Working Poverty across the Metro‐Nonmetro Divide: A Quarter Century in Perspective, 1979–2003 |
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| Authors: | Tim Slack |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Sociology
Louisiana State University;2. I presented an earlier version of this article at the 2008 meeting of the Rural Sociological Society in Manchester, NH. The Population Research Institute at Pennsylvania State University, which has core funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2 R24 HD041025‐06), provided infrastructural support for this research. My thanks to the editor of Rural Sociology and three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful vetting of this manuscript. My thanks also to Don Genismore for programming assistance, and Alisha Coleman‐Jensen, Matthew Lee, Diane McLaughlin, Candice Myers, Leif Jensen, and David Warner for helpful input on previous drafts. Direct correspondence to: Tim Slack, Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803 or . |
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| Abstract: | Researchers are increasingly recognizing space as a key axis of inequality. Scholars concerned with spatial inequality have called for special attention to issues of comparative advantage and disadvantage across space as well as the consideration of the subnational scale. This study draws on these ideas by examining the relationship between work and poverty in the United States with an explicit comparative focus on metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas. Moreover, this study joins space with its counterpart time by exploring how this relationship has changed over the last quarter century. Using data from the March Current Population Survey, the results show that working poverty persistently had a disproportionate impact on nonmetro families between 1979 and 2003. However, the results also show a trend of residential convergence, as working poverty in metro areas has climbed toward the levels experienced in nonmetro areas. Logistic‐regression models exploring the effects of residence, family labor supply, and period confirm that labor supply has consistently provided nonmetro families with less protection from poverty than their metro counterparts, but also show that this disadvantage has waned in recent years. The findings underscore the need for policies that support those working on the economic margins and recognize the variable opportunity costs of employment across the rural‐urban continuum. |
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