Antonik
Rural Poverty
Margaret R. Antonik
PVS 101: Introduction to Poverty Studies
Furman University
3 May 2010
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Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, Jesse Jackson and John Edwards are a few noted
politicians who have made the trek to Appalachia, a rural area with concentrated poverty, during
campaign seasons. In an article in Salon, Dee Davis, the president of the Center for Rural
Strategies, described the effects that one of these visits had on rallying against rural poverty, “I
listened to Edwards try to discuss Appalachian poverty with several reporters from the national
press...they were far more interested in the size of his house and the price of his haircut”1. Rural
poverty is a reality in the United States that often seems to be overlooked––urban poverty, its
causes and the grit of inner-city life tend to be what one sees in the media. Eight in ten
Americans live in urban settings2, leaving the sixty million people in rural areas, especially those
that are poor, to less attention from justice seekers, policy makers and the American public. In
order to develop a greater understanding of rural poverty and to shape policies that alleviate rural
hardships, the causes, severity, and demographics of rural poverty must be understood. In
addition, knowledge of the additional challenges that rural poor are presented with, reasons for
why they may be ignored and the state of past and current programs available to the rural poor
are important in addressing rural poverty.
To begin exploring the issues, rural poverty must be defined. A metropolitan area is a
county with an urbanized area of at least 50,000 people, regardless of total population. If an
outlying county is economically tied to a metropolitan one, as determined by the number of
commuters that travel between the counties, then that county is also deemed metropolitan. All
other counties are designated as nonmetropolitan. The term metropolitan is generally used
synonymously with urban, and nonmetropolitan is often equated with rural. Technically, a
Davis, D. (2008, May 20). Why Don’t Those Hillbillies Like Obama? [Editorial]. Salon. Retrieved from
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2008/05/20/appalachia/index.html
2 Brown, D. L., & Swanson, L. E. (Eds.). (2003). Challenges for Rural America in the Twenty-First Century.
University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, p. I
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metropolitan area includes suburban and central city, while an urban area is defined as only
central city. Around 75 percent of counties in the United States are nonmetropolitan, yet only 20
percent of the population lives in those areas 3. A person in poverty does not have a sufficient
income to provide basic needs like food, housing, clothing and other services. For statistical
computations, employment rates and income are used to define poverty. In 2002, the poverty line
for an individual under age sixty-five was $9,359, $14,494 for a three-person family and $21,
469 for a five-person family4. Many more rural Americans, however, experience financial
burdens than statistics point out, for living in rural areas presents unique challenges.
An understanding of the demographics of rural America allows people to dispel any
stereotypes that are associated with rural life and rural poverty. Over the last forty years, the
demographics have changed greatly. Beginning in the 1970s, nonmetropolitan areas had greater
population gains than metropolitan areas, and people were leaving urban centers for the better
housing and lower production costs of rural America, bringing with them new social, political
and economic ideas and institutions. The Northeast, Mountain West, parts of the South, Ozarks
and Upper Great Lakes saw populations gains while population losses were seen in the
Mississippi Delta, the Midwest and the Corn Belt5. For the first time in 150 years, rural areas
were experiencing net in-migration6. Rural counties with unique offerings, such as tourism,
places for retirement or manufacturing incentives grew most quickly. Counties with traditional
economic practices of agriculture and mining were less likely to gain population7. Also,
population de-concentration, or suburbanization, has been much more prevalent with growth in
3
Brown, p. I
Rural Poverty at a Glance (Rural Development Research Report No. 100). (2004, July). Retrieved from USDA
Economic Research Service website: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/rdrr100/rdrr100.pdf
5 Brown, p. 21
6
Brown, p. 19
7 Cloke, p. 95
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areas that are in close proximity to metropolitan counties. It is important to note that these
changes have altered the scene in rural America and brought new challenges in community life,
economic viability and political influence.
The rural and urban poverty rates have followed the same trends through these periods,
but rural poverty rates have always been slightly higher. As of 2002, 14.2 percent of
nonmetropolitan America is poor––this amounts to approximately 7.5 million people––while
11.6 percent of the metropolitan population is poor8. Concentrations of persistently poor counties
are found in the South, including the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, Native American
reservations and Southwestern border towns. In many of these areas, more than half the
population is poor9. 4 percent of the counties in the United States are designated as persistently
poor, meaning 20 percent or more of their population has live in poverty for the last 30 years.
