Sociology Commons^™

Seventy-Eight Percent Of Working Rural Families To Receive Full Making Work Pay Tax Credit, Marybeth J. Mattingly

Carsey Publications

The Making Work Pay Tax Credit provides eligible U.S. workers with additional money in each paycheck throughout the year. The fact sheet shows that 78 percent of rural working families will receive the full amount of the credit, while an additional 10 percent of families will receive a partial credit due to low earnings or high earnings. These tax credits, along with the expansion to the Child Tax Credit, are an important financial boost to families in rural America, particularly low-income working families.

Forty-Three Percent Of Eligible Rural Families Can Claim A Larger Credit With Eitc Expansion, Marybeth J. Mattingly

Carsey Publications

This policy brief on the changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit in the ARRA also shows that families with three or more children and married couples will receive an increased refund under these new EITC rules for tax years 2009 and 2010. Many families in urban and suburban communities will also see increased benefits under these new provisions.

Navigating The Teen Years: Promise And Peril For Northern New Hampshire Youth, Anne M. Shattuck

Carsey Publications

This report provides a snapshot of how youth are doing in Carroll, Coos, and Grafton counties and describes some of the difficulties they and their communities face as they negotiate the transition to adulthood. The study is based on data from several agencies that collect county- and community-level information about youth, as well as from interviews with individuals working with youth in each of the three counties.

Paid Sick Time Helps Workers Balance Work And Family, Kristin Smith

Carsey Publications

In New Hampshire, workers fare better than workers nationally, yet one-quarter of Granite State workers do not have paid sick days. The lack of paid sick days places workers in a bind. They are forced to choose between caring for a sick family member or themselves and losing pay. This brief suggests that the long-term benefits of workers having paid sick days out way the cost for employers because it promotes less contagion among coworkers, increased productivity, and reduced turnover.

Child Tax Credit Expansion Increases Number Of Families Eligible For A Refund, Marybeth J. Mattingly

Carsey Publications

The analysis shows that more than 500,000 rural families, or almost 9 percent of rural families, will become newly eligible for the Child Tax Credit under the expansion included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Within these families are an estimated 900,000 rural children. The proportion of urban families benefiting from the expanded Child Tax Credit is slightly lower than in rural areas, but only 5 percent of suburban families are newly eligible for the credit.

In The Arms Of The Community, Elizabeth Anne Joseph

Inquiry Journal 2009

No abstract provided.

Financial Innovations Roundtable: Developing Practical Solutions To Scale Up Integrated Community Development Strategies, Michael E. Swack, Noemi Giszpenc

Carsey Publications

Essays from experts affiliated with the “think-do” tank , the Financial Innovations Roundtable, housed at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

Complex Personhood As The Context For Intimate Partner Victimization: One American Indian Woman's Story, Sharon B. Murphy, Lynne Lemire, Mindi Wisman

Peer-Reviewed and Other Publications

This qualitative case study explores one American Indian (AI) woman’s experience of intimate partner violence and the subsequent murder of her abusive partner. The lens of complex personhood (Gordon, 1997) has been applied as a method for understanding “Annie’s” multiple identities of AI woman, victim of intimate partner violence, mother, and convicted felon. The aim of the current case study was to uncover implicit and explicit meanings embedded in the experiences of moving from a victim of IPV to an off ender by applying a framework of hermeneutic phenomenology as the methodology. Three relational themes emerged from the interview data: …

Maximizing Returns To Colleges And Communities, Michael E. Swack

Carsey Publications

Colleges and universities depend tremendously on their local communities in numerous ways, and through community investment, have a unique opportunity to support these communities in turn. This handbook provides an overview of community investment, including a step-by-step guide to implementing a community investment program that maximizes both financial and social returns.

Trends In Arrests Of "Online Predators"., Janis Wolak, David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell

Crimes Against Children Research Center

No abstract provided.

Building The Foundation For A Healthy Life: Individuals, Communities And The State, John W. Seavey, Josephine B. Porter, Barbara Arrington

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Well-Being: The Heart Of Being Human, The Art Of Being Whole, Mary Westfall

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

A Miscarriage Of Juvenile Justice: A Modern Day Parable Of The Unintended Results Of Bad Lawmaking, Amy Vorenberg

Law Faculty Scholarship

Sensationalized cases increasingly create the context for public policy discussion. Stories about violent crime are a common feature of the local evening news and their emotional nature can often create the hook politicians need to showcase their “tough on crime” agendas. Often anecdotal and lurid, stories of criminal misdeeds are widely used to convince the public of a need to create or change laws. This article demonstrates the perils of making law by extrapolating from a few random, albeit attention-grabbing, events. Specifically, the article examines the impact of a 1995 change in New Hampshire state law that lowered the age …

Is It Good To Do Good? Altruism And Health, Michele M. Dillon

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Youth Aspirations And Sense Of Place In A Changing Rural Economy: The Coos Youth Study, Nena F. Stracuzzi

Carsey Publications

Youth in rural Coos County have surprisingly strong ties to their communities, finds a new report from the Carsey Institute. The brief is the first to report on a ten-year panel study of students who began seventh and eleventh grades in 2007 in Coos, New Hampshire's northernmost and most rural county.

