The Carsey Forum

Issue #10, October 2007

Spotlight On

Providing Perspective: Carsey at the National Rural Assembly

Carsey researchers worked with colleagues across the country to put together the Ford and Kellogg Foundation’s first National Rural Assembly in June 2007. Carsey interviewed rural leaders about the challenges and opportunities facing rural America, held round tables, and conducted telephone surveys with over 6,500 rural residents, including people in growing amenity-rich areas; people in declining resource dependent areas; and people in chronically poor areas. Mil Duncan presented the survey results to the Assembly on a panel with rural leaders. Our reports prepared for the National Rural Assembly, “Rural America in the 21 st Century: Perspectives from the Field,” and “A New Survey of Views from Rural America” are available at: http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/PB_NRA.pdf and http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/snapshot_viewsfromruralamerica.html. Mil’s presentation can be viewed here: http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/Duncan_RuralAmericaInTransition.ppt.

Child Poverty Still High in Rural America

When the U.S. Census released its latest data on poverty in America, the Carsey Institute’s Bill O’Hare, Rural Fellow, and Sarah Savage, Evaluation Fellow, provided immediate analysis of how kids in rural America have fared. They found that in 37 states, a higher percentage of rural children live in poverty today than in 2000. The South and Southwest had a higher percentage of children living in poverty than other regions of the country. Read the new fact sheet on rural child poverty at http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/FS_ruralchildpoverty_07.htm.

Rural Families Rely on National Nutrition Programs

As Congress began debating the 2007 Farm Bill, which funds state nutritional programs for low-income children, the Carsey Institute released the fact sheet Food Stamp and School Lunch Programs Alleviate Food Insecurity in Rural America. The Food Stamp and the National School Lunch Programs play a vital role in alleviating food insecurity and providing a more nutritious diet to recipients. Researchers Kristin Smith, Family Demographer, and Sarah Savage, Evaluation Fellow, looked at the extent to which rural America depends on these programs and described who benefits from them. Read the fact sheet at http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/FS_foodinsecurity.pdf

Who Is Taking Care of America’s Most Vulnerable Citizens?

Did you know that many of those caring for America’s most vulnerable citizens – senior citizens and children – live in poverty and lack health insurance? That was among the findings of a Carsey report released this past summer that found one in every two direct care workers and one in every three child care workers live in a low-income family. Kristin Smith, Family Demographer, and Reagan Baughman, Faculty Fellow, also reported that workers in these predominately female occupations are paid low wages and are in jobs with high turnover rates. To learn more about how women in these care-giving occupations fare when compared with other female workers, visit http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/PB_caregivers.pdf. Smith and Baughman also published a piece on this research in the Department of Labor’s September Monthly Labor Review http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/mlrhome.htm.

Rural Children Depend on SCHIP and Medicaid

As Congress set out to debate reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in late summer, the Carsey Institute reported the findings from an in-depth look at how much rural children rely on such programs. Rural Fellow Bill O’Hare found that 32 percent of all rural children rely on SCHIP and Medicaid, compared to 26 percent of all urban children. The percentage is even higher for low-income rural children – 53 percent depend on these programs for health insurance. To find out more, visit http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/PB_ruralchildhealth.pdf

Finally, Some Elbow Room

After months of construction, the Carsey Institute’s move to Huddleston Hall is now complete. The Institute occupies 4,000 square feet – three times our original size – of newly renovated space. Our new home features two meeting rooms, an entry area for waiting visitors, a kitchen, and enough rooms and cubicles to house 22 staff. Finally, the additional space allows the Carsey Institute Survey Center staff to join the rest of the group in Huddleston Hall after three years of being housed apart from the Institute in Thompson Hall.

On the Campaign Trail

If you’ve been listening to presidential Democratic candidates John Edwards or Hillary Clinton talk about rural America on the campaign trail, you may have heard them mention the Carsey Institute. In fact, Edwards is doing more than just mention the Carsey Institute. This September, Edwards spoke about his Rural Recovery Act and other policies affecting low income families during a discussion with Mil Duncan and Carsey scholars Ken Johnson, Cesar Rebellon and Kristin Smith in Huddleston Hall.

