Mark Mather
Associate Vice President, U.S. Programs
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In the U.S., four out of five Latino adults—38.5 million people—are part of the working class, powering essential industries like construction, agriculture, and hospitality.
In a new research series, PRB and UnidosUS are exploring the characteristics of this group, offering insights to inform policies that expand economic opportunity. The inaugural report looks at the demographic profile of working-class Latinos, including age, race, gender, generational status, and education level, as well as differences across states.
English Publication
The Demographics of African Faculty in the East African Community (DAF-EAC) is a study undertaken by a consortium comprised of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), Education Sub Saharan Africa (ESSA), the Association of African Universities (AAU), and the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). DAF-EAC follows the initial study on Demographics of African Faculty in Ghana, which provided important demographic data and identified challenges concerning faculty in the country.
DAF-EAC sought to assess the status of Higher Education faculty in the East African region in terms of numbers, distribution by gender and areas of study. The study comprised four components namely; background research, analysis of current and future faculty demand, stakeholder engagement and dissemination of study findings, and co-creation of solutions to address the faculty challenges. The study was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (grant number G-21-58066), focusing on six Partner States of the East African Community, namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
English Publication
Higher education data management covers a broad range of information, including students, faculty, other staff, research and development, facilities, and financial resources. This document presents two complementary sets of indicators—student indicators and faculty indicators—designed to support consistent data collection and analysis within higher education systems. These indicators are intended to inform planning, monitoring, and decision-making, with a particular emphasis on understanding and addressing faculty staffing needs, a core objective of the Demographics of African Faculty (DAF) project.
Sara Srygley
Senior Research Associate
Nurfadila Khairunnisa
Research Analyst
Diana Elliott
Senior Vice President, Programs
Download Chartbook
New data released by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and PRB in the 15th annual update of The Appalachian Region: A Data Overview from the 2019-2023 American Community Survey shows that rates of labor force participation and homeownership continue to improve in Appalachia.
Drawing from the latest American Community Survey and comparable 2023 Census Population Estimates, the report, known as “The Chartbook,” contains more than 300,000 data points comparing Appalachia’s regional, subregional and state data with the rest of the nation.
Key improvements in the region’s economic indicators are as follows:
Decrease in unemployment rates and higher labor force participation
- Appalachia’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points between 2014-2018 to 2019-2023, compared to a 0.4 percentage point decrease in the rest of the U.S.
- Appalachia’s labor force participation rate among civilians ages 25 to 64 was 1.5 percentage points higher in 2019-2023 than it was in 2014-2018, slightly outpacing the national increase of 1.2 points.
Homeownership bypasses national average
- Among occupied housing units, homeownership in the region was 6.7 percentage points higher than in the U.S. overall.
- However, housing unit vacancy in the Appalachian Region was 3.4 percentage points higher than the national average.
Below average number of cost burdened households
- The share of households in Appalachia that are cost burdened – where housing costs are 30% or more of monthly income—is 6.7 percentage points lower than the U.S. average.
- In Appalachia and nationally, housing cost burden is highest among the youngest and oldest renters.
“While Appalachia continues to make progress toward reaching economic parity with the rest of the country, it’s important to recognize there is still work to be done,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “ARC will continue to partner on the local, state, and federal levels to prioritize the future of Appalachia’s 13 states and remains committed to ensuring Appalachians have access to the education, job training and infrastructure they need for prosperous lives in the places they love.”
“This year’s Chartbook highlights important economic advances, not only in Maryland but across the Appalachian Region—including gains in employment and homeownership,” said ARC 2025 States’ Co-Chair, Maryland Governor Wes Moore. “By working together, we continue to uplift our most vulnerable populations, promoting a better, brighter future for all families across Appalachia.”
Despite positive trends, several data points revealed key challenges affecting Appalachian economies compared to the rest of the nation:
Despite population increase, growth lags
- Appalachia’s population is growing – but more slowly than the nation as a whole.
- Growth in the region was 4.3 percentage points lower than the national average between 2010 and 2023.
- In addition, Appalachia’s population is, on average, 2.2 years older than the U.S. population, with 1 in 5 Appalachian residents age 65 or older.
Post-secondary educational attainment remains behind national average
- 27.3% of Appalachians hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, falling behind the national average of 35%.
Greater share of Appalachians live in poverty
- At $64,588, the median household income in Appalachia is nearly $14,000 below the U.S. average of $78,538.
- More than 14% of Appalachians live in poverty or “deep” poverty.
“The data point to bright spots but also guide us to areas where targeted efforts could improve well-being for Appalachians across the region,” said Sara Srygley, a senior research associate at PRB. “Decisionmakers and advocates can use the Chartbook to create the changes they want to see in their communities.”
The data shows that Appalachia’s rural areas continue to be at increased risk for economic distress compared to its urban areas. Appalachia’s 107 rural counties are also more uniquely challenged, compared to 841 similarly designated rural counties across the rest of the U.S., as rural Appalachian counties continue to lag behind on indicators including educational attainment and household income.
The data also highlights key differences between Appalachia’s subregions, including:
- Northern Appalachia has the highest share of adults with a bachelor’s degree or more in the science and engineering field at 32.4%.
- North Central Appalachia has the highest share of veterans among the subregions.
- Central Appalachia saw an increase in digital device ownership and internet access, although broadband access remains a challenge.
- South Central Appalachia experienced one of the most significant decreases in cost-burdened households compared to other subregions.
- Southern Appalachia has the highest mean and median incomes—and income per capita is increasing more than in the other subregions.
