Publications
June 24, 2009
Workers in rural areas have historically worked at different times of the day compared to their counterparts in urban areas, including during less traditional work periods, such as in the early morning, afternoon, and evening hours. This brief presents a snapshot of the rural workforce around the clock.
June 22, 2009
When it comes to deciding whether to stay in New Hampshire's rural Coös County or leave for other opportunities, young people are listening to their parents. Surveying 78 percent of all seventh and eleventh graders in public schools in Coös County, researchers found that young peoples' future intentions to migrate from Coös in search of economic or educational opportunities or to remain…
June 1, 2009
This report focuses on the education and work experiences of rural youth during the emerging adult years (age 20 to 24), as they make the transition from adolescence to adulthood. It documents how rural emerging adults combine work and school and experience idleness, closely examines their educational attainment, and compares their experiences with those in central city and suburban areas.
May 17, 2009
Rural workers stand to benefit from the modernization of unemployment insurance (UI) to cover part-time workers, which is an opportunity for states under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Plan (ARRA). Rural workers are more likely to work part-time, and many states that do not provide UI benefits to part-time workers have higher than average proportions of rural residents.
May 13, 2009
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…
May 11, 2009
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.
May 6, 2009
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…
May 4, 2009
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…
May 1, 2009
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…
April 1, 2009
Essays from national experts affiliated with the “think-do” tank , the Financial Innovations Roundtable, housed at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
February 1, 2009
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.
January 1, 2009
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.
January 1, 2009
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…
December 18, 2008
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.
January 1, 2009
Youth in rural Coös 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 Coös, New Hampshire's northernmost and most rural county.
December 16, 2008
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…
November 24, 2008
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…
November 19, 2008
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.
October 21, 2008
As the U.S. economy falters and recession looms, 79 percent of jobs in New Hampshire do not pay a wage sufficient for single-parent families with two children to provide basic needs such as housing, food, transportation, child care, and health care. Carroll County has the lowest percentage of livable wage jobs, with only 13 percent of jobs paying a livable wage for single-parent families with two…
August 5, 2009
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that over 5 million intimate partner assaults are perpetrated against women each year, and they lose more than 8 million days of work annually. Expanding Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits to victims of domestic violence is one mechanism for supporting women as they seek to escape the violence in their lives.
