The Demography of New England: Policy Issues for the Balance of this Century

New England\u27s rapidly aging population, its traditionally low fertility rate, and the fact that net migration from other regions and abroad should continue to be close to zero means that only very slow population growth will characterize the region for the balance of this century. Nevertheless, New England\u27s demographic metabolism is exceptionally dynamic: (1) the numbers of different age groups are growing at very different rates; (2) a redistribution of population is occurring from the southern to northern tier states; (3) within each state population is dispersing into non-metropolitan areas; and (4) metropolitan areas, both central and suburban, are quickly changing their demographic composition. Each of these trends has different public policy implications

Some Simple Facts About the Demand for New Residential Construction in the 1990s

There is an emergent conventional wisdom that the 1990s will be a decade in which housing markets will suffer a serious and prolonged recession. This wisdom points to the projected declines in new household formations, in fewer young buyers to stimulate trade-up demand because of the aging of the baby bust cohorts born between 1965 and 1974, and overbuilding in some market where vacancy rates remain high. Examination of some simple facts about the sources on new household formation and housing demand, about the nature of supply- side adjustments to swings in housing demand, show this pessimism to be unfounded. Rather than focus only on aggregate national demographic and economic changes, forecasters of housing starts and house price trends need to examine factors that determine long-term supply adjustments, as well as changing household numbers and characteristics in specific housing markets.

The Changing Nature of Poverty

Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, the poverty rate has fluctuated widely, and at the same time the poverty population has undergone many changes, some mirroring the changing stereotypes of the poor and others less pronounced than the changing stereotypes would lead us to believe. A feminization of poverty has occurred, with many more of the poor now in households headed by women. Interestingly, aging of the poverty population has not occurred despite growth in the elderly segment of the overall population. Concerning turnover in the poverty population, we find that despite poverty theories emphasizing persistence, recurrent poverty is relatively rare and poverty is not generally passed from one generation to the next. Poverty prevention has come from both economic growth and government transfers; however, inequality in economic growth has contributed to poverty. With the proportion of elderly and female- headed households likely to continue at a high level into the future, poverty rates are also likely to remain high unless government transfers are increased.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66979/2/10.1177_000271628547900103.pd

The Demographic Impact of Breastfeeding: A Critical Review

The old wives’ tale that nursing mothers can not become pregnant has been replaced by a new demographic wisdom. Appearing with ever increasing frequency in the scientific literature are statements to the effect that trends and differentials in breastfeeding practices have a major impact on fertility. There can be no question that a positive correlation exists between the intensity and duration of lactation and length of temporary postpartum sterility. However, confidence about the existence of such a relationship has become translated, for many, into a certainty about magnitude. In point of fact, what we know about the quantitative relationship between nursing and the delay to the resumption of ovulation is sketchy at best. Few realise the fullextent to which our knowledge about the effects of breastfeeding on birth intervals is based on tenuous assumptions, biased observations, and widely divergent methodologies. With more and more writers making claims for the demographic importance of breastfeeding, it is perhaps timely to take stock of the evidence supporting such claims. The purpose of this analysis is to introduce a note of caution for those who seem unaware that the major research on lactation and postpartum anovulation is yet to be done