The Promise And Responsibility Of Community Finance, Ellen Seidman, Mark Huelsman

Carsey Publications

Community development finance has played an important role in community revitalization over the past 30 years and may be even more important in the current financial climate. But today community development finance institutions (CDFIs), as well as many community banks and credit unions face significant funding stress. This brief highlights the importance of refocusing support of CDFIs to sustain and rebuild health communities across the United States.

The Experience Of The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund In Mainstreaming Of Acquisition Loans To Cooperative Manufactured Housing Communities, Michael E. Swack, Jolan Rivera

Carsey Publications

This study aimed to provide evidence of the extent to which a financial product―land acquisition loans for manufactured home parks―performed well and was adopted by mainstream financial institutions. The study hypothesized that The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s effective introduction of the new loan product, coupled with excellent loan performance, led banks to adopt the loan product.

Many New Voters Make The Granite State One To Watch In November, Kenneth M. Johnson, Dante J. Scala, Andrew Smith

Carsey Publications

A third of potential voters in New Hampshire during the fall of 2008 have become eligible to vote in the state. Further, these potential new voters are more likely to identify with the Democratic Party and less likely to identify as Republicans than are established New Hampshire voters, contributing to the state's "purple" status.

Working Hard For The Money: Trends In Women's Employment 1970 To 2007, Kristin Smith

Carsey Publications

Seventy-three percent of married rural mothers with children under age 6 work for pay. As men's employment rates have dropped over the past four decades, more rural women are working to keep the lights on at home. Rural women are just as likely as their urban counterparts to work for pay, but they earn less, have fewer occupational choices, and have seen their family income decline as men's wages have not kept pace with inflation. Dr. Smith's report looks at over 30 years of data about women's employment.

The Nature And Dynamics Of Internet Pornography Exposure For Youth., Chiara Sabina, Janis Wolak, David Finkelhor

Sociology

Abstract

We examined exposure to Internet pornography before the age of 18, as reported by college students (n = 563), via an online survey. Ninety-three percent of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to online pornography during adolescence. Exposure prior to age 13 was relatively uncommon. Boys were more likely to be exposed at an earlier age, to see more images, to see more extreme images (e.g., rape, child pornography), and to view pornography more often, while girls reported more involuntary exposure. If participants in this study are typical of young people, exposure to pornography on the Internet can …

Discussion On Poor Rural Areas At The Brookings Institution, Cynthia M. Duncan

Carsey Publications

No abstract provided.

Grey Gold: Do Older In-Migrants Benefit Rural Communities?, Nina Glasgow, David L. Brown

Carsey Publications

Older Americans retiring to rural areas quickly integrate in their new communities and bring significant social and intellectual capital to those communities, finds a new issue brief from the Carsey Institute. The brief is among the few studies to consider social rather than economic impacts of older in-migration to rural areas.

Rural Children Now Less Likely To Live In Married-Couple Families, Allison Churilla

Carsey Publications

The percentage of rural children living in married-couple families dropped to 68 percent in 2008, one percentage point below that of children in metropolitan areas. In 1990, 76 percent of rural children and 72 percent of metropolitan-area children were living in married-couple families. But while marriage declined in both areas in the 1990s, urban rates bottomed out at 68 percent in 1998. The share of rural children living in married-couple families plunged from 73 percent in 2000 to 68 percent in 2008.

Concentrated Rural Poverty And The Geography Of Exclusion, Daniel T. Lichter, Domenico Parisi

Carsey Publications

One-half of rural poor are segregated in high-poverty areas, a new policy brief co-published by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire and Rural Realities. This brief highlights the challenges faced by America's rural poor, particularly as they are physically and socially isolated from middle-class communities that might offer economic opportunities.

Who Cares About Polar Regions? Results From A Survey Of U.S. Public Opinion, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

Abstract

What do members of the general public know about polar regions, and how much do they care? Who knows or cares? This paper explores data from the General Social Survey (GSS), which in 2006 questioned a representative sample of more than 1800 U.S. adults about their knowledge and opinions concerning polar regions. The polar survey items were modeled on long-running GSS assessments of general science knowledge and opinions, recently summarized in the U.S. National Science Board's report Science and Engineering Indicators 2008. Polar knowledge proves to be limited but certainly not absent among survey respondents. Polar knowledge, general science …

Examples Of Creative Graphing, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Carsey Publications

No abstract provided.

Pay As You Save (Pays), Paul A. Cillo

Carsey Publications

Policy Leadership Initiative Year III Addressing Energy Challenges for Low-income Families in Northern New England

Climate Energy Policy And Low-Income Consumers, Antonia Herzog

Carsey Publications

Policy Leadership Initiative Year III Addressing Energy Challenges for Low-income Families in Northern New England

Changing The Public Conversation About Social Problems, Lynn Davey

Carsey Publications

Policy Leadership Initiative Year III Addressing Energy Challenges for Low-income Families in Northern New England

Affordable Heat: A Whole-Buildings Efficiency Service For Vermont Families And Businesses, Richard Cowart, Richard Sedano, Frederick Weston, Brenda Hausauer

Carsey Publications

Policy Leadership Initiative Year III Addressing Energy Challenges for Low-income Families in Northern New England