Winter
2007
 When
my grandparents and great grandparents immigrated to
America’s cities in the 1800s and early 1900s, their arrival was greeted with apprehension
and distrust. Their neighbors wondered if the newcomers
would drain the public coffers or “steal” their jobs. Many years later, new immigrants continue to struggle against the
same stereotypes. However, many of today’s immigrants are by-passing the traditional cities of destination and moving
into rural towns, where the demographic changes may be
even more acutely felt by the community. Consider Dawson
County, Nebraska. In the 1990s, the population of recent
immigrants grew from 38 to 3,800, or 15 percent of the
county’s 1990 population.
Of
course, this kind of population gain can be a boon to
local economies and stem the population drain on rural
areas. In fact, during the 1990s, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Hispanics alone accounted
for more than one-quarter of the population growth in
rural areas. They moved to rural areas in all parts of
the country, attracted by, if not outright recruited
for, jobs in agriculture, meatpacking and manufacturing.
A
new Carsey Institute report finds rural immigrants to
be more likely than their urban counterparts to be Hispanic
(and Mexican, in particular), they are less educated,
and they are poorer. However, they are also less likely
to receive food stamps, more likely to be married, more
likely to be working, and more likely to own their home – all indicators of a stable, and contributing, population.
While
rural areas may benefit from the arrival of immigrants,
communities are experiencing the challenges and costs
of adjusting to change. If rural places hope to continue
to grow and thrive, they must think seriously about how
to fold these new residents into the community, and they
must receive support for their efforts so the second
generation of residents will find a welcome and thriving
home to raise the third generation.
Mil
Duncan
New
Report Finds Recent Immigrants Setting in Rural Places
 As
Americans prepared to celebrate their Thanksgiving feasts
in memory of the first immigrants to a new America, Carsey’s report on New Immigrant Settlements in Rural America: Problems, Prospects,
and Policies was released to a nation digesting the debate
on illegal immigration. Penn State professor Leif Jensen,
author of the report, finds that many immigrants– mostly Hispanic–are bypassing traditional gateway cities in favor of settling in the country,
where new employment opportunities lure newcomers who
may reinvigorate dying communities. Read about who these
new immigrants to rural America are and how policies
can help ease the transition:
The
Carsey Institute immigration report
Op-ed
in Philadelphia Inquirer
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Rural
Workers Will Benefit from Increase in the Minimum Wage
Nearly
two million rural workers may be getting a raise if the
U.S. Senate votes to increase the minimum wage, according
to a new publication from the Carsey Institute. On January
11, the House voted overwhelmingly to boost the minimum
wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25. U.S. policy-makers
tend to think of the minimum wage as applying mainly
to people living in impoverished urban neighborhoods,
but the fact sheet Rural Workers Would Benefit More Than
Urban Workers from an Increase in the Federal Minimum
Wage shows otherwise. The author, Carsey visiting senior
fellow William O’Hare, found that more than half of the two million likely to benefit have children
under age 18. A teleconference held on January 19 briefed
participants representing 40 organizations and media
outlets on this new analysis.
The
Carsey Institute minimum wage fact
sheet
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Carsey
Center for Rural Families and Communities Receives
$1 Million
America’s
rural communities and families face enormous changes
that are having far reaching effects. At Carsey, we believe
these demographic and economic changes are on a par with
mechanization and the Great Migration that fundamentally
altered rural America in the 1950s. A new award from
the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports our continuing efforts
to help Americans better understand what is happening
and to foster dialogue leading to improved policies to
enable rural people to cope with the changes. The award,
distributed over four years, also provides funding for
building knowledge of changing conditions in natural
resource-dependent communities in the Northeast and Southeast.
Press
release
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On
Biofueling Rural Development
 Biofuels
are being touted as a panacea for U.S. energy challenges,
and they are expected to be discussed this year in Congress
with the rewriting of the Farm Bill. The Carsey Institute
takes a look at the burgeoning biofuels industry from
the perspective of rural communities in Biofueling Rural
Development: Making the Case for Linking Biofuel Production
to Rural Revitalization. This primer is a good read for
anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of biofuels
made from biomass – crops, trees, manure, sludge, and other organics – and offers suggestions for biofuel policies that will emphasize and support
rural development.