280 of those counties are in the South, where one in six persons is poor10.
Diversity in rural areas has also increased with an influx of minority populations,
including Latin Americans, African Americans, and Asians11. Strong correlations between race
or ethnicity and poverty exist. Nearly one in four rural African-Americans, Latin Americans and
Native Americans live in poverty with 52 percent of Native Americans in nonmetropolitan areas
living with incomes at less than half the poverty line. In addition, children are greatly affected by
rural poverty. One in five children in rural areas is poor12. Like the rest of America, rural areas
are also facing changes in family structure. In nonmetropolitan areas, families headed by a
married couple have a poverty rate of 7.2 percent. The rate in a male-headed household is 16.6
8
Rural Poverty at a Glance
Cloke, P., Marsden, T., & Mooney, P. H. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of Rural Studies. London: SAGE Publications,
p. 413
10 Rural Poverty at a Glance
11
Brown, pp. 23, 25
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Rural Poverty at a Glance
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percent whereas in a female-headed household, the rate is 37.1 percent, which can be compared
to the 27.1 percent poverty rate in metropolitan areas. Where rural families were once larger,
younger and from multi-parent households, the number of single parent households is on the rise.
Like the trends in urban areas, poverty is more prevalent among women, the least educated,
single-headed households, racial minorities and children.
These demographics dispel any notion that a stereotypical rural American, especially a
poor one, is valid. Single-parent and multi-parent households exist. Economies are varied. People
of all ethnicities and ages live in rural America. Common misperceptions about rural America
include: economies based on agriculture, the importance of traditional or religious values, serene
and beautiful landscapes and relaxed atmospheres13. In a survey by the W.K. Kellogg
foundation, it was found that common phrases used in describing rural America include “strong
sense of family,” “hardworking,” and “commitment to community.” Phrases least designated in
people’s responses to describe rural America were “sophisticated,” “lacking initiative,” and
“tolerant of others”14. One must look beyond population density, these common perceptions and
poverty rates to really analyze rural America and the economic, social and political hardships,
especially poverty, faced in nonmetropolitan areas.
Misconstrued perceptions along with increased focus on metropolitan areas and the
prevalence of working poor are a few reasons why rural poverty may often be overlooked.
Naturally, much emphasis is placed on metropolitan areas since they account for 80 percent of
the population, or about 240,000,000 people. In a speech on rural America and journalism, Dee
Davis, the president of the Center for Rural Strategies talk about the inability of newspapers to
reach rural America, “Rural is where the market ends...but even though [rural America] represent
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14
Perceptions of Rural America. (n.d.). Battle Creek, MI: W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Perceptions of Rural America
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a less valuable demographic, they could still use real journalists looking into the issues that
matter”15. In general, less attention is paid to rural America due to the concentration of policy
makers, population, academia and media in urban areas. Many also have misperceptions about
the problems of the working poor and the ambiguities of measuring poverty by just income
levels or employment. Since the cost of living is generally lower, rural residents are more able to
own assets. Because of employment and the possession of assets, many rural poor are not
eligible for welfare programs or other assistance. Across the United States, policies do not reflect
the struggles that working poor face in securing an adequate living. These misunderstandings
about poverty and rural America must be addressed in order to fix the problems being faced
across the country.
Many causes of poverty are universal, but rural areas are particularly affected by any
structural disadvantages, which include social inequalities, changes in economic structures and
diminishing family and community support. Social and economic inequalities have played a
large role in the cause of poverty in both rural and urban areas as well as the way social and
political policies have been implanted throughout history. In many persistently poor rural areas,
two-class systems have been the norm. In the Mississippi Delta, sharecroppers dominated the
economic, social and political scenes, and, in Appalachia, coal barons have possessed the most
authority. In these systems, one group holds the power while the other is left to great
disadvantages. Forming economic and social policy that helps the disadvantage is difficult in this
system. In American Dream, Jason DeParle takes note of the effect that sharecropper culture had
on an individual, “She was attuned to an aspect of sharecropper life that would prove cause for
Davis, D. (2005, June 12). Misperceptions have consequences. Keynote speech presented at “Rural America,
Community Issues” conference.
