, every cause area has sourced estimates with stated assumptions and the depth mix is estimated for at least five causes. Funders cite the census when they explain where their money goes.