In addition to the written report co-authored by the Population Reference Bureau, ARC offers companion web pages on Appalachia’s population, employment, education, income and poverty, computer and broadband access, and rural Appalachian counties compared to the rest of rural America’s counties. For more information, visit www.arc.gov/chartbook.
About the Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development entity of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 423 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.
Related Resources
Meeting Report
Since 1984, USAID has funded the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program to provide technical assistance to more than 400 surveys in over 90 countries. On February 24, 2025, the U.S. government terminated the DHS Program. In the aftermath of the termination, numerous efforts have emerged to mobilize action to sustain collection of high-quality demographic and health data through surveys. These efforts span a range of critical challenges, including preservation and accessibility of current data, completion of near-final surveys, and identifying long-term strategies to support future data collection. As multiple streams of effort have emerged, PRB organized a virtual global convening to support coordination and collaboration.
The convening brought together key stakeholders—including leaders from National Statistical Offices, donor organizations, partner organizations, and data user groups—to identify opportunities and priorities for collaboration to protect current data and preserve ongoing data collection activities. This event created a space to identify needs, gaps, opportunities, and emerging solutions; share efforts that are underway; and support ongoing coordination among stakeholders moving forward.
This meeting report summarizes the discussion and ideas shared in the convening. Each topic, objective, and related stakeholder discussion is presented, with little interpretation, to form a record of the conversation and ideas that arose. This report concludes with a summary of emerging next steps.
For questions about the report or to learn more about ways to engage ongoing dialogue on the future of the DHS, contact Kaitlyn Patierno (kpatierno@prb.org).
English Publication
In June 2024, the MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator Project, FP2030, and the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (the Organizing Committee) jointly hosted a convening, “Centering Locally-Driven Family Planning Measurement Priorities in the Global Measurement Agenda,” in Nairobi, Kenya. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the convening aimed to elevate the voices of country-based family planning (FP) actors in the global FP measurement discourse. From June 25–27, over 50 program implementers, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) officers, statistical officers, and local researchers from 22 countries came together to discuss challenges, gaps, emerging approaches, and technical assistance needs in FP measurement at the global, national, subnational, and community levels. The Nairobi convening is designed to serve as a launch-point for an ongoing effort to advance FP measurement through multidirectional learning and exchange between country and global stakeholders, the FP Measurement Advancement Convening Series, or “FP-MACS.”
English Publication
PRB created The KIDS COUNT Data Resource Guide to facilitate the use of population data from the U.S. federal statistical system. Originally designed for the KIDS COUNT program on child well-being, the guide offers practical advice on how to use major data sources—from the Decennial U.S. Census to the National Vital Statistics System—that could be helpful to anyone who works with U.S. population data.
The guide includes an overview of each major data source, including what data are available, how to access that data, and some best practices for using each source. These sources provide up-to-date and reliable information that is comparable across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and, where available, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Data sources covered by the guide include:
- Decennial Census
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program
- American Community Survey
- Current Population Survey
- National Vital Statistics System
- National Survey of Children’s Health
- Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates
- Small Area Health Insurance Estimates
- National Center for Education Statistics
- And more
The KIDS COUNT Data Resource Guide also includes a brief overview of best practices that apply across data sources, such as assessing reliability, making comparisons, and disaggregating by race and ethnicity.
English Publication
Gender equality advances sustainable development, strengthens human rights, and promotes economic growth and development. Even with commitments made by the Government of Malawi to increase gender equality throughout society, many Malawian girls drop out of school before completing secondary school or continuing to higher education. Among those who remain, even fewer chose to study in fields related to STEM and sanitation. As a result, many STEM and sanitation professions in Malawi are dominated by men, even though sanitation and hygiene tasks in the home general fall to the women and girls. This factsheet shares recent survey research from Mzuzu University and explains how attracting more women to pursue higher education and careers in sanitation will help to increase culturally sensitive and gender-inclusive solutions for sanitation in Malawi, as well as advance gender equality overall.
English Publication
Researchers from the University of Liberia College of Health Sciences, in partnership with the University of Michigan School of Nursing and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, developed and tested a mobile obstetric emergency system (MORES) that reduced decision-to-delivery time in Bong County, Liberia, shortening the time between the decision to perform an emergency surgical birth and delivery of the newborn. By improving communication among health workers during obstetric triage with WhatsApp, a mobile messaging service, a MORES can help prevent deaths from emergencies related to pregnancy and childbirth.
This brief provides additional information on cesareans and triage and how better communication can be lifesaving for mothers and newborns. In addition to sharing details of the research and an example of closed-loop communication system at work, the brief provides two recommendations for the Liberian Ministry of Health to reduce decision-to-delivery times and improve perinatal outcomes, thereby saving lives.
English Publication
རྫོང་ཁ་དཔེ་སྐྲུན།
Climate change has wide-ranging effects on farming communities throughout the world, as unpredictable weather patterns cause irregular rainfall and destabilize longstanding agricultural practices. In Bhutan’s Pemagatshel District, climate change is compromising food ecosystems and escalating conflict between humans and wildlife. Nearly half of the district’s residents are small-scale farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
To help address these affects, new research from Royal University of Bhutan and the University of Montana examined how adopting climate-smart agriculture in small-scale farming practices can help mitigate the negative effects by improving food production and food security. This brief shares provides additional background on Pemagatshel’s farming practices and climate-smart agriculture and shares how the key research findings reveal promising opportunities. The brief concludes with three recommended actions to protect Bhutan’s small-scale farmers from climate change.
This brief is available in English and Dzongkha.