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less optimism: the widespread social chaos, in particular the fluid family structure”16. He goes on
to note how economically, sharecropping hindered any progress17. Rent-seeking economies,
those that are based on agriculture or mining, reflect these inequalities, create divisions of labor,
hinder foreign investments, disable upward mobility and creates static culture18. These historical
inequalities and their products in society have wreaked havoc on the disadvantaged.
Economically, the scene in rural America has changed drastically. The number of people
employed in agricultural jobs has dropped by 70 percent––from 1950 to 1999, the number of
family farms has fallen by 60 percent––and employment in hunting, fishing, gathering, mining
and forestry has been reduced by 50 percent19. The farm crisis in the 1980s, caused by low
commodity prices, left families depending on agriculture in financial crisis; as a result, counties
dependent on farming are still experiencing ill-effects. All in all, rural economies are very
diverse with activity occurring in manufacturing, particularly industries that have sought out
rural areas for lower production costs, farming, mining, and hospitality. The US Department of
Agriculture divides counties based on their primary economic characteristics: 25 percent of
nonmetropolitan counties are agricultural-based, 7 percent are mining-based, 23 percent are
manufacturing-based, 11 percent are government-based and 14 percent are service-sector
based20.
Globalization and trade liberalization have had lasting effects on the state of rural
economies. Small towns compete for businesses and manufacturers through business incentives,
and corporations are increasingly controlling economic development. Manufacturing jobs have
been outsourced for even lower production costs. As a result, much more employment is
16
DeParle, J. (2004). American Dream. New York: Penguin Group, p. 21
DeParle, p. 26
18
Cloke, p. 97
19
Brown, p. 135
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Cloke, p. 93
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available in hospitality, janitorial work and retail. These jobs and the lack of adequate job
opportunity leave a larger amount of people in the working poor class or unemployed. The future
for rural economies may not be so dim. In response to the increases in in-migration, rural areas
have seen increases in human capital; as a result, rural areas “may be able to upgrade to a
dependent economy hosting an industrial plant from a multinational corporation, and eventually
become an entrepreneurial economy”21. Since economics are not separable from the politics and
culture, economic policy and cultural and social understanding. must enable these advances to
occur.
The common trends across the country in family structure and community are
contributing to poverty, but these changing economic structures in rural areas have placed extra
strain on families, communities, social relationships and access to healthcare, education and
housing. Three-fourths of nonmetropolitan residents have at least 35 percent of their residents
commuting to other counties for work22. Low population densities, population de-concentration
and the lack of job opportunities have caused greater commutes and thus greater needs for
reliable transportation and childcare. Civic engagement, community participation and social
support are also often sacrificed as a result of long commutes and shift away from production to
consumerism. Rural communities must find a way to bridge the old and the new, to support
community while also living in a consumer-oriented society.
Those in rural areas often have less access to adequate healthcare, education and housing.
Healthcare disparities exist between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. Suicide rates,
death rates from motor-vehicle accidents, heart disease death rates and many other disease-
21
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Cloke, p. 99
Brown, 167
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related death rates are much higher in rural areas23. Rural people and urban people have similar
insurance coverage rates, but rural people are much more likely to be underinsured24. In addition,
basic care is usually all that is available, leaving rural areas with little or no specialty care.
Education needs are also often ignored in rural schools. Current concerns include distributing
funds through grants or property taxes rather than fixed amounts per student, high requirements
or credentials for teachers, poor facilities and inability to attract quality teachers25. In the United
States, rural homes account for about 20 percent of occupied homes, but they account for over 30
percent of homes without adequate plumbing26. Affordability for housing is also an issue: 5.5
million, or a quarter, of all nonmetropolitan households are paying more than 30 percent of their
income on housing costs. 2.4 million are spending over 50 percent of their income on housing
costs27. Key problems with housing in rural areas include imbalances in supply and demand,
strict regulations on construction and land use, less owner-occupation, increasing rent burdens,
and insecure tenants28. Rural homelessness, which is more likely to be experienced by single
mothers and families29, is also a reality. The lack of adequate services creates a cycle of poverty
from which any mobility is difficult.
In addition to these structural causes of poverty, individual explanations also exist.
Family structures have already been mentioned, but many strains on family and community can
be attributed to structural failures. Drug abuse remains a large problem in rural America––drug
abusers are more likely to be lifetime users in rural areas30. While not playing a large role in
23
Brown, p. 291
Brown, p. 295
25
Dillon, S. (2010, March 18). Lawmakers Say Needs of Rural Schools are Overlooked. New York Times, p. A20.
