ABSTRACT
The United States has pursued a variety of programs and policies intended to alleviate poverty. In August, 1990 the Council of the Rural Sociological Society authorized the creation of a task force to provide conceptual clarification regarding the factors and dynamics of society which precipitate and perpetuate rural poverty. Since announcement of the formation of the Task Force many requests have been received for information on the nature and extent of poverty in rural areas and for advice on what can be done to alleviate it. The concept of a minimum standard of living, or poverty threshold, can be operationalized subjectively or objectively. The normative nature of poverty also can be viewed as a minimum below which no member of society should be allowed to suffer. Rural Americans are living in a changing global economy and shifting political arena which have significantly altered the conditions of the 1960s and 1970s.
