Digital Commons Network^™

The Local Agricultural Community Exchange: Outcomes And Lessons Learned From A Public-Private Initiative To Revitalize A Downtown Community, Michele Cranwell Schmidt

Carsey Publications

This brief describes a revitalization project in Barre, Vermont, led by a public-private partnership involving the Agricultural Community Exchange, the Central Vermont Community Action Council, and the private businesses that operated out of the storefront. The Nancy Nye Fellowship, through the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, supported the evaluation of the project from 2007 to 2010. After four years of operation, the market, café, and Gallery closed due to economic hardship. Author Michele Schmidt, the 2008 recipient of the Nancy Nye Fellowship, examines the impact the initiative had on community revitalization and economic development, and she cites …

Rural Demographic Change In The New Century: Slower Growth, Increased Diversity, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

This brief examines rural demographic trends in the first decade of the twenty-first century using newly available data from the 2010 Census. The rural population grew by just 2.2 million between 2000 and 2010—a gain barely half as great as that during the 1990s. Population growth was particularly slow in farming and mining counties and sharply reduced in rural manufacturing counties. Rural population gains were largest in high-amenity counties and just beyond the metropolitan fringe. Diversity accelerated in rural America, with racial and ethnic minorities accounting for 83 percent of rural population growth between 2000 and 2010.

Lack Of Protections For Home Care Workers: Overtime Pay And Minimum Wage, Kristin Smith

Carsey Publications

This brief examines overtime hours and hourly wages among home care workers (home health aides and personal care aides) and compares them with hospital and nursing home aides. These aides engage in similar work for their clients, even though they work in different institutional settings. Yet, home health aides and personal care aides have higher poverty rates (20 percent and 28 percent, respectively) than hospital aides and nursing home aides (about 12 percent for both). In addition, they typically work fewer hours per week, have lower rates of health insurance coverage, rely on public assistance to a greater extent, and …

Carsey Institute: Americans' Knowledge Of Polar Regions Up, But Not Their Concern Environmental Issues In Polar Regions Are Polarizing, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Public Knowledge About Polar Regions Increases While Concerns Remain Unchanged, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Matthew J. Cutler, Andrew P. Schaefer

Carsey Publications

The authors of this brief conduct the first comparative analysis of the polar questions that were part of the National Opinion Research Center's 2006 and 2010 General Social Survey. Developed by scientists at the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, these questions covered topics such as climate change, melting ice and rising sea levels, and species extinction. The authors report that the public's knowledge about the north and south polar regions significantly improved between 2006 and 2010--before and after the International Polar Year. In addition, respondents who know more about science in general, and polar facts specifically, tend to …

Report Of The County Commissioners, County Treasurer And Other Officers Of Cheshire County, New Hampshire For The Year Ending December 31, 2011., Cheshire County Representatives

Cheshire County, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a county in the state of New Hampshire.

Sullivan County, New Hampshire Annual Report Of The Board Of Commisioners, And Other Elected Officials And Department Heads Fiscal Year 2012., Sullivan County Representatives

Sullivan County, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a county in the state of New Hampshire.

Annual Report Of The Grafton County Commissioners Together With The Reports From The Conservation District, County Attorney, Human Resources, Nursing Home, Sheriff's Department, Treasurer And Auditors, Unh Cooperative Extension, Corrections, Drug Court, Human Services, Registry Of Deeds, Information Technology, Department Of Maintenance, Farm, For The Fiscal Year Covering July 1, 2011- June 30, 2012., Grafton County Representatives

Grafton County, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a county in the state of New Hampshire.