Coming Soon!

Presidential Politics, Carsey-style

Although the New Hampshire Secretary of State is keeping mum about the date of New Hampshire’s First-in-the-Nation Primary, the Carsey Institute is moving full speed ahead on a number of exciting Presidential Primary events this fall. The Carsey Institute will co-sponsor a series of forums about children’s issues with Every Child Matters: (http://www.everychildmatters.org/newhampshire/contactus.html). Invitations are out to all the candidates, and we anticipate hosting six to eight candidates from both parties. The forums will be held on campus in the great room of Huddleston Hall. Also in the fall, the Institute will co-sponsor a presidential candidate’s forum focusing on rural health issues with the National Rural Health Association and the New England Rural Health Roundtable in Nashua. And Ken Johnson, senior demographer, and Andy Smith, Survey Center director, were two of a handful of faculty members selected to speak with the more than 150 reporters covering the Republican debate at UNH broadcast live nationally by Fox News.

Nothing To Do, No Place To Go

The transition from school to work is one of the most important times in the life of a young adult. A new Carsey study authored by rural sociologists Tasha Snyder and Diane McLaughlin at Pennsylvania State University takes a look at these rural “idle” youth ages 18 to 24 to see who is having trouble moving into the workplace and why. Look for it later this fall.

Fallen Rural Soldiers: An Update

Many Americans were surprised to learn that soldiers from rural America are paying a higher price in Iraq and Afghanistan. Carsey’s November 2006 fact sheet detailed that rural soldiers are dying in disproportionate numbers in the Middle East compared to soldiers from urban areas. The media interest in this research was high, with nearly 400 media outlets covering it, including USA Today (circ. 2.6 million), New York Times (circ. 1.2 million), LA Times (circ. 1 million), and the CBS Evening News (6 million viewers). This November, Rural Fellow Bill O’Hare will release an update on his research about rural soldiers in these conflicts.

Who’s Working in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire has a history of economic prosperity and job growth, but there are signs that all may not be well. Carsey researchers have found disturbing trends regarding declines in labor force participation among the state’s youngest workers and growing wage inequity. This fall, Allison Churilla, Carsey policy fellow and researcher, will report the latest information on the state of working in New Hampshire, highlighting labor participation, unemployment and underemployment trends in the Granite State.

Entender a la Comunidad Rural de Latino

How are Latinos faring in rural America? Carsey Rural Fellow Rogelio Saenz is looking at poverty rates among Latinos across the nation as well as other socioeconomic indicators to help policymakers and the public better understand the rural Latino community. Given the tremendous growth in the Hispanic population nationally, we think his research about Latino trends will be of interest to many.

Come Hear Carsey’s Rural Fellows

The Carsey Institute kicks off the fall semester with its Carsey Seminar Series highlighting our Rural Fellows. On Thursday, Oct. 4, Ann Tickamyer, Professor of Sociology at Ohio University, discussed “Livelihood Practices in the Shadow of Welfare Reform: A Study of Poverty and Hardship in Rural Appalachia.” On Nov. 1, Daniel Lichter, Director of the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center and Ferris Family Professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University, will discuss “Race and Changing Neighborhood Concentrations of America’s Rural Poor Population.” Presentations are held in the UNH Memorial Union Building from 12:40 – 2 pm unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/seminars_fall2007.htm.

Carsey in the News

Carsey research and scholars are regularly featured in national news stories. Here are a few of our recent favorites.

