MAKING CONNECTIONS CROSS-SITE SURVEY: BASIC DEMOGRAPHICS

Abstract

The Making Connections Cross-Site Survey provides a wealth of information on resident perceptions of services. The survey has entailed interviews with large samples of families in Making Connections neighborhoods in all 10 sites at two points in time: first in 2002 or 2003 (depending on the site), and second in 2005 or 2006. A third wave was then conducted in the selected neighborhoods in 5 of the 10 sites in 2008 or 2009 (Denver, Des Moines, Indianapolis, San Antonio, and White Center). These fact sheets focus on the 2008/09 survey and significant changes between it and earlier waves in the 5 sites. They provide selected data on the demographic makeup of Making Connections neighborhoods and how the relevant indicators had changed over time. We expect that data on these basic indicators will inform understanding of many other branches of research using the survey data. The topics covered are: • Types of households (households with and without children) • Race and ethnicity (households with and without children) • The foreign born (households with children only) • Age and gender (households with children only) Gaining clarity at the outset in differences between the characteristics of households with children and childless households is important. These two groups differ from each other in important ways. Families with children have been the focus of the Making Connections mission and, on many dimensions, they need be looked at separately. Lumping households with and without children together can create indicators that are often difficult to interpret.