Category: Publication

Resource Category Topic Type
Rural Workers Would Benefit from Unemployment Insurance Modernization
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.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Employment, Rural, Safety Net, Unemployment Publication
Rural Workers Would Benefit More Than Urban Workers from an Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage
While members of the U.S. Senate considered the first increase in minimum wage in a decade, the Carsey Institute released findings of a study showing that it would benefit rural, low-wage workers every bit as much, if not more, than workers in big cities.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Employment, Rural, Urban, Wages Publication
Rural Youth are More Likely to be Idle
Rural young adults, ages 18-24, are more likely to be idle not in school, the labor force, or the Armed Forces than their urban counterparts. Among rural high school dropouts and racial-ethnic minorities, rates of idleness are even more pronounced.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Education, Rural, Young Adults Publication
Scaling Equitable Solar Finance
The U.S. solar photovoltaics industry has taken off over the past decade, but without deliberate action low- and moderate-income communities could be left behind in the transition to clean energy. Drawing on substantial literature related to multiple dimensions of low-income solar finance and interviews with key informants in the field, authors Eric Hangen, Rebecca Regan, and Sarah Boege recommend public investments and policy changes that could help scale the provision of equitable solar finance.
Center for Impact Finance Energy, Environment Publication
Scaling U.S. Community Investing
Scaling U.S. Community Investing: The Investor-Product Interface, an in-depth landscape study of the U.S. Community Investing (USCI) field. The full report includes a detailed analysis of the major types of USCI products, parameters that different investors use to evaluate investment opportunities, and the barriers and opportunities to increasing investment.
Center for Impact Finance Community Development Finance Publication
Senior Tax Breaks on the Move—but Are Seniors Actually Moving?
Every state in the United States with an income tax offers some kind of tax break to its older citizens. These breaks are often sizable, resulting in an elderly household owing substantially less in income taxes than a non-elderly household with the same income. In Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania, married elderly households can have incomes well over $100,000 and not owe any state income taxes at all. Such tax breaks come at considerable cost to state coffers, a cost that is almost certain to grow as the elderly population grows in both size and economic status. Yet there is little evidence that these tax breaks are providing states with any economic benefit, and the savings are skewed toward those in little need of public support. These tax breaks appear to be expanding. Since the beginning of 2017, legislators in at least thirteen states have proposed or established significant expansions: Laws eliminating all taxes on Social Security income have been proposed in Vermont, Montana, and Minnesota, with projected annual budget costs of $30 million, $75 million, and approximately $425 million, respectively. Laws that would go further and exempt all pension income have been proposed in Connecticut and Nebraska. In January, Arkansas began exempting all military pension income from taxation, and similar laws are being considered in at least six other states. After much debate last year, New Jersey enacted legislation doubling the $20,000 exemption on retirement income in 2017 and increasing it to $100,000 by 2020.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Demography, Seniors, Tax Publication
Seventy-eight Percent of Working Rural Families to Receive Full Making Work Pay Tax Credit
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.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Employment, Family, Rural, Safety Net, Tax Publication
Share of Childless Adults Eligible for EITC Triples Under American Rescue Plan
In this fact sheet, author Jess Carson explores how changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2021 affect childless tax filers. Findings show that the share of childless adults who can claim a credit has tripled under the new provisions, and that the biggest driver of widened access is lowering the minimum age for eligibility.
Center for Social Policy in Practice, COVID-19 COVID-19, Income, Low Income, Poverty, Safety Net, Tax, Wages Publication
Share of Tax Filers Claiming EITC Increases Across States and Place Types Between 2007 and 2010
In this brief, Authors Beth Mattingly and Elizabeth Kneebone use Internal Revenue Service tax filing data to show that the share of tax returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) increased between 2007 and 2010, as did the size of the average credit claimed and the number of EITC filers benefitting from the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit (the Additional Child Tax Credit,
Vulnerable Families Research Program Safety Net, Tax Publication
Should I Say Something?
A growing body of research has documented the alarmingly high rates among high school youth of dating aggression, defined as physical, sexual, or psychological aggression that happens between current or former dating partners, and sexual aggression, defined as any unwanted sexual behavior, ranging from sexual contact to completed rape, that can occur between any individuals regardless of whether they are or have been in a relationship.1 Dating and sexual aggression often co-occur (for example, someone who perpetrates physical dating aggression is also more likely to perpetrate sexual aggression toward an acquaintance), and, since they share many of the same etiological risk factors, are often examined together in research and targeted concurrently in prevention programming.2 Research documents the deleterious consequences associated with dating and sexual aggression,3 and these consequences underscore the critical importance of developing and implementing evidence-based dating and sexual aggression prevention efforts for adolescents. One type of prevention effort that has been recognized as a critical component to dating and sexual aggression programming is bystander intervention education and training.4 Such programs help participants develop behaviors that aid in the prevention of dating and sexual aggression and assist in victims’ recovery from dating and sexual aggression experiences.5 In order to address bystander intervention in programming efforts, it is important to understand the factors that facilitate or hinder bystander intervention. However, there is little research focusing on dating and sexual aggression bystander intervention among high school youth. The current study examined this gap in the literature by administering surveys and conducting focus groups with 218 high school youth from three high schools in New England (one rural, two urban).
Vulnerable Families Research Program Health, Young Adults Publication
Sixty Percent of Coös Youth Report Having a Mentor in Their Lives
In this brief, authors Kent Scovill and Corinna Jenkins Tucker describe Coös youths’ mentor relationships using data from the Carsey Institute’s Coös Youth Study collected in 2007. They report that, in 2007, a majority of Coös youth in seventh and eleventh grade (60.2 percent) report having a mentor.
