January 08, 2010
"It's certainly an indicator of some concern because robust economics need a diverse workforce," says John Schneider, executive vice president of MassINC, a public policy group in Boston. "We here certainly have been raising alarm bells about the declining population of our young adults for ... years."
The number of children in Massachusetts has fallen almost 5% since 2000, but the declines are not happening in all parts of the state. "The Greater Boston region can compete anywhere in the world for jobs, innovation, productivity," Schneider says, "but there are huge areas of New England that have not been able to diversify and are struggling to connect with new economic opportunities."