skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Analysis Reveals Insights into Tennessee's Population Makeup

play audio
Play

Monday, August 7, 2017   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee skews older than the nation overall, and overall, the state's disability rates are higher in rural communities, according to Census data analyzed by the nonpartisan think tank ThinkTennessee.

Shanna Hughey, the group’s president, says she hopes ThinkTennessee’s study of the population data gives state lawmakers access to information that helps them help their constituents.

"So knowing who Tennesseans are, and who will be in decades to come, is a really important part of that,” she states. “We're hoping this information honestly inspires legislators from urban and rural areas to work together on issues that will affect them both."

According to the report, 1 in 7 Tennesseans is older than 65, which is older than the national average of just above 15 percent. Additionally Hughey says ThinkTennessee found diverse populations in rural and urban areas.

Understanding that the state has an older population, and a high percentage of people with a disability living in rural communities, may help justify investments in transportation or modifications of voting options.

"We know that these populations might benefit from policies like transit options or no-fault absentee voting or increased health care access, and those can be really important things both in our rural areas and in our urban ones," Hughey states.

According to the data, 1 in 6 people living in rural communities in the state has a disability.






get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021