Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Rural Areas: Progress and Stagnation

by Linda L. Swanson

Rural minorities lag behind rural Whites and urban minorities on many crucial economic and social measures. This report examines rural Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian and Pacific Islander populations and their economic well-being in the 1980's, an economically difficult decade for rural areas. Results show minimal minority progress as measured by changes in occupation, income, and poverty rates. However, the type and speed of progress was quite different among minority groups and between men and women of the same minority group. Results showed considerable diversity among groups in the characteristics that were associated with poor economic outcomes.

Keywords: rural, urban minorities, socio-economic progress, poverty, unemployment

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Abstract, Acknowledgments, Contents, and Summary
• Introduction
• Education and Rural Minority Job Opportunities
• The Ethnic Dimension of Persistent Poverty in Rural and Small-Town Areas
• Rural Child Poverty and the Role of Family Structure
• Age and Family Structure, by Race/Ethnicity and Place of Residence
• Increasing Black-White Separation in the Plantation South, 1970-90
• Trends in Occupational Status Among Rural Southern Blacks
• Education and the Economic Status of Blacks
• Hispanics in Rural America
• American Indians
• Appendices