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Working Poverty in the Rural South

This paper explores how the characteristics of working poor families in the rural South have evolved between 1982 and 2002, analyzing factors such as education, family structure, and race/ethnicity. It also discusses the convergence of these characteristics between the rural South and the nation, raising questions about the need for region-specific policies. Shifts in education levels, family structures, and racial/ethnic compositions are highlighted, along with their impact on economic well-being. Policy implications are drawn, emphasizing the importance of addressing the unique challenges faced by diverse working poor families through initiatives like promoting education beyond high school and supporting community colleges for workforce development.

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Working Poverty in the Rural South

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  1. Working Poverty in the Rural South Bradford Mills, Brian Whitacre, and Christiana Hilmer Virginia Tech

  2. Work Rates of Families in Poverty • Rural South • Around 36% in 1982 and 2002 Motivating Facts • Nationally • 1982: 28% of poor persons were in families that had adult members who worked on average 1,000 hours per year • 2002: 36%

  3. What we do in the paper • Document changes in the characteristics of working poor families between 1982 and 2002 • For nation as a whole and the rural south • Identify factors associated with working family economic well-being

  4. Definitions Average annual hours worked per year across all adult family members (age 18 to 65) exceeds 1,000 hours.

  5. Characteristics of the Working Poor- Education of Family Heads Rural South Nation

  6. Family Structure Rural South Nation

  7. Race - Ethnicity Rural South Nation

  8. Summary of Shifts in Characteristics • Education levels have generally increased but not as fast as in the nation as a whole • The share of two parent families has declined and the share of working poor of Hispanic origin has increased • In the rural south these same characteristics of working poor families have changed even more rapidly • Convergence of characteristics of working poor families in the rural south and the nation as a whole may reduce the need for region specific policies? • Increased Hispanic and immigrant populations pose new challenges for the delivery of food assistance and other social assistance programs

  9. Distribution of working family well-being in 1982 and 2002 Bandwidth = 0.02

  10. Distribution of working family well-being in the rural south (1982 and 2002) Bandwidth = 0.03

  11. Education level specific distributions of economic well-being – no high school degree and high school degree Bandwidth = 0.013 Less than High School High School Diploma

  12. Education level specific distributions of economic well-being – some college and college degree Bandwidth = 0.013 Some College College Plus

  13. Education level specific distributions in the rural south – no high school degree and high school degree Bandwidth = 0.05 Less than High School High School Diploma

  14. Impact of education level share changes on the distributions of economic well-being Bandwidth = 0.02

  15. Impact of education level share changes on the distributions of economic well-being in the rural south Bandwidth = 0.03

  16. Impact of rural south education levels on distribution of 2002 national economic well-being Bandwidth = 0.02

  17. Conclusions and Policy Implications • Nationally and in the rural south the incidence of poor in working families remained unchanged 1982 to 2002. • But composition of the working poor changed • Share of families where the head has some education beyond high school increased • Share in single parent families increased and the share in two-parent families with children declined • Share in families headed by a Hispanic increased dramatically, as did the share headed by a person born outside of the U.S. • The characteristics of working poor families in the rural south and the nation had converged to become more similar • But lower education levels among working families in the rural south still appear to account for about one third of the gap in well-being.

  18. Conclusions and Policy Implications • Erosion in economic well-being in families where the head has a high school degree or less appears to be the driving force in mitigating the impact of significant increase in general education levels. • This erosion appears to be less severe in the rural south, because the levels of economic well-being associated with a high school degree or less are initially lower in the rural south than the nation as a whole in 1982. • Thus, there also appears to be convergence in the relationships between economic well-being and educational assets in the rural south and the nation.

  19. Conclusions and Policy Implications • Erosion of economic well-being in working families at high school and below calls into question the policy prescription of fostering human capital investments in a high school degree. • Families, particularly in the rural south, increasingly need a member with some college to substantially increase family income and reduce the risk of working poverty. • Community colleges are becoming an increasingly important component of efforts to improve the workforce skills of poor and near-poor working families.

  20. Conclusions and Policy Implications • The increasing diversity of working poor families creates challenges for workforce enhancement programs • Hispanics, in particular, often have language and citizenship barriers that limit their entrance into skilled workforce positions. • Families headed by a Black also continue to show lower levels of economic well-being, ceteris paribus • Policies to increase earnings • Living wages • EITCs

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