Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:35:27.897Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

People Left Behind: Transitions of the Rural Poor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2017

Joseph J. Molnar  and
Greg Traxler
Joseph J. Molnar
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University
Greg Traxler
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Compared to their urban counterparts, the rural poor are more likely to be employed, more apt to be members of married-couple families, less likely to be children, less likely to be minority, and more likely to have assets but a negative income. This paper examines poverty rates and factors that affect mobility in and out of poverty among major categories of the rural poor. Particular attention is paid to farm workers and the rural farm population in the South. It endeavors to identify both structural conditions that perpetuate rural poverty and government interventions that ameliorate human suffering and break the cycle of poverty reproduction.

Keywords

povertyminoritiesrural development
Type
Invited Papers and Discussions
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , July 1991 , pp. 75 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailar, B.A., and Rothwell, N.D.. “Measuring Employment and Unemployment.” Chapter 5 in Surveying Subjective Phenomena, Volume 1, Turner, C.E and Martin, E., eds. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1987.Google Scholar
Bane, M.J., and Ellwood, D.T.. “Slipping Into and Out of Poverty: The Dynamics of Spells.” J. Human Resources, 21(1986): 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bane, M.J., and Ellwood, D.T.. “One Fifth of the Nation s Children: Why are they Poor?” Science, 238(1989): 1047–1053.Google Scholar
Berry, B.J.L. The Changing Shape of Metropolitan America: Commuting Patterns, Urban Fields, and Decentralization Processes. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1977.Google Scholar
Bogue, D.J., and Beale, C.L.. Economic Areas of the United States. New York: Free Press, 1961.Google Scholar
Bonnen, J.T. “Improving the Socioeconomic Data Base.” Chapter 15 in Agriculture and Rural Areas Approaching the Twenty-First Century. Hildreth, R.J., Lipton, K.L., Clayton, K.C, O'Connor, C.C., eds. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
Bryan, F. “Defining Rural: Returning to our Roots.” Chapter 2 in Rural Public Administration, Seroka, J., ed. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Bureau of Census. Statistical Abstract of the United States: National Data Books and Guide to Sources. Washington, D.C: Superintendent of Documents, USGPO, 1989.Google Scholar
Danziger, S., Haveman, R., and Plotnick, R.. “How Income Transfer Programs Affect Work, Savings, and the Income Distribution: A Critical Review.” J. Economic Literature, 3(1981):975–1028.Google Scholar
Datta, L. Evaluation of Poverty Indicators. GAO/T-PEMD-88-1. Washington, D.C: U.S. General Accounting Office, 1988.Google Scholar
Deaton, B.J., and Weber, B.A.. “The Economics of Rural Areas.” Chapter 14 in Agriculture and Rural Areas Approaching the Twenty-First Century, Hildreth, R.J., Lipton, K.L., Clayton, K.C., O'Connor, C.C., eds. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
Deavers, K.L. Natural Resource Dependence, Rural Development, and Rural Poverty. Rural Development Research Report 48. Washington, D.C: USDA-ERS, 1985.Google Scholar
Debertine, D., and Infanger, C. “Rural Poverty, Welfare Eligibility, and the Negative Income Tax.” Chapter 5 in Rural Poverty: Special Causes and Policy Reforms. Harrell, R. and Weiher, G., eds. New York: Greenwood, 1989.Google Scholar
Dillman, D. “Social Impacts of Information Technologies on Rural North America.” Rural Soc, 50(1985): 1–26.Google Scholar
Duncan, J.W. ‘Technology, Costs, and the New Economics of Statistics.” Chapter 13 in The Politics of Numbers, Starr, P. and Alonso, W., eds. New York: Russell Sage, 1987.Google Scholar
Ellwood, D.T, and Crane, J.. “Family Change Among Black Americans: What Do We Know?” J. Econ. Perspect, 4.4(1990):65–84.Google Scholar
Elo, I.T., and Beale, C.L.. Rural Development, Poverty, and Natural Resources: An Overview. Workshop Paper Series. Washington, D.C: Resources for the Future, National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, 1985.Google Scholar
Flynt, W. Poor But Proud. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Ford, A.M. Political Economics of Rural Poverty in the South. Cambridge: Ballinger, 1973.Google Scholar
Fuchs, V.R. “Sex Differences in Economic Well-Being.” Science, 232(1986):459–464.Google Scholar
