Overview
The Carsey Institute conducts studies of poverty to better understand its characteristics, explore the causes of poverty, and examine the effectiveness of policies that can broaden opportunities for living wages and upward mobility. Our primary focus is on poor children and families, and we pay special attention to (a) very young children, (b) those living in America’s remote and rural communities, and (c) those in chronically poor areas. Additionally, we examine policies that relate to all working families, paying special attention to those that may prevent poverty or alleviate economic stress. Finally, we look at challenges facing vulnerable families, both living in poverty and out of poverty, including child maltreatment and neglect, and relate our research to potential state and federal policies.
Carsey researchers analyze secondary data, both cross sectional and longitudinal, as well as collect their own data through surveys and in-depth interviews and use a wide array of analytic techniques to better understand poverty. Much of our publication series focuses on the challenges facing poor children and families and the policies that may help them.
Publications
National
- Regional Young Child Poverty in 2008 (Mattingly, 2009, Issue Brief No. 6)
- Family-Friendly Policies for Rural Working Mothers (Glauber, 2009, Policy Brief No. 15)
- The Forgotten Fifth: Child Poverty in Rural America (O'Hare, 2009, Report No. 10)
- The New, Longer Road to Adulthood: Schooling, Work, and Idleness among Rural Youth (Snyder, McLaughlin, and Coleman-Jensen, 2009, Report No. 9)
- Rural Children are More Likely to Live in Cohabiting-Couple Households (O'Hare, Manning, Porter, Lyons, 2009, Policy Brief No. 14)
- Rural Workers More Likely to Work Nontraditional Shifts (Saenz, 2009, Issue Brief No. 5)
- Rural Workers Would Benefit from Unemployment Insurance Modernizations (Shattuck, 2009, Policy Brief No. 13)
- Forty-three Percent of Rural Families Can Claim a Larger Credit with EITC Expansion (Mattingly, 2009, Policy Brief No. 12)
- Seventy-eight Percent of Working Rural Families to Receive Full Making Work Pay Tax Credit (Mattingly, 2009, Fact Sheet No. 14)
- Child Tax Credit Expansion Increases Number of Families Eligible for a Refund (Mattingly, 2009, Issue Brief No. 4)
- Concentrated Rural Poverty and the Geography of Exclusion (Lichter and Parisi, 2008, Policy Brief) (copublished with Rural Realities)
- Children in Central Cities and Rural Communities Experience High Rates of Poverty (Savage, 2008, Fact Sheet No. 12)
- Urban and Rural Children Experience Similar Rates of Low Income and Poverty (Churilla, 2008, Issue Brief No. 2)
- Place Matters: Challenges and Opportunities in Four Rural Americas (Hamilton, Hamilton, Duncan, and Colocousis, 2008, Reports on Rural America, Volume 1, Number 4)
- Rural Children Increasingly Rely on Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance Programs for Medical Care (O'Hare, 2007 Policy Brief No. 6)
- EITC is Vital for Working-Poor Families in Rural America (O'Hare and Kneebone, 2007, Fact Sheet No. 8)
- Child Poverty High in Rural America (O'Hare and Savage, 2007, Fact Sheet No. 6)
- Food Stamp and School Lunch Programs Alleviate Food Insecurity in Rural America (Smith and Savage, 2007, Fact Sheet No. 5)
- Rural Workers Would Benefit More Than Urban Workers from an Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage (O'Hare, 2007, Fact Sheet No. 4)
- Rural America Depends on the Food Stamp Program to Make Ends Meet (Smith and Salant, 2005, Policy Brief No. 1)
- Child Poverty in Rural America (O'Hare and Savage, 2006, Fact Sheet No. 1)
New England
- Paid Sick Time Helps Workers Balance Work and Family (Smith, 2009, New England Issue Brief No. 13)
- Many New Hampshire Jobs Do Not Pay a Livable Wage (Kenyon and Churilla, 2008, New England Issue Brief No. 10)
- Children's Health Insurance in New Hampshire: An Analysis of New Hampshire Health Kids (Ward, Savage, and Stracuzzi, 2007, New England Policy Brief No. 1)
- Low-Income Families in New Hampshire (Churilla, 2006, New England Issue Brief No. 3)
Selected current projects
Community & Environment in Rural America (CERA)
Challenged by a history of cycles of economic boom and bust, rural America is today confronted by globalization, resource depletion, changing demographics, new land use patterns, rising energy costs, and climate change. Carsey’s interdisciplinary CERA program uses over 10,000 household interviews from the UNH Survey Center to build knowledge of the socio-economic conditions, natural resource changes, and policy opportunities to sustain rural communities and ecosystems. The work includes solid, active partnerships with community development practitioners and community foundations across rural America.
Rural Child Abuse
Federal Child Nutrition Programs in Rural America (Wauchope)