ERIC Number: ED304258
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1988-Oct
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Rural Poverty Policy.
Woods, Fred; And Others
In 1986, of 32 million Americans who were poor, nearly ten million, or 30%, lived in nonmetropolitan or rural areas containing only 22% of the nation's population. While metropolitan poverty rates have declined somewhat since 1983 as a result of economic recovery, nonmetropolitan poverty rates have remained relatively high. Rural poverty is not to be confused with farm poverty. Only 8.5% of the rural poor in 1986 were farm residents. The rural poor differ from the urban poor in that the rural poor are more likely to be elderly, white, and living in the South. A significant share of the rural poor work and 51% live in families with both parents present. Many rural communities suffer from chronic economic depression, and existing poverty programs and policies appear to have benefitted the rural poor less than the urban poor. A comprehensive, multidimensional policy is required to deal with the special characteristics of the rural poor. Three policy options are: (1) adjust current antipoverty programs to deal with the special characteristics of the rural poor; (2) target rural programs to focus on the specific needs and problems of chronically depressed rural areas and recognize the differing circumstances of the rural and urban poor; and (3) address poverty in a comprehensive development policy. (ALL)
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Speeches/Meeting Papers; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A