Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 92

Arctic Yearbook 2014 92 completed. The state had another large influx of migrants during the oil boom of the 1980s when prices were high, followed again by an outflow when prices fell. There was a smaller outflow from military base closures during the 1990s. Alaska experienced a small inflow during the Great Recession of the late 2000s. Figure 6: Components of Population Change for Alaska, 1947-2012 Like other Arctic regions, there has been increased concentration of the population into the largest urban settlements. In 1960, 36 percent of the population of Alaska lived in Anchorage. This share has steadily increased to about 42 percent currently. Anchorage’s share has leveled off as there has been increased population growth in the Matanuska-Susitina Valley, which is basically a suburb of Anchorage. Combined with Fairbanks, 55 percent of Alaska’s population resides in these two settlements. There has been a long-term trend of depopulation of rural areas in Alaska from a combination of high energy prices, high living costs and large Permanent Fund dividend payouts (annual payments to all residents of Alaska from oil tax revenues). The share of Alaskan Natives who reside in the five most-populous boroughs increased sharply from 42 to 49 percent between 2000 and 2010 (Sandberg, 2013). This is not to say that Alaskan Natives are completely abandoning subsistence lifestyles and villages for wage jobs in urban centers but with improvements in transport and communications, there are certainly becoming more aware of opportunities elsewhere. Similar to other Arctic regions, it is women who are moving out of the villages in large numbers, a trend which continues (Hamilton L. C., 2010; Martin, 2009; Howe, Huskey, & Berman, 2014). According to both survey and census data, young women in villages tend to view their future career paths Heleniak