26
Cloke, p. 433
27
Cloke, p. 435
28 Cloke, p. 439
29 Cloke, p. 438
30
Warner, B. D., & Leukefeld, C. G. (2001). Rural-urban differences in substance use and treatment utilization
among prisoners. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 27(2), 265-280.
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academia, the culture of poverty, which attributes one’s economic hardships to irresponsible
behavior and beliefs, is often sited among the political drives for shaping policy: “Public opinion
finds [the culture of poverty theories] congenial explanations for individual and group failure to
prosper and a way to blame the victim rather than social conditions”31. More often than not,
individual failures are, in fact, a result of structural inadequacies.
Programs exist that work in response to these structural causes and to alleviate poverty in
both rural and urban areas, but their effectiveness in rural America is questionable. Welfare is a
prime example of this. Despite the similar, if not higher, poverty rates, rural poor are much less
likely to receive welfare, and when they do, they receive less money on average32. In rural areas,
welfare recipients generally have higher levels of education and job experience, but fewer job
opportunities, including an average pay of $5.50 per hour, and services are available. Following
reforms, rolls generally declined, but economic difficulties in the last few years have reversed
this trend. Many issues exist with welfare in a rural context. Welfare to work programs that were
popular with the reform in the 1990s are difficult as a result of low population densities and
needs for essential services like childcare and transportation. These services, which can often be
provided or subsidized by the government in metropolitan settings, are less available. The
success of welfare has varied greatly from state to state. Employment boosts were similar in the
first year following reform in both rural and urban areas; however, rural areas experienced a
sharp decline in those boosts in year two while urban areas did not. Caseloads did decline in the
same numbers in both rural and urban areas, but places such as the Mississippi Delta, who have
even less services to offer, had greater difficulties in reducing caseloads. In Minnesota, economic
status did not improve for rural welfare recipients while urban recipients received larger average
31
Cloke, p. 415
Rodgers, H. R., Jr., & Weiher, G. (Eds.). (1989). Rural Poverty: Special Causes and Policy Reforms. Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press, p. xiv
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earnings. Overall, more work and reform is needed that improves economic status across the
board for welfare recipients33.
What can we do to address all of these aforementioned issues? The key to many
initiatives is collaboration between rural areas, with urban centers, among policy makers and
among citizens. In Brown’s Challenges for Rural America in the 21st Century, six characteristics
of community development are cited34. The first is the encouragement of entrepreneurial
opportunities, networking and leadership development––this initiative would help to ease
historical inequalties and spur development. Secondly, empowerment of rural citizens must be
emphasized. Thirdly, collaboration must occur among multiple organizations, regional activities,
other communities, and nongovernmental organizations. Fourth, community must be emphasized
as local but relational. Small town communities must work with urban areas and other rural areas
with similarities to develop connections and pool resources, but one’s local community is still
important. Fifth, rural areas must have access to information. Lastly, a comprehensive approach
must be taken to provide communities with services. All of these community-based initiatives
encourage rural America to find a median between an emphasis on local community and using
the resources of other urban and rural areas. A community-based approach will allow rural
citizens to meet their needs while preserving small town cohesiveness.
Another step is to change economic structures. Globalization and trade liberalization have
had deleterious affects on rural economies. Promoting civic engagement as well as community
and local problem solving are key. Diverse economies are needed that do not rely solely on a
corporate environment: “Communities dominated by large national or multinational firms are
more vulnerable to greater inequality, lower levels of welfare, and increased rates of social
33
Whitener, L. A., Weber, B. A., & Duncan, G. J. (2001, Fall). Reforming Welfare: Implications for Rural America.
In Rural America. Economic Research Service.
34 Brown, p. 387-394
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disruption”35. More emphasis must be placed on economic planning and entrepreneurship in
rural areas. For healthcare, affordable health insurance is needed, social and economic
inequalities that cause bad health must be addressed, connections to urban institutions and public
and private options are needed 36. The Health People 2010 initiative, whose goals are to increase
quality of life and eliminate health disparities, guides much of the rural health policies today.
