Greater New Haven Community Index 2016

Greater New Haven Community Index 2016

How do local residents rate their overall health? How safe do they feel in their neighborhoods? Are they satisfied with the region's job opportunities? What is the availability of childcare? These and hundreds of other questions relating to wellbeing, economic opportunity and quality of life in the region are answered in the recently released Greater New Haven Community Index 2016.

The comprehensive report is the work of DataHaven and a team of regional partners including The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Yale New Haven Hospital, government agencies, and community organizations. The statewide and regional picture of a variety of issues allows community organizations to better understand the often uneven distribution of opportunities and resources, and inequities in areas such as public health and education.

A few highlights from the report include:

• Since 1980, the population living in middle income Greater New Haven neighborhoods has decreased by 22%, while the populations in neighborhoods considered either affluent or poor are each more than 2.5 times their 1980 levels. Affluent and poor neighborhoods are defined as those with an average family income more than 1.5 times, or less than half of, the state average, respectively.
• Between 2014 and 2025, adults ages 65 and over are the region's only age group projected to grow significantly, with a 43 percent increase (an increase of 30,100 people).
• While Greater New Haven has nearly enough spaces for all 3- to 4-year-olds to attend preschool, there are only enough regulated childcare slots for 19 percent of the area's infants and toddlers; shortages are also present in subsidized slots for infants and toddlers who live in low-income families. High childcare costs are often prohibitively expensive for low- and middle-income families.

For more than 25 years, DataHaven has pursued its mission to improve quality of life by collecting, interpreting and sharing public data for effective decision-making. It is supported by a variety of funders and sponsoring partners including The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the Valley Community Foundation, Yale New Haven Health System, United Way of Greater New Haven, and the New Alliance Foundation.

To learn more about DataHaven and support its mission, visit DataHaven's profile on giveGreater.org®.

Did you know?

The Greater New Haven Community Index is based on federal and statewide data sources, including the 2015 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey, which conducted live interviews with 16,219 randomly-selected adults throughout Connecticut last year and weighted the survey responses to be representative of adults living within individual municipalities throughout the state.