Maine
Maine’s young people are still leaving — here’s how we keep them
There’s a quiet ache many Maine communities feel today — not from a single event, but from a slow, steady shift. You notice it when a local high school graduation gets smaller each year. When the town store closes early because there’s no one to work. Or when a neighbor’s grandchild leaves for college and never moves back.
Maine is proud of its deep roots and generational ties. We are a state where hard work, close-knit communities and respect for the land are part of everyday life. But we also face a hard truth: Too many young people are leaving and not enough are staying — or coming back. Many want to live here. It’s just too expensive to do so.
This isn’t just a demographic challenge. It’s a serious threat to our economy, our workforce and our future. If we want strong schools, thriving small businesses, working forests and farms, and vibrant downtowns, we need to make Maine a place where young people can build a life — and want to.
That means doing more than just hoping they’ll return. It means making smart, intentional investments in the things that matter most: education, housing, job opportunities and community.
First, we need to expand career pathways that lead to fulfilling, family-sustaining jobs — whether that’s through apprenticeships, trades programs or partnerships between local employers and community colleges. We need to create foundations for young Mainers to become business owners by prioritizing economics and personal finance courses in our schools.
Second, we must address the housing crunch that’s hitting young families especially hard. In many towns, affordable starter homes are almost nonexistent. Rent is up and homeownership feels out of reach for too many. That’s why I’ve introduced and backed legislation to increase investment in affordable housing for Maine’s workforce.
Third, we must expand access to reliable, affordable child care. No young parent can afford to stay in Maine if child care costs more than their paycheck or is impossible to find. Supporting families also means supporting the early educators who make this work possible. I know that when we support Maine families, we’re not just helping individuals; we’re strengthening the fabric of our communities.
Finally, we have to stop pretending that rural life and opportunity are incompatible. From remote work to small-scale farming, small businesses, space exploration or tech startups, there is so much potential in Maine’s small towns and cities — if we support it. That’s why I’m focused on legislation that supports local entrepreneurs, improves rural infrastructure, modernizes and local farms.
We won’t reverse the trend overnight. But we can take meaningful steps, right now, to build the kind of future where young Mainers see a path forward in the place they call home. I believe in Maine’s next generation. And I believe our best days are still ahead — not behind.
I say all of this as someone who thought I would never be able to afford (or have the opportunity) to return home to Maine. I hope that our work here in Augusta ensures young Mainers don’t just leave with a suitcase, but instead return with a future and a plan to stay.
Mattie Daughtry represents state Senate District 23, which covers Brunswick, Chebeague Island, Freeport, Harpswell, Pownal and part of Yarmouth. She also serves as Maine’s Senate president. She can be reached at Mattie.Daughtry@legislature.maine.gov or 287-1515.
The remote Washington County town of Topsfield voted Thursday to close its five-student school, opting to send a shrinking student population elsewhere.
Residents voted 42 to 18 to shutter the East Range II School after high costs began to drive students from out of town elsewhere, bringing the number of students down from 25 in 2023 to the small total it has today. Turnout was robust in a town with only about 175 residents and 130 registered voters.
School district officials projected that the school, which had once served pre-K through eighth grade but would have been left only with pre-K through early elementary school students, would teach no more than seven students at a time over the next five school years. They also expected it would cost nearly $500,000 per year to keep the school open.
“I had no idea how the vote was going to go,” Eastern Maine Area School System superintendent Amanda Belanger said Friday. “I’m glad that a decision has been made and that we can move forward.”
The school board will finalize the closure plan and weigh what to do about the staff at East Range, at a meeting on May 7. The school would have likely had only one full-time teacher working there next year. That teacher, Paula Johnson, said she wasn’t sure what she would do if the school closed. She has worked there for 11 years.
Students will now likely be bused from Topsfield to schools in Princeton or Baileyville, about 30 minutes south. East Range will close at the end of this school year. After that, the town will take over the property.
It’s not clear what will become of the building. At an April meeting to discuss the future of the school, some residents were already speculating about whether it could turn into a senior center or similar community facility.
The result of Thursday’s vote was not unexpected. Many residents at the April meeting said they could not afford the taxes required to keep the school open. They will still have to pay for maintenance of the building but that cost is expected to be much lower than the cost of maintaining the school.
Taxpayers will also have to continue to pay for students, but the cost of busing kids out of town is also expected to be much lower than maintaining the local school.