New Hampshire Coös Youth Study, Health, New Hampshire, Young Adults Publication
Smallest U.S. Population Growth in History: More Deaths, Fewer Births, and Less Immigration
In this brief, author Kenneth Johnson reports that the U.S. population grew by just 393,000 between July of 2020 and July of 2021 according to new Census Bureau estimates—the lowest rate of annual population gain in history and the smallest numeric gain in more than 100 years.
Demography Birth Rates, COVID-19, Demography, Migration, Mortality Publication
SNAP Use Increased Slightly in 2012
This brief uses data from the American Community Survey to examine rates of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) receipt in 2012, track changes since the onset of the recession, and monitor receipt by region and place type.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Family, Food Assistance, Health, Poverty, Safety Net Publication
Social Connections, Safety, and Local Environment in Three Manchester, New Hampshire, Neighborhoods
This fact sheet uses data from a survey of Bakersville, Beech Street, and Gossler Park residents in Manchester, New Hampshire, to draw attention to the current state of connectedness, trust, and perceptions of the local environment in these three neighborhoods.
New Hampshire Community, New Hampshire, Public Opinion Publication
Social Impact of the Gulf Oil Disaster: Diverging Views From Communities in Florida and Louisiana
Carsey researchers surveyed over two thousand residents of the Gulf Coast following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in 2010 to analyze their perception of the spill. Nearly one-half of all Gulf Coast residents perceived damage to the environment and wildlife as the most serious result of the oil spill. Perceptions regarding the impact of the spill reflect the different relationships to the oil economy in the two states--”Floridians are most concerned about effects on tourism and Louisianans on the fishing and oil industries. Louisianans were more than twice as likely as Floridians to think that their state and local governments were doing an excellent job responding to the spill, though this does not account for differences in government responses. Approximately three-fourths of Gulf Coast residents thought that the federal government was doing a poor or fair job responding. The most trusted source of information about the spill for all respondents was scientists. Environmental organizations were the second most trusted source. Network TV news, BP, and websites or blogs were the least trusted sources of information. This brief examines the impact of the spill on Gulf Coast residents and provides important insights that can inform disaster relief efforts in the future to better meet the needs of those affected.
Community, Environment, and Climate Change Environment, Politics and Elections, Public Opinion Publication
Social Service Delivery in Two Rural Counties
When low-income residents struggle to make ends meet, non-profit social service agencies can help fill the gaps. In doing so, these agencies must find sufficient funding, retain qualified staff, and craft efficient service delivery mechanisms that are respectful of clients and communities. Some of the challenges that service providers encounter are exacerbated by rural characteristics, such as vast geographic distances and the lack of economies of scale. Yet in some ways rurality is beneficial, as small communities can facilitate community engagement and providers can engage natural supports in their service delivery work.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Low Income, Poverty, Safety Net Publication
Southeastern Kentuckians Remain Optimistic Through Great Recession: Growing Concerns about Sprawl, Housing, and Recreational Opportunities
In May and June of 2007, Carsey Institute researchers surveyed 1,000 randomly selected respondents from Kentucky’s Harlan and Letcher counties, and between November 2010 and January 2011, they returned to survey 1,020 different randomly selected respondents from the same counties. These two Kentucky counties provide a snapshot of perceptions of community and environmental change in a chronically poor rural place. This brief focuses on the questions asked in both surveys to identify area wide (Harlan and Letcher counties combined) changes since the Great Recession. The surveys reveal that the recession has exacerbated concern about many community-level problems including poverty, affordable housing, sprawl, and a lack of recreational opportunities. Southeastern Kentuckians’ views regarding how environmental resources should be used have also changed. As the demand for jobs has increased, Harlan and Letcher county residents are more likely to believe that natural resources should be used for economic development rather than conserved for the future. Optimism about the future is unchanged despite growing financial instability during the recession. Author Jessica Ulrich concludes that as local, state, and federal government program budgets are cut, and poverty and unemployment rates rise, southeastern Kentuckians will need to increasingly rely on the support of other community members. She adds, “If communities keep faith that they can work together to solve pressing problems and obtain the social, human, and economic resources that they desperately need, then perhaps Harlan and Letcher counties can begin to escape from the persistent poverty that has been plaguing them for decades.”
Vulnerable Families Research Program Community, Economic Development, Housing, Poverty, Public Opinion Publication
State EITC Programs Provide Important Relief to Families in Need
The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the largest anti-poverty programs in the nation, offering tax credits to low- and moderate-earning families.1 The amount of EITC benefits varies by earnings and the number of dependent children in a family, with considerably more generous benefits going to families with children. In addition to the federal EITC, as of 2015, twenty-six states and the District of Columbia provided additional EITC dollars.2 Most state EITCs are generally structured such that they offer credits equal to a proportion of the federal EITC, varying from 3.5 percent in Louisiana to 40 percent in Washington, DC. This brief documents the estimated effects of state EITC benefits on rates of poverty in 2010–2014 using the Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). First, we examine Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rates and average EITC benefits across states with a fully refundable EITC between 2010 and 2014, and estimate how much higher poverty rates would have been in the absence of the state EITC. Next, we analyze how trends in poverty and state EITC benefits vary by race, marital status, metropolitan status, and region among these states. Finally, we project hypothetical differences in poverty rates for non-EITC states had they adopted EITCs of various generosities over this same time period.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Poverty, Safety Net, Tax Publication
Stay or Leave Coös County? Parents' Messages Matter
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 in Coös to pursue a future close to home are closely aligned with the messages their parents deliver to them.
New Hampshire Coös Youth Study, Family, Migration, New Hampshire, Young Adults Publication
Steyer Spends the Most, but Only Yang and Gabbard Focus Facebook Advertising on New Hampshire
In this data snapshot, author Jordan Hensley reports on top presidential candidate spending on Facebook ads in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire New Hampshire, Politics and Elections Publication