Study details Franco-American economic impact
A study commissioned by the state's task force on Franco-Americans found that Maine's largest ethnic group are younger than other Mainers and have less education.
The Bangor Daily News reports that the task force will next week hear a report prepared by University of Southern Maine Professor James Myall, based on 2010 census data, and results from an August poll of 600 self-identified Franco-American Mainers by Bowdoin College Professor Christian Potholm and director of UMaine's Franco-American Centre, Tony Brinkley that are the basis for those findings.
Myall's study also touches on cultural aspects of the census data, where he found that 98% of Franco-American residents were born in the United States, a statistic he cites as showing how Franco-American residents help to define Maine's culture rather than stand out from it.
On economic factors, the August poll found that 19% of the 600 Franco-Americans interviewed said they were unemployed and 60% of those were between 18 and 25 years old.
Among respondents ages 18 to 25, only 13% identified a college education as "important," compared with 60% of all respondents who said higher education was important.
In total, 33% of the poll's 600 respondents said they were unsure about the importance of a college degree — 82% of those responding "unsure" were also between the ages of 18 and 25, the BDN reports.
Members of the task force said that the poll results are likely indicative of trends facing all members of that age group in the state, rather than just Franco-Americans.
For the state group focused on the 24.3% of Mainers who identify as Franco-American, task force member Severin Beliveau told the BDN that the surveys are an "unprecedented effort to quantify and understand the valued contributions of a particular ethnic group."
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