Rural Conditions and Trends: Socioeconomic Conditions Issue, Vol. 9, No. 2

Douglas E. Bowers and Peggy Cook, editors

Rural Conditions and Trends No. (RCAT-92) February 1999

About this magazine

This issue of Rural Conditions and Trends (RCaT) provides both a capsule view of current socioeconomic conditions and trends in rural areas across the country and a special look at the socioeconomic status of rural minorities. Many articles update analysis reported in the 1997 socioeconomic conditions issue (RCaT, Vol. 8, No. 2) by addressing topics such as population and migration, employment, unemployment, household income, farm household income, hired farm labor, elderly, and housing. Also returning to this issue are articles reporting current trends for per capita earnings, personal income, transfer payments, and wage levels by residence. Articles new to the issue focus on children’s well-being and household food security and hunger.

In this report ...

Articles are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

• Contents, 71 kb

Overview

• Recent Indicators Send Mixed Signals About Rural Economic Performance, 556 kb

Race and Ethnicity in Rural Areas

• Minorities Represent Growing Share of Tomorrow's Work Force, 33 kb
• Minority Counties Are Geographically Clustered, 1,696 kb

Population and Migration

• Nonmetro Population Rebound: Still Real but Diminishing, 620 kb
• Rural Areas Attract Young Families and College Graduates, 166 kb
• Socioeconomic Circumstances of Minority Elderly Differ from Those of White Elderly, 43 kb

Employment and Labor Force

• Nonmetro Employment Growth Slows, but Unemployment Continues to Fall, 284 kb
• Manufacturing Sector in Black Counties Weakens in Era of New Technology, 349 kb
• Rural Nonfarm Earnings Growth Lags Urban, 246 kb

Earnings and Income

• Rural Earnings Continue a Slow, Steady Rise, 28 kb
• Rural Per Capita Income Grows Slightly Faster Than Urban, 61 kb
• Growth in Rural Transfer Payments for Some Public Assistance Programs Offsets Sharp Declines in Others, 628 kb
• Sources of Rural Household Income Vary by Demographic Groups, 38 kb

Poverty and Well-Being

• Rural Poverty Rate Unchanged, 25 kb
• The Socioeconomic Well-Being of Rural Children Lags That of Urban Children, 125 kb
• New Indicator Reveals Similar Levels of Food Security in Rural and Urban Households, 346 kb
• Housing Problems Differ Across Types of Rural Households, 30 kb

Farm Labor and Income

• Minority Hired Farmworkers Earn About the Same as Their Nonminority Counterparts, 495 kb
• Sources and Levels of Farm Household Income Vary by Type of Farm, 44 kb
• Appendix: Data Sources and Definitions, 31 kb

• Appendix Tables 1-21, 2,684 kb

• Download entire issue, 8.4 mb

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Updated date: February 1999