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Unprecedented economic growth during the 1990s benefited rural areas.
Rural real
per capita income grew from $16,506 in 1993 to $21,831 in 2000,
and the percentage of rural people in poverty fell from 17.1
to 13.4 percent over that period. Welfare policy changes (including
time limits on assistance and stiffer work requirements) and
the growing economy contributed to declines in food stamps, assistance
to needy families, and unemployment insurance payments. But,
the 2001 recession caused rural income growth to slow and poverty
and assistance payments to creep back up.
Despite rural growth prior to the recession, the large gap between
the average rural income and the much higher average urban income remains.
Recent research about food security suggests that part of the income
gap may be due to lower
costs of living in rural areas.
Stronger evidence points to lower rural educational attainment, less
competition for workers among rural employers, and fewer highly skilled
jobs in the rural occupational mix.
ERS research in this area focuses
on the economic, social, and demographic factors that affect the income and poverty status
of rural residents and their receipt of assistance from Federal
programs, including food assistance programs.
The industrial sources of earned income vary widely across rural areas.
Social security and other retirement programs play a large role in
the economic status of rural retirees and the areas in which they are
concentrated. Changes in welfare programs may disproportionately affect
high rural poverty
areas.
We conduct research at the family (micro) and area (macro) levels to
provide policymakers with a detailed picture of rural income, poverty,
and welfare-program conditions.
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