Coos County's Class of 2009: Where Are They Now? New England Issue Brief No. 31

This brief reports on the first follow-up survey of the Coos Youth Study participants beyond high school. The focus of the Coos Youth Study, a ten-year panel study following the lives of youth in Coos County, New Hampshire, is the transition of Coos youth into adulthood. Author Eleanor Jaffee reports that approximately half of the Coos County Class of 2009's follow-up survey participants (49 percent) are living in Coos County the majority of the time. Of those living outside Coos County, 81 percent are attending school full time. The most frequently reported combinations of school and work situations were in school full time, working part time (41 percent), followed by in school full time, not employed (19 percent). Seventy-six percent rate leaving Coos County as highly or moderately important; however, 93 percent also report living close to family as highly or moderately important, suggesting conflicted priorities. (Contains 3 figures, 1 table, and 9 endnotes.) [This work was supported by the The Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.]