Category: New England

Resource Category Topic Type
Changing Child Care Supply in New Hampshire and Vermont’s Upper Valley
In this brief, authors Jess Carson and Sarah Boege describe changes in the early childhood education and care landscape of Grafton and Sullivan Counties in New Hampshire and Orange and Windsor Counties in Vermont, collectively known as the Upper Valley.
Center for Social Policy in Practice, New Hampshire Child Care, Children, Family, New England, New Hampshire Publication
Child Care Investments and Policies in the Upper Valley, in the Pandemic and Beyond
In this brief, the authors illustrate New Hampshire and Vermont’s different responses to supporting the early childhood education and care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine the limited publicly available data on pandemic relief funds through the lens of the interstate Upper Valley region.
Center for Social Policy in Practice, New Hampshire Child Care, Children, COVID-19, Education, Family, New England, New Hampshire, Safety Net Publication
Demographic Change in the Northern Forest
This brief examines the population redistribution in the Northern Forest, which includes thirty-four counties scattered across northern and central Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.
Community, Environment, and Climate Change, Demography Demography, New England Publication
Forests in Flux
The New England states and New York are more than 50 percent forested, a rate well above the national average. Economies in this heavily forested region have historically relied on forest-based industries, and human population has clustered along coastal regions and major waterways, though recent trends suggest widespread in-migration to amenity-rich rural areas. Over the last decade, all states in this region have experienced notable declines in forest cover. In urban and suburban areas like southern New Hampshire, this loss of forest cover is likely related to increased demand for housing and services. It is also likely to be a permanent transition, since developed land rarely reverts to forest cover. Much of the forest cover loss in rural northern New England is due to commercial timber harvesting and is likely temporary, but in other portions of northern New England forest cover has declined consistently since 2001, and it is unclear whether this shift is the result of development or forest harvesting. These two types of forest cover change can have drastically different effects on the services local residents derive from forests. Because more developed regions have already lost much of their forest cover, a sustained loss of the remaining forestland has serious implications for vital ecosystem services like drinking water filtration, storm abatement, and air purification. This brief contributes to a better understanding of the linkages between demographic and forest cover change so as to inform policy efforts aimed at maintaining existing forested areas in and around sprawling urban centers.
Community, Environment, and Climate Change, New Hampshire Environment, Forests, New England Publication
Improving Staff Communication for Small Non-Profits
In this white paper, author Elizabeth Schwaner discusses challenges faced by Girls' Empowerment Program, a non-profit organization based in the northeast U.S. that serves at-risk girls in its community through a year-round mentoring program paired with a residential social summer camp. Despite its undeniable strengths, issues with communication are a persistent challenge. Like many small organizations staffed by a few paid employees and many volunteers, identifying specific practices that lead to miscommunication or helpful informational pathways can be a challenge. This case study elucidates some of those challenges and opportunities for Girls' Empowerment, but with the expectation that other small, mixed-staff organizations may benefit from these lessons learned.
Leadership, New England, Young Adults Publication
Latest Data Show All New England States Are Gaining Population
In this brief, Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that population gains were widespread in New England last year, according to new Census Bureau estimates.
COVID-19, Demography, New Hampshire COVID-19, Demography, Immigration, Migration, Mortality, New England, New Hampshire Publication
Migration Continues to Fuel New Hampshire’s Population Gain
In this data snapshot, Carsey Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that the population of New Hampshire grew by 7,700 (0.55 percent) to 1,395,000 between July of 2021 and July of 2022, according to new Census Bureau estimates.
Demography, New Hampshire Birth Rates, COVID-19, Demography, Mortality, New England, New Hampshire Publication
New England Has the Highest Increase in Income Disparity in the Nation
Income inequality in New England is rising at the highest rate in the nation, this brief finds. Between 1989 and 2004, the region experienced the largest increase in income inequality in the country, due to both growth among top earners and the hollowing out of the middle class caused by significant changes in the nation's economy.
New Hampshire, Vulnerable Families Research Program Income, Inequality, New England Publication
New England Households Rely on a Mix of Child Care Arrangements
In this data snapshot, author Jess Carson reports that data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau between January and May 2023 show that 70 percent of New England households with a child under five use child care, and more than one-third of those rely on multiple arrangements.
Center for Social Policy in Practice Child Care, Children, Family, New England Publication
New Englanders’ Use of Child Care Varies by Income, Even Among Working Households
In this data snapshot, author Jess Carson reports that data from the U.S. Census Bureau collected between January and May 2023 show that access to child care remains uneven.
Center for Social Policy in Practice Child Care, Children, Family, New England Publication
New Hampshire’s Estimated Population Gain Is the Largest in New England
In this data snapshot, author Kenneth Johnson reports that the population of New Hampshire grew by 5,500 to 1,366,000 between July of 2019 and July of 2020, according to new Census Bureau estimates. ​This was the largest percentage population gain in New England. ​
Demography, New Hampshire COVID-19, Demography, Mortality, New England, New Hampshire Publication
Ocean Views: Coastal Environmental Problems as Seen by Downeast Maine Residents
This brief contends that loss of fishing jobs and income is the top environment-related concern among residents of Maine's Hancock and Washington counties, as well as forestry decline and water pollution. Also of note, across a wide range of environmental issues, political party affiliation is associated with level of concern about environmental problems.
Community, Environment, and Climate Change Environment, New England, Public Opinion, Rural Publication
The Changing Faces of New England
New England is growing more slowly than the rest of the nation. The region is becoming more racially diverse, and demographic trends contrast sharply between northern and southern New England and metropolitan and rural areas. New England's population stood at 14,270,000 in July 2006, marking a gain of just 2.5 percent since 2000, less than half the national rate.
Demography, New Hampshire Birth Rates, Demography, Immigration, Migration, Mortality, New England, Race Publication
The Changing Faces of New Hampshire
New Hampshire, with a total population of 1.3 million, gained 79,000 residents between 2000 and 2006. Most of this growth - 51,000 residents - came from migration. The migration also brought economic gains: New Hampshire gained at least $1.4 billion in income from migration between 2001 and 2005, and households moving in earned nearly $9,000 more than those leaving.
Demography, New Hampshire Birth Rates, Demography, Hispanics, Migration, New England, New Hampshire Publication
The Local Agricultural Community Exchange: Outcomes and Lessons Learned from a Public-Private Initiative to Revitalize a Downtown Community
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.
Community, Environment, and Climate Change Community, Economic Development, New England Publication
The State of Working Vermont 2006
Vermont enjoys higher-than-average workforce participation rates and the lowest unemployment in New England, but the state's wage levels remain well below regional standards and the workforce is aging, finds this issue brief prepared by the Carsey Institute in partnership with the Public Assets Institute of Vermont. The brief highlights trends related to the economic and labor force characteristics of Vermont's workers.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Employment, New England, Seniors, Wages Publication
Why Interstate Child Care Scholarship Policy Choices Matter in the Upper Valley
In this brief, the authors explore how state-level decisions in New Hampshire and Vermont manifest in the early childhood education and care sector, through the lens of the interstate Upper Valley region.
Center for Social Policy in Practice, New Hampshire Child Care, Children, Education, Family, New England, New Hampshire Publication
“My Advice…Is Get Out of Town”
In this brief, we use interview and focus group data to explore how residents view the economic opportunities in two rural Northern New England counties and how these opportunities are related to migration patterns.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Economic Development, Employment, Income, New England Publication