More programs providing services to rural America must be implemented, and existing
ones must be improved. Welfare must cater more to rural circumstances––policies need to reflect
the lack of adequate job opportunities, higher unemployment rates, difficulties of transitioning
from welfare to work and inaccessibility to transportation, childcare, education and healthcare. A
publication from the Economic Research Service suggests, “Greater flexibility on time limits and
work requirements as well as increased efforts to create additional job opportunities could
greatly ease the welfare-to-work transition of rural welfare recipients, particularly in the most
poor and remote rural areas”37. In order to address rural poverty, much more than these three
areas of change in economics, healthcare and public programs such as welfare are needed. The
government, particularly the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), addresses housing and
infrastructure issues. In the American Recovery and Reinvestment act, $193 million worth of
projects are being monitored by the USDA’s Rural Development Community Facilities Program.
Grants are going towards school and health facilities, fire and police departments, libraries,
community centers and other initiatives that help to provide services to rural towns. The USDA
guides a Rural Development team that manages programs across the country and provides jobs to
thousands of employees. One program they run is to provide grants to improve the quality of
housing. The Rural Business Opportunity Grant program provides economic planning assistance
35
Brown, p. 237
Brown, p. 301
37
Whitener
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and training to rural towns of less than 50,000 people. Through such government funded
initiatives, community development, economic changes and emphasis on entrepreneurship, rural
economies can be stimulated and poverty can be alleviated.
Many questions are still left unanswered on the best and most effective way to address
poverty, let alone the specifics of rural poverty. However, it is possible, through knowledge of
the issues at hand, to make strides against poverty. No stereotype of a poor, rural American
exists––African-Americans, whites, Latin Americans, single-parents, children, elderly, farmers,
miners and janitors are all at the heart of rural America. Economic changes, histories of social
inequalities and the deterioration of community support have presented the residents of rural
America with great challenges, but these are not ones that are insurmountable. In the 1970s,
President Lyndon Johnson began the War on Poverty. During that time, a third of rural
Americans lived in poverty, and adequate healthcare and housing was essentially nonexistent.
Through awareness and understanding, citizens have the ability to create change and push for
policies that encourage empowerment, economic viability and cultural justice for rural America.
Everyone has a role in bringing any issues of social injustice to the forefront, and the fact that
rural citizens are facing challenges that could be mitigated is unjust. In his novel The Quiet
American, Graham Greene says, “Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would
be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his
bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm”38. Citizens of the world cannot be passive
observers to the injustices in the world. Rural poverty is just one of many obstacles that should
not be tolerated.
38
Greene, G. (1955). The Quiet American. London: William Heinemann .
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References
Brown, D. L., & Swanson, L. E. (Eds.). (2003). Challenges for Rural America in the TwentyFirst Century. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Cloke, P., Marsden, T., & Mooney, P. H. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of Rural Studies. London:
SAGE Publications.
Davis, D. (2005, June 12). Misperceptions have consequences. Keynote speech presented at
“Rural America, Community Issues” conference.
Davis, D. (2008, May 20). Why Don’t Those Hillbillies Like Obama? [Editorial]. Salon.
Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2008/05/20/appalachia/
index.html
DeParle, J. (2004). American Dream. New York: Penguin Group.
Dillon, S. (2010, March 18). Lawmakers Say Needs of Rural Schools are Overlooked. New York
Times, p. A20.
Greene, G. (1955). The Quiet American. London: William Heinemann .
Pandey, S., Porterfield, S., Hyeji, C.-K., & Hong-Sik, Y. (2003). Welfare Reform in Rural
Missouri: The Experience of Families. Journal of Poverty, 7(3), 113-39.
Perceptions of Rural America. (n.d.). Battle Creek, MI: W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Rodgers, H. R., Jr., & Weiher, G. (Eds.). (1989). Rural Poverty: Special Causes and Policy
Reforms. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Rural Poverty at a Glance (Rural Development Research Report No. 100). (2004, July).
Retrieved from USDA Economic Research Service website: http://www.ers.usda.gov/
publications/rdrr100/rdrr100.pdf
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Warner, B. D., & Leukefeld, C. G. (2001). Rural-urban differences in substance use and
treatment utilization among prisoners. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse,
27(2), 265-280.
Whitener, L. A., Weber, B. A., & Duncan, G. J. (2001, Fall). Reforming Welfare: Implications
for Rural America. In Rural America. Economic Research Service.
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