Fuguitt, G.V., Brown, D.L., and Beale, C.L.. Rural and Small Town America. New York: Russell Sage, 1989.Google Scholar
Ghelfi, L.M. “About that Lower Cost of Living in Nonmetro Areas.” Rural Dev. Perspect., 5.1(1988): 16–19.Google Scholar
Gibson, D.M., Goodin, R.E., and Le, J. Grand. “Come and Get it: Distributional Biases in Social Service Delivery Systems.” Policy and Politics, 13(1985):109–125.Google Scholar
Ginsberg, E. Social Work in Rural Communities. New York: Council on Social Work Education, 1976.Google Scholar
Harrell, R., and Weiher, G., eds. Rural Poverty: Special Causes and Policy Reforms. New York: Greenwood, 1989.Google Scholar
Huffman, W. “Human Capital for Agriculture.” Chapter 14 in Agriculture and Rural Areas Approaching the Twenty-First Century, Hildreth, R.J., Lipton, K.L., Clayton, K.C., O'Connor, C.C., eds. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
Lapping, M.B., Daniels, T.L., and Keller, J.W.. Rural Planning and Development in the U.S. New York: Guilford Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Levy, F. “Changes in the Distribution of American Family Incomes, 1947 to 1984.” Science, 236(1987):923–927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lichter, D. “Race, Employment Hardship, and Inequality in the American Nonmetropolitan South.” Am. Soc. Rev., 54(1989):436–446.Google Scholar
Lyson, T. A. “Down and Out in Rural America: the Status of Blacks and Hispanics in the 1980's.” Chapter 7 in Investing in People: The Human Capital Needs of Rural America, Beaulieu, L.J. and Mulkey, D.J., eds. Boulder: Westview, 1990.Google Scholar
Lyson, T.A. Two Sides to the Sunbelt: The Growing Divergence Between the Rural and Urban South. New York: Praeger, 1989.Google Scholar
Martin, P.L. and Abele, J.R.. “Unions: Their Effect on California Farm Wages.” Cal. Agr., 44(1990):28–30.Google Scholar
Molnar, J.J. “The Future of Farming in the South.” Chapter 13 in Agricultural Change: Consequences for Southern Farms and Rural Communities, Molnar, , ed. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Molnar, J.J., and Lawson, W.D.. “Perceptions of Barriers to Black Political and Economic Progress in Rural Areas.” Rural Soc, 49 (1984):261–283.Google Scholar
Molnar, J.J., Nelson, R.G., and McGranahan, D.. “The Rural Community: Social Structure and Population.” Chapter 11 in New Directions in Data, Information Systems, and Their Uses. Buse, Reuben C. and Driscoll, James, eds. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1990.Google Scholar
Nathan, R.P. “The Politics of Printouts: the Use of Official Numbers to Allocate Federal Grants-in-Aid.” Chapter 10 in The Politics of Numbers, Starr, P. and Alonso, W., eds. New York: Russell Sage, 1987.Google Scholar
Nelson, D., McMillen, D., and Kasprzyk, D.. An Overview of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. No. 8041. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, 1984.Google Scholar
O'Hare, W.P. “The Rise of Poverty in Rural America.” Occasional Paper 15. Washington, D.C: Population Reference Bureau, 1988.Google Scholar
President's National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty. The People Left Behind. Washington, D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966.Google Scholar
Rees, J. Natural Resources: Allocation, Economics, and Policy. New York: Methuen, 1985.Google Scholar
Reid, J.N., and Frederick, M.. “Rural America: Economic Performance, 1989.” Washington, D.C: USDA ERS, Agr. Inf. Bull. No 609,1990.Google Scholar
Sawhill, I.V. “Poverty in the U.S.: Why is it So Persistent?” J. Econ. Lit, 26(1988):1073–1119.Google Scholar
Snipp, M. American Indians: The First of This Land. New York: Russell Sage, 1989.Google Scholar
Starr, P. “The Sociology of Official Statistics.” Pp. 7–58 in The Politics of Numbers, Starr, P. and Alonso, W., eds. New York: Russell Sage, 1987.Google Scholar
Summers, G.F. “Rural Community Development.” An. Rev. Soc, 12(1986):347–371.Google Scholar
Tickameyer, A.R., and Duncan, C.M.. “Poverty and Opportunity Structure in Rural America.” N. Rev. Soc, 16(1990):67–86.Google Scholar
Walls, D.S., and Billings, D.B.. “The Sociology of Southern Appalachia.” Chapter 8 in Appalachia: Social Context, Past, and Present, Ergood, B. and Kuhre, B.E., eds. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1983.Google Scholar
West, P.C. “Natural Resource Bureaucracy and Rural Poverty.” Natural Resource Sociology Research Lab Monograph No. 2. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1982.Google Scholar
Wilson, W.J. “The Truly Disadvantaged.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.Google Scholar