Healthier Barrington Survey Shows Impact of Recession

A recent survey by the Barrington Healthier Community Project shows that Barrington has not been sheltered from the economic downturn.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they have been impacted by the recession.

Unemployment was up almost 4 percentage from the 2008 survey. It rose from 10.5 percent to 13.9 percent.  One in five respondents had someone in their home experience unemployment in the past year.

The Healthier Barrington Project Needs Assessments are one method by which the Barrington Healthier Community Project receives input into the needs and desires of the community. This first survey was conducted in 1996, and surveys are conducted every three years. This was the sixth survey.

The survey was sent to 4,000 residents in the 60010 zip code and 524 surveys were returned.

Syl Boeder of the Healthier Barrington Coalition and Julie Mayer, director of community relations fro Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, presented survey results to the Barrington village board at the Nov. 28 meeting.

As a result of the survey and meetings with focus groups, the Healthier Barrington Project will recommend that a local agency makes a job coach available to help residents struggling with unemployment. Another recommendation is that special training be offered for older job seekers on how to use social networking during the job search process.

Other interesting results:

• 31.1 percent of survey respondents said they work in the Barrington area, which is much higher than the national average.
• 27.9 percent of workers reported working out of home.
• One in five respondents said they are responsible for the care of older adults.
• 22 percent of respondents said they get their news online.
• People are more unsure of how they will spend their retirement years than in past surveys when many said they would move to the Sunbelt.

See the full results of the Healthier Barrington Needs Survey.