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Report
The future of the skilled labor force in New England: the supply of recent college graduates
One of New England?s greatest assets is its skilled labor force, historically an engine of economic growth in the region. Yet the population of recent college graduates?the skilled labor force of the future?has been growing more slowly in New England than elsewhere in the country. ; The need to attract and retain recent college graduates has become a salient issue in every New England state. Policymakers and business leaders alike are concerned that an inadequate supply of skilled workers will hamper economic growth by creating barriers for companies looking to locate or expand within the ...
Report
Reaching the goal: expanding health insurance coverage in New England: current strategies and new initiatives
As the number and percentage of people without health insurance continues to climb, the goal of expanding such coverage is even more pressing. Traditional strategies have had only limited success. And with little movement at the federal level, states have chosen to enact their own bold initiatives. Four New England states - Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont - have recently passed or implemented programs to expand health insurance coverage, some with the goal of achieving near-universal coverage. By combining different strategies from across the political spectrum, the new ...
Report
Reforming Connecticut’s Education Aid Formula to Achieve Equity and Adequacy across School Districts
Connecticut’s public K–12 education system relies heavily on local funding, resulting in substantial disparities between affluent districts and low-income districts with a large proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students whoare more costly to educate. Despite recent improvements, the existing state aid formula has been criticized for failing to provide sufficient funding to districts with the fewest resources and the highest education costs. To help improve state aiddistribution, this report estimates a “cost-capacity gap,” which measures the difference between a ...
Report
Uncertain futures?: youth attachment to the labor market in the United States and New England
In the wake of the Great Recession, high levels of unemployment and low labor force participation rates among U. S. youth are of great concern, receiving considerable attention from policy makers and the popular press. These trends have led observers to question what the future path of employment will look like for younger workers. Of particular concern is the share of the youth population that is idle, or what is technically termed ?not in employment, education, or training? (NEET). These individuals are particularly vulnerable to continued adverse labor market outcomes and their prolonged ...
Report
Can Treatment with Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Improve Employment Prospects? Evidence from Rhode Island Medicaid Enrollees
The nation’s long-standing crisis of opioid abuse intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, with opioid-related deaths rising to nearly 81,000 in 2021, an increase of more than 60 percent from just two years earlier. Also during the pandemic, the labor force participation rate in the United States fell precipitously, and as of September 2022 it remained depressed by more than a full percentage point relative to its February 2020 level despite record numbers of job openings in 2021 and 2022. The unfortunate confluence of labor shortages and record-setting opioid mortality highlights the need ...
Report
Mismatch in the labor market: measuring the supply of and demand for skilled labor in New England
Over the past decade, policymakers and business leaders across New England have been concerned that the region?s slower population growth and loss of residents to other parts of the U.S. will lead to a shortage of skilled labor?particularly when the baby boom generation retires. Even with the current economic downturn, there is a recognized need to ensure that there is a sufficient pipeline of skilled workers to fill their region?s high-growth, high-demand jobs when the economy recovers. This means not only having a sufficient number of skilled workers, but also a workforce with the right mix ...
Report
The Bank of North Dakota: a model for Massachusetts and other states?
In 2010, Massachusetts legislators considered whether to create a state-owned bank as a means to address concerns about credit availability and other economic challenges stemming from the financial crisis and Great Recession of 2007-09. In 2011 a commission was established to investigate the feasibility of setting up such an institution. This research report informs the work of that commission. ; The report provides an in-depth examination of the only state-owned bank in the nation, the Bank of North Dakota (BND). It discusses BND?s history and current operations, and analyzes the degree to ...
Report
Population aging and state pensions in New England
This Research Report analyzes the features of the New England state pension plans in the context of the region's changing demographic environment. The first section of the report documents key demographic developments: the aging of the Baby Boom generation and increasing life expectancies. Key features of the primary state pension plan in each New England state are then compared, focusing in particular on the age-specific characteristics of the plans. A third section analyzes the labor market implications of the plans' formulas, such as how they apply to workers choosing retirement at ...
Report
The challenge of energy policy in New England
New England's energy problems were not quickly created, and they will not be quickly resolved. But they cannot be ignored, for they are too important to the region's future. Without the assurance of an energy system that can meet immediate demands along with long-term growth, the region puts its economic prosperity at risk.
Report
A portrait of New England's immigrants
This research report uses the most recent available data to construct a detailed demographic, labor, and socioeconomic portrait of New England?s immigrants. It is the latest in a series of publications from the Center on the movement of people into and out of our region. ; The report evaluates the size, relative share, settlement patterns, and national origins of the region?s immigrants, and explores how these have changed in recent decades. It then describes the demographic characteristics of the region?s foreign-born residents, and analyzes their labor force behavior. Finally, the report ...