2011 Annual Report, Town Of Goffstown, New Hampshire. Gofftown's 250th Anniversary Year 1761-2011., Goffstown Town Representatives

Goffstown, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

N.H. Voters Have Become Less Republican Since 1960s, New Carsey Institute Research Shows, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Changes In New Hampshire’S Republican Party: Evolving Footprint In Presidential Politics, 1960-2008, Dante J. Scala

Carsey Publications

This brief describes a series of dramatic changes in New Hampshire's political landscape over the past four decades. Examining presidential elections from 1960 to 2008, author Dante Scala uncovers a series of significant shifts in New Hampshire's political geography at the county level. He reports that historically Republican counties Grafton and Merrimack have both tilted Democratic consistently in recent decades and that New Hampshire has become less Republican overall. All of these changes have impacted not just general elections in New Hampshire, but the Republican presidential primary as well.

Carsey Institute: Private Health Insurance Coverage Rates For Children Continue To Decline As Families Struggle With Recession, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Rates Of Public Health Insurance Coverage For Children Rise As Rates Of Private Coverage Decline, Michael J. Staley, Jessica A. Bean, Jessica D. Ulrich

Carsey Publications

This brief uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. The authors report that, nationally, private health insurance for children decreased by just under 2 percentage points, while public health insurance increased by nearly 3 percentage points. Rural places and central cities witnessed significant declines in rates of private health insurance for children in nearly every region. Rates of public insurance coverage rose in every region and place type. Children’s health insurance coverage overall continued to rise in 2010, increasing by 0.6 of a …

Understanding' Of Climate Change Depends On Politics, New Carsey Institute Research Shows Views Of New Hampshire Residents Largely Mirror National Patterns, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Do You Believe The Climate Is Changing? Answers From New Survey Research, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Carsey Publications

This brief explores how political views influence Americans’ understanding and perception of science. The research is based on a national version of the Community and Environment in Rural America survey called NCERA, and on New Hampshire’s statewide Granite State Poll. Author Lawrence Hamilton reports that most people on both surveys feel that they understand either a great deal or a moderate amount about global warming or climate change. However, deep partisan divisions affect both personal beliefs about climate change and perceptions of agreement among scientists. Democrats are much more likely to state they believe that climate change is happening, caused …

Teen Stress And Substance Use Problems In Coös: Survey Shows Strong Community Attachment Can Offset Risk, Karen T. Van Gundy, Meghan L. Mills

Carsey Publications

This brief explores how social stress and community attachment are related to problem alcohol and drug use for girls and boys in Coös County, New Hampshire. The brief uses survey data from the Coös Youth Study, which includes self-reported information from 564 Coös youth who were in seventh and eleventh grades in 2008, and who were surveyed again one year later (in 2009) when they were in eighth and twelfth grades. Nearly one-fourth of youth in Coös County (22 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls) reported at least one alcohol or drug use related problem. The authors note …

More Americans Using Federal Food Assistance Since Recession Ended, Carsey Institute Finds, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Reliance On Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Continued To Rise Post-Recession, Jessica A. Bean

Carsey Publications

This brief uses data from the 2007, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to provide an up-to-date look at changes in SNAP receipt over the course of the recession.

The New Hampshire, Vol. 101 [102], No. 15 (Oct. 28, 2011), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 101, but it is the 102nd volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

Coos Teens’ View Of Family Economic Stress Is Tied To Quality Of Relationships At Home, Corinna J. Tucker, Genevieve R. Cox

Carsey Publications

Family economic hardship during adolescence affects family relationships and the social, emotional, and behavioral development of a substantial number of American youth. The authors of this brief use data from the Coos County Youth Study, conducted by the Carsey Institute, to explore adolescents’ perceptions of family economic pressure in 2008 and determine whether these views are linked to their family relationship experiences one year later. They report that one-third of adolescents in Coos County, New Hampshire, perceive that their family is experiencing significant economic pressure and that significant economic pressure is linked to negative parent-child and sibling relationships one year …

More Poor Kids In More Poor Places: Children Increasingly Live Where Poverty Persists, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Kenneth M. Johnson, Andrew P. Schaefer

Carsey Publications

More poor kids in more poor places: children increasingly live where poverty persists

More Poor Kids In More Poor Places, Carsey Institute Finds, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

The New Hampshire, Vol. 101 [102], No. 10 [9] (Oct. 7, 2011), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 101, but it is the 102nd volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

This issue was printed as 10, but it is the 9th issue in this volume. This was corrected in pencil.

