For years the out migration of young people from rural America has been described as the "brain drain." Now a Minnesota researcher has found evidence there may be an equal "brain gain," mainly among middle-aged people in the state. Ben Winchester, a research fellow at the University of Minnesota, found evidence of a population loss among the 20-34 age group, as expected, but found growth in the 10-19 and 35-49 groups. Nearly every county in Minnesota experienced a growth in the 30-44 age cohort between 1990 and 2000, Winchester reports.
To reach his findings Winchester compared the population of an age cohort with the cohort those members would be in 10 years later. He found school enrollment rose among the 10-14 age cohort, suggesting adults coming to the region brought children with them.
"Given this refreshed view of changing demographics, rural America needs to rethink its
description of gains and losses," Winchester writes. "If rural America is losing high-school educated youth (the brain drain) and replacing them with those that at least have a bachelors, isn’t this a Brain Gain?" Winchester offers no educational data about the added population but cites a Nebraska study reflecting a similar trend in that state where 40 percent of newcomers had at least a bachelors and 48 percent had a household income of greater than $50,000. (Read more)
Mike Knuston of ReImagineRural.com has additional breakdown of the report.
No comments:
Post a Comment