Rural Poverty in the United States. a Report by the President's National
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 078 985 RC 007 092 AUTHOR Wilber, George L., Ed.; Bishop, C. E., Ed. TITLE Rural Poverty in the United States. A Report by the Presidents National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty. _INSTITUTION National Advisory Commission on Rural PdVerty, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE May 68 NOTE 606p. AVAILABLE FROMSuperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C._20402 ($5.75) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$23.03 DESCRIPTORS Agriculture; *Economic DisadVantagement; Family Planning; Health Services; Local Government; *Migration; Natural Resources; Negroes; *Rural Areas; *Rural Urban Differences; *Unemployment ABSTRACT Papers prepared for the National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty are presented in this repOrt._These papers provide the Commission background information for recommendations submitted to the President of the United States. Major topics covered include the structural changes taking place in rural areas and the inter-relationships between rural and urban America; occupational mobility and migration; health care and family planning; the developmental nature of agriculture and other natural resource industries; the ecnomics of poverty; and policies and pfograms .to alter income distribution. Other papers prepared for the Commission but not published are listed in the appendix. (PS) FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLECOPY Lrl CO Cr% CO U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, O EDUCATION ',WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO OUCEO EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM LIJ THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF.VIEW OR OPINIONS STATEO 00 NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EOUCATION POSITION OR POLICY RURAL POVERTY IN THE TED STATES A Report by the President's National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty Washln B ton, D.C. Issued May 1968 Far sole by the Superintendent of Document*. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington. D.C. 20102 Price 95.13 Members of the President's Committee Orville L. Freeman, Chairman Sargent Shrivel. Secretary of Agriculture Director of Office ofEconomic Opportunity Bemard C. Boutin Alexander B. Trowbridge 2 Administrator of-Small Business AdininiZtration Secretary of Commerce John T. Connor 1 'Stewart L. Udall Secretary of Commerce Secretary of the Interior John W. Gardner Robert C. Weaver Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Administrator of 'lousing and Urban Developnient W. Willard Wirtz Secretary of Labor LIAISON WITH PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE Kenneth M. Birkhead Elmer J. Moore Department of Agriculture Office of Economic Opportunity Richard M. Philbin James Rettie -Small Business Administration. Department of the Interior Jonathan Lindley Ramsay Wood Department of Commerce Department of Housing and Urban Development T.isle C. Carter, Jr. Millard-Cass Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Department of Labor ' Resigned as Secretary of Commerce on February 1, 1967. Surcencled John T. Connor as Secretary of Commerce on February 1, 1967. ii Members ofthe Commission James T. Bonnen Francis S. Hutchins Piofessor of Agricultural Economics President, Berea College Michigan State UniVersity Kara V. Jackson Honorable Edward T. Breathitt (Chairman) Professor of Education Governor of Kentucky Grambling College David-W. Brooks Lewis J. Johnson Ekectitiiv Vice President and General Manager President, Arkansas Farmer's Union Cotton Producers Association -W. Wilson King Mrs.-Sara R. Caldwell Owner, Kinglore Farms Direetor; Divit.4ion of-Child Welfare Mississippi State Department of Public Welfare Oscar M. Laurel National Transportation Safety Board Lawrence A. Davis President, Arkansas Agricultural Technical and Winthrop C. Libby Normal College Dean, College of Agriculture University of Maine Neil 0. Davis Editor, Lee County Bulletin Carlyle Marney Auburn, Alabama Pastor, Myers Park Baptist Church John Fischer Editor7in-Chief "Tlioibas W. Moore Harper's Magazine President, ABC Television Thomas R. Ford Robert A. Roessel, Jr. Professor of Sociology Director, Rough Rock Navaho Demonstration University of Kentucky School Herman E. Gallegos James Earl Rudder Consultant to the Ford Foundation President, Texas A&M University Connie B. Gay J. Julian Samora President and Chairman of the Board Program Specialist on Population Studies Connie B. Gay Broadcasting Company The Ford Foundation James 0. Gibson Miles C. Stanley Staff Associate President, West Virginia Federation of Labor, Potomac Institute AFLCIO Vivian W. Henderson John Woodenlegs President, Clark College President, Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council iii = Member. of the Staff Executive Director C. E. Bishop Associate