Stretching Ties: Social Capital In The Rebranding Of Coos County, New Hampshire, Michele Dillon

Carsey Publications

Place rebranding is gaining in popularity as cities and rural communities alike attempt to expand their revenue streams through innovative marketing strategies that seek to revitalize or create tourism destinations. These efforts tend to come about as part of an economic development strategy pursued by communities that have borne steep economic losses resulting from global economic restructuring and the decline in traditional manufacturing, agriculture, and natural-resource extraction. Author Michele Dillon explores the role of social capital in rural wealth generation by focusing on how it was used to advance place rebranding in Coos County in northern New Hampshire.

Jobs, Natural Resources, And Community Resilience: A Survey Of Southeast Alaskans About Social And Environmental Change, Thomas G. Safford, Megan M. Henly, Jessica D. Ulrich

Carsey Publications

As part of the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) project, researchers at the Carsey Institute surveyed 1,541 residents of the ten boroughs and unincorporated census areas in Southeast Alaska to better understand social and environmental change in the region and their implications for Alaskan community and families. The authors of this brief report that social problems in the extremely isolated region of Southeast Alaska such as crime and drug use are closely related to economic distress, particularly in small outlying communities.

One Million Additional Children In Poverty Since 2009: 2010 Data Reveal Nearly One In Four Southern Children Now Live In Poverty, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Jessica A. Bean, Andrew P. Schaefer

Carsey Publications

In this brief, the authors use the ACS data released on September 22 to focus on child poverty. The authors report that between 2009 and 2010 an additional one million children joined the ranks of those in poverty. This brings the total to an estimated 15.7 million poor children in 2010, an increase of 2.6 million since the Great Recession began in 2007.

Tanf In Rural America: Informing Re-Authorization, Leif Jensen, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Jessica A. Bean

Carsey Publications

In 1996 welfare reform ushered in a new era in which cash assistance for poor parents became both temporary and conditional on activities to promote economic independence through work. Cash assistance from TANF relieves, but does not eliminate, poverty because benefit levels are far too low to lift families above the poverty threshold. These ameliorative effects are weaker in rural than urban areas. Over time, the positive impacts of TANF receipt have continued to decline. The authors assert that the necessity of re-authorizing TANF gives us an opportunity to reflect on its strengths and limitations.

Southeastern Kentuckians Remain Optimistic Through Great Recession: Growing Concerns About Sprawl, Housing, And Recreational Opportunities, Jessica D. Ulrich

Carsey Publications

In May and June of 2007, Carsey Institute researchers surveyed 1,000 randomly selected respondents from Kentucky’s Harlan and Letcher counties, and between November 2010 and January 2011, they returned to survey 1,020 different randomly selected respondents from the same counties. These two Kentucky counties provide a snapshot of perceptions of community and environmental change in a chronically poor rural place. This brief focuses on the questions asked in both surveys to identify area wide (Harlan and Letcher counties combined) changes since the Great Recession. The surveys reveal that the recession has exacerbated concern about many community-level problems including poverty, affordable …

Carsey Institute Researchers To Survey Oregon Residents On Views About Community And Forest, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Unemployment In The Great Recession: Single Parents And Men Hit Hard, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Kristin Smith, Jessica A. Bean

Carsey Publications

This brief discusses the sweeping impact the Great Recession has had on Americans, particularly men, single parents, young adults, and people with less education. Using data from the 2007 and 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey, the authors report that unemployment is highest among men and among unmarried adults, regardless of place or parenting status. Although this was also true before the recession, gaps between men and women, and the unmarried and married, have widened considerably during the recession. Also during the Great Recession, unemployment rose more in central cities and suburban places than in …