ABSTRACT
The processes that create and perpetuate poverty among rural families and children are poorly understood and seldom studied. The paucity of rural research stands in dramatic contrast to active scholarship on urban, notably ghetto, poverty. The urban underclass literature provides coherent, albeit competitive, explanations that link the characteristics of the local/regional labor market, residency patterns, and community institutions to family dynamics, child rearing practices, and child outcomes. It is difficult to be poor in any community, but certain paradoxes are specific to rural areas. Traditionally, a rural life style has been associated with self reliance, neighborliness, conservative values, and respect for tradition. Trends in childhood poverty are fundamentally similar in urban and rural areas. Eggebeen and Lichter demonstrated that the proportion of all children in poverty decreased between 1960 and 1980 and increased thereafter. Ethnic and racial minorities are particularly vulnerable to poverty if they live in rural areas.
