Poverty research and policy for rural America

Resurgent interest in poverty in the U.S. by both researchers and policymakers offers an opportunity to bring increased attention to the plight of the rural poor. Rural poverty is widespread and severe, and fundamental changes in the structure of the national economy portend continued distress in remote areas. High labor force participation by the rural poor has important theoretical and policy implications for understanding the causes, consequences and intervention strategies for combating poverty. Research on the characteristics and circumstances of different groups of the poor in rural areas could make a significant contribution toward dispelling some of the myths about “deserving and undeserving” categories of poor people that continue to impede design and implementation of appropriate policy. We review what is currently known about rural poverty, what needs to be learned, and how such research applies to current policy debates. has conducted applied research on the working poor and economic development in Appalachia. specializes in rural labor markets, gender and stratification, and political sociology. She is on the advisory board of the Aspen Institute’s Rural Economic Policy Program. The authors contributed equally to this paper. Helpful comments were offered by anonymous reviewers. An earlier version was presented at the 1987 Rural Sociological society Meetings, Madison, Wisconsin.