Indicator: 79 - Perception of Communities as a Good Place to Raise Childrent

 

Why This Is Important

Parents and families who raise children have a stake in making their community a good place
to do that. Communities that keep children and families at the heart of all decisions engage
families in building better communities.

 

Where We Stand

In 2004, a sample of Maine parents was asked: “How would you rate your community
as a place to raise children?” The vast majority (92%) responded that their community is
either an “excellent” or a “good” place to do that, about the same percentage as in a similar
2001 survey (90%). The percentage making this judgment tended to rise slightly with
income, though it was high (over 85%) for all income brackets.

 

 

Data Sources and Context

Data on this indicator comes from a statewide telephone survey of Maine households with
children present who are age 18 or younger. The respondents to this survey were adults in
the household who self-identified as a parent. The indicator is similar to indicators used by
the Maine Development Foundation in their previous surveys of Maine citizens, or other
national surveys of families, so that the data could be used to monitor trends over time and
to compare Maine to the nation. This 2004-2005 survey was conducted by Critical Insights,
a strategic marketing research firm in Portland, Maine. During the months of December 2004
and January 2005, 400 Maine adults responded to the survey.

The adults were asked the following: “Overall, how would you rate your community as a place
to raise children?”

Only the data in the “all” column is statistically representative of adults in households
with children under the age of 18 in Maine. The information that is provided by
category of household income is a rough estimate using weighted data based on the
2003 American Communities Survey of the U.S. Census, household income report for
Maine. These categories are estimates only for descriptive purposes and should not
be used to make inferences about all households in Maine with children under the age
of 18.