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Kaitlyn Cunningham Morse is founder of Maine Aging Partners, a Maine-based consulting firm that helps families navigate aging and long-term care decisions.
In the coming election, Maine candidates will talk about housing. They will talk about workforce shortages, affordability, economic development and the future of our state.
What many will not do is confront the force tying those issues together: Maine is aging faster than our systems are adapting.
That omission matters.
Too much of our public conversation around aging still proceeds as though this is a manageable strain on an otherwise functional system — something that can be solved with another grant, another pilot program, another commission, or simply more patience.
But if that approach were working, it would be working by now.
Instead, we continue discussing the downstream effects of aging as if they are separate and unrelated problems.
We debate labor shortages. We debate housing shortages. We debate burnout. We debate economic stagnation.
All while ignoring the quiet reality unfolding behind closed doors across this state.
Somewhere in Maine, an older couple is beginning to struggle. One has fallen twice. The other is forgetting medications. The home that served them for 40 years no longer serves them now. And when no clear path exists — when there is no accessible support, no plan, no obvious next step — that problem does not stay within their household.
It lands downstream.
It lands in front of the daughter leaving work early because her father cannot be left alone. It lands in front of the employer wondering why a once-reliable manager is suddenly distracted. It lands in front of the small business losing a key employee to caregiving demands. It lands in front of the hospital trying to discharge someone with nowhere appropriate to send them. It lands in front of local leaders trying to solve workforce and housing issues while more residents quietly age out of independence.
That is what Maine’s aging crisis actually looks like.
Not simply older adults needing care. But families, employers and communities reorganizing themselves around a system under mounting strain.
Maine has the oldest population in the nation. Yet we still discuss aging as though it is a niche healthcare issue rather than a defining economic fact.
It is not separate from our workforce challenges. It is not separate from our housing crisis. It is not separate from our economic future.
When enough working-age adults reduce hours, leave jobs, delay advancement, or burn out because they are managing family caregiving in a fragmented system, the consequences ripple across the entire state.
This is no longer simply an elder care issue. It is a workforce issue. An economic issue. A housing issue. A civic issue.
And until our leaders begin treating aging as a central challenge shaping Maine’s future — rather than a specialized concern delegated to familiar institutions and stakeholder groups — we will continue mistaking downstream symptoms for unrelated problems.
We cannot build a thriving Maine while ignoring the demographic reality reshaping nearly every major policy debate before us.
The future of this state depends on our willingness to finally say so.
Several former Maine high school boys basketball stars have announced new hardwood destinations in recent days, including 2023 Varsity Maine Player of the Year Will Davies, who is transferring from Division II St. Anselm College to America East power Vermont after being the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year.
Davies, a 6-foot-4 point guard, led St. Anslem to a 25-8 record, the NE-10 championship and two NCAA Division II tournament wins while averaging 13.7 points and 7.1 assists.
Former Edward Little standout Diing Maiwen, a 6-6 wing, made his January commitment to Division I Farleigh Dickinson official last week when the team announced his signing on social media. Also, 2026 Mr. Maine Basketball Nolan Ames of Camden Hills is expected to sign with Division II Bentley on Friday after announcing his commitment earlier this month.
As a senior at Thornton Academy, Davies led Class AA South in scoring, averaging 19.7 points while also posting 7.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game playing for his father, Bob. Davies did a postgraduate year at St. Thomas More in Connecticut and had a solid freshman season at St. Anselm, averaging 5.6 points while making two starts and appearing in 30 games.
This past season, Davies moved into a starring role. In addition to being his conference’s player of the year, he was also named the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association East Region Player of the Year.
Davies entered the transfer portal in March. On April 22, St. Anselm announced its intention to transition to the Division III NEWMAC Conference in 2027-28. Vermont is coming off a 22-12 season that ended with a loss to UMBC in the America East championship game.
Maiwen was a Varsity Maine All-State selection in 2025 after averaging 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in his senior season at Edward Little. He reclassified to the Class of 2026 and spent this past season at Knox School on Long Island in New York, earning co-player of the year honors in the Power 5 AAA conference.
Ames, a 6-2 guard, was named the Varsity Maine Player of the Year in 2026 after averaging 26.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists while leading Camden Hills to the Class A North title and scoring 30 points in a state final loss to Portland. Ames originally committed to play at Colby College but announced that he was going to Bentley on April 16, about three weeks after former Colby coach Sam Rutigliano left the Waterville school to become an assistant coach at Kansas State.
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