The
Carsey Institute biofuels brief
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Rural
Americans Are Paying the Ultimate Sacrifice in Iraq
and Afghanistan
According
to a recent Carsey analysis of U.S. Department of Defense
data, a higher percentage of rural soldiers are dying
in Iraq and Afghanistan than urban soldiers. This higher
death rate occurs because rural areas have higher rates
of military recruitment, reflecting the lack of good
rural employment and educational opportunities. Vermont,
a primarily rural state, has the highest rural death
toll, at 61 killed per million adults. Since 2001, 825
rural recruits have died.
The
Carsey Institute rural soldiers fact
sheet
List
of rural soldiers killed, by name and
county
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Examining
Rural America’s Values and Religion
 Prior
to Election Day November 2006, the Carsey Institute released
Values and Religion in Rural America, an issue brief
examining attitudes toward the hot-button issues of abortion
and same-sex relations. The authors, Professor Michele
Dillon and Carsey research assistant Sarah Savage, examined
religious involvement by rural Americans. They find that
people who live in rural places are not a homogeneous
group, as is often implied by political rhetoric. Significant
regional differences exist, with rural Southerners more
likely than rural Americans in other areas of the country
to be highly religious. While rural people are more likely
to oppose abortion and same-sex relations than their
non-rural neighbors, the brief offers evidence of variation in their attitudes towards these issues. An accompanying
essay on church in the South by Julie Ardery will be
available on the Carsey Institute web site soon.
The
Carsey Institute values and religion
brief
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Rural
soldiers more likely to die in Iraq, Afghanistan
Kansas City Star/Topeka Capital Journal, December 17, 2006
UNH
rural studies institute gets $1 million boost
The Boston Globe, December 13, 2006
Immigrants
moving to rural America
North Country Public Radio, December 11, 2006
Soldiers
from Rural Areas More Likely to Die in Iraq
Pacifica Radio, December 1, 2006
Rural
America Suffering Higher Death Toll in Iraq, Afghanistan
One World US, November 28, 2006
Study:
Immigrants boost rural economies
Central Valley Business Times, November 27, 2006
Death
Rate higher for soldiers from rural areas
Rural News Delivery, Center for Rural Strategies, November
13, 2006
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Carsey
Working with Ford and Kellogg on Upcoming Rural Assembly
In
June, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will host a Rural Annual
Assembly in Washington, D.C. in collaboration with the
Ford Foundation. The Carsey Institute is partnering with
the foundations to develop a conference agenda that advances
specific rural policy objectives and facilitates productive
networking among the diverse group of participants. Carsey
researchers will interview rural development practitioners
and prepare a background piece to inform the assembly.
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SCHIP
Reauthorization Brings Up Questions about Rural Children
With
the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) coming
up for re-authorization in 2007, many people are looking
more closely at the kind of health insurance children
have, or don’t have. SCHIP is one of the most significant policy measures enacted in the past
decade, because it allows low-income parents in low-wage
jobs without health care benefits to obtain health care
for their children. A new policy brief from Visiting
Senior Fellow William O’Hare will examine rural children’s reliance on both private and public health care programs and the particular
importance of SCHIP for these children. This new Carsey
publication is due for release in February. In addition,
the Carsey Institute will be releasing a policy brief
on children’s health insurance in New Hampshire – a state with one of the lowest rates of uninsured children in the nation - that
could have implications for public policy in other states.
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Who
are the Low Income Families in Rural America?
An
upcoming brief from the Institute will describe rural
low income families using data from the Current Population
Survey. The author, Carsey policy fellow Allison Churilla,
will examine family structure, assistance programs, health
insurance, and employment among rural low income families.
The brief will describe where rural low income families
are concentrated in the country and how these families
compare to their counterparts in metropolitan areas.
This publication is due for release in late February.
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Carsey
Institute, University of New Hampshire
73 Main Street , Huddleston Hall G05B
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824
603-862-2821
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