Maine’s math scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, administered by the College Board in Princeton, New Jersey, have consistently and substantially lagged the national average scores for over two decades. See also SAT Score for College Bound. During the 1980’s Maine’s verbal scores exceeded the national averages, but since 1990 they have generally been somewhat…
Maine home ownership in 2010 was 73.8%, compared with 66.9% for the U.S. as a whole. It had dropped from 75.3% in 2006, just before the recession in the housing market. In 2000, the U.S. rate was 76.5 and Maine’s was 67.4. From 1984 throught 2010, Maine’s peak rate of home ownership was 77.4% in…
are those tracing the defining events in people lives that identify their status: birth, marriage, divorce, and death. For details on other statistics got to population. The ratio of marriages to divorces had been declining in Maine through most of the 20th century beginning at a recorded high 1905 and stabilizing in the early 1970’s…
The federal government provides a “safety net” to agricultural producers to help them through the variations in agricultural production and profitability from year to year – due to variations in weather, market prices, and other factors – while ensuring a stable food supply. However, this support is mostly for five major “program” commodities of corn,…
As the graphs below indicate, both violent and non-violent crime have been decreasing in frequency since 1980, with a slight increase since 2005. The number of crimes in 2013, compared to the 1980 figures, declined 22% for violent offenses and 36% for property offenses. See also Crime, Weapons. The Maine Department of Public Safety summarizes…
In 1990 Trade (17.5%) and Manufacturing (17.4%) constituted the largest employment sectors in the Maine economy. By 2010, Manufacturing had faded to 8.6%, and the top two employment sectors were Trade (17%) and Education and Health Services (20.2%). During the two decades, Manufacturing (No. 3 on the chart) had lost over 45% of its employees,…
The labor force is defined as the total of people employed and those who are unemployed and seeking employment. While growing in the long term, Maine’s total labor force actually contracts from time to time as people stop seeking employment. The recent rate of increase may be slowing as the population ages and in-migration of…
Gross Domestic Product by County County by Rank $Billions GDP $Billions % of Total $ GDP People % Total People GDP /Capita Rank /Capita Rank/ Capita Per Capita GDP 1 Cumberland $19.40 34.04% 293,557 21.93% $88.45 Cumberland 1 $88.45 2 York $7.40 12.98% 206,229 15.41% $48.03 Hancock 2 $54.82 3 Penobscot $6.00 10.53% 151,096 11.29%…
Maine’s personal income per person (per capita) has lagged the national average by varying amounts since 1929. The state’s percent of the national average (green line on the chart) has not strayed far from the long-term average of 86% durng the period. In the early 1930’s it exceeded 90% probably because the agricultural sector…
The median income for families is that amount above which half the families have more and below which half the families have less income. It is “in the middle.” According to the U.S. Census: Family. A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage,…
The median income for a group is that amount above which half the group has more and below which half the group has less. It is “in the middle.” According to the U.S. Census: Family. A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage,…
Average annual unemployment in Maine’s economy was consistently higher than the national average from 1969 through 1980. For the next decade, 1981 through 1990, the opposite was true! Since then, Maine’s annual unemployment rate has generally tracked the national rate, though usually a bit higher than the New England rate. Over the four decades, 1969-2010,…
PREAMBLE We, the members of the Maine Democratic Party in convention assembled this eighteenth day of May. 1968, do hereby adopt our 1968 Platform. We do so with pride in the past achievements of our Party, with confidence in the future of our democratic system of government, with gratitude at our good fortune in being…
PREAMBLE We, the members of the Maine Democratic Party in Convention assembled this fourteenth day of May, 1966, do hereby adopt our 1966 platform. We do so with thanks for those who have made it possible for us to exercise our choices in a free society, with pride in the history of our party’s commitment…
May 20, 1972 STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT Preamble The Democratic Party, realizing its role as a major party is to continually strive for improving governmental service to the citizens of Maine, takes pride in past accomplishments but is fully aware that much more has to be done to insure quality state and local service at…
PREAMBLE Since the resurgence of the Maine Democratic Party in 1954, the party platform has been the vehicle for setting forth the party’s positions on the issues facing the state and its people. Democrats have prided themselves in the widespread involvement of Maine people in the development of the platform. Twenty years later, the 1974…
1976 PLATFORM – DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF MAINE Originally published in April, the Platform was updated with “Errata Sheets” dated 8/16/76. Changes from these updates are noted in the text below, with underlines indicating inserts and strikethroughs indicating deletes. The following is from the “General” section of the “Errata Sheets”: A. Chairperson should be read throughout…
Chapter 1 PREAMBLE 1. The 1978 State Democratic Party Platform is dedicated to the well being of all citizens of Maine. The Platform, presented herein, is based on reasonable expectations for all people and a philosophical approach to achieving the goals of the Party. 2. For the first time in the history of the Maine…
CHAPTER ONE EDUCATION AND CULTURE Sec. 10. PREAMBLE It is essential that communities be unified in support of a sound educational system. To this end, parents and teachers should be deeply involved in the decision-making process. Sec. 11. ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION 1. We urge the continued development of alternatives for students who cannot, or do not,…
PREAMBLE The Reagan Administration poses a clear threat to the social, economic and environmental goals and values held by the Maine Democratic Party. Maine ’s natural resources are threatened by Republican policies developed to promote short-term economic gain. Federal leadership in the development of a safe and secure national energy policy has been abandoned. High…