New Projects

Zeroing in on U.S. Counties, rural America and NH municipalities

Our suite of interactive indicators has taken another leap forward with the addition of a new county-based indicators website developed by Senior Demographer Ken Johnson: http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/uscounties/EntryPage.html. The U.S. Counties Indicator site provides information about demographic, amenities, recreation and the environment for every county in the nation. Our new Nonmetropolitan Indicators by State site will launch later this fall, replacing our Census region site. This new website will provide up-to-date rural data from the American Community Survey and allow people to easily track changes over time. Finally, in collaboration with the New Hampshire Municipal Finance Directors Consortium, the Carsey Institute will unveil a database of standardized financial indicators for a large and continually expanding number of New Hampshire cities and towns. For the first time, municipal officials, researchers and the public can compare the financial status and operations of different municipalities. Keep an eye on the Carsey Indicators home page, http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/indicators.html, for these resources.

PLI Fellows Look at Housing-Growth Balance

Carsey is about to launch the second year of our Policy Leadership Initiative, focused on enhancing the strategic capacity of nonprofits in Northern New England to influence public policy on critical issues affecting families and communities. Our second cohort of Policy Leadership Fellows will tackle issues around the intersection of affordable housing and smart growth issues. The second Northern New England Nonprofit Policy Leadership Institute will be held Dec. 3 – Dec. 5, 2007 in Portsmouth, opening with a presentation by Barry Bluestone, Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, on perspectives and approaches to serving the nexus of housing and smart growth issues. The program will also feature presentations by many experts on these topics from around the region and beyond. It is our hope that through this fellowship program, northern New England leaders can realize the potential for strategic collaboration at the state and/or regional levels to advance policies that serve families and communities.

Researchers Head to Moose Country

With support from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Trust of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Carsey researchers are heading north of the notches to conduct a multi-faceted benchmark study in Coos County, New Hampshire. This fall we will report the results of a survey that explored how North Country residents are responding to economic, demographic and environmental changes. Other components include a panel study following the county’s 7 th and 11 th graders, and collection and analysis of core socio-economic indicators.

Evaluation Team Motors On

Carsey’s evaluation research lead by Senior Fellow Sally Ward continues to provide high-quality assessments to nonprofits that help demonstrate their impact in the communities they serve. Our newest evaluation client is Bonnie CLAC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the ownership of new cars affordable to everyone through guaranteed low-interest loans. The Carsey evaluation team is helping Bonnie CLAC determine whether the nonprofit’s efforts are helping improve the credit scores of its clients. To learn more about our evaluation work, visit http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/evaluation.html.

New Staff

Goodbye Windy City, Hello New England

Nationally recognized demographer Ken Johnson has made the move from the windy city to New England, joining the Institute as our Senior Demographer. Ken is well known among researchers and the media for his studies about why people move and where they move to. In fact, on his first day here, he was quoted in a front-page story in USA Today about Hispanic population growth trends. At Carsey, Ken will conduct research on population shifts in New England and in rural America, helping policymakers and practitioners understand challenges facing rural people. He is the author of the popular Carsey report, Demographic Trends in Rural and Small Town America, and a former Carsey Rural Fellow. Ken and his wife Brenda have settled in Durham.

So Long, Farewell

The lazy days of summer were bittersweet for Carsey Institute staff, who said goodbye to long-time Communications Director Amy Seif. Amy was one of the first employees at Carsey. Her fingerprint on the Institute is evident when looking at the Institute’s strong communications efforts, including the website, newsletters and research publications. In August, Amy began graduate studies at the Kennedy School at Harvard. We wish her many sleep-filled nights and suppers that don’t involve Raman Noodles.

Spotlight on Carsey Affiliate

Family Research Lab

Since 1975, the Family Research Laboratory (FRL) at UNH has devoted itself primarily to understanding family violence and the impact of violence in families. As public and professional interest in family violence has grown, so has the need for more reliable knowledge. The FRL has tried to fill that need in a variety of ways: through comprehensive literature reviews, new theories, and methodologically sound studies. Researchers at the FRL pioneered many of the techniques that have enabled social scientists to estimate directly the scope of family violence. These efforts have brought international recognition to the FRL. Visit the FRL online at http://www.unh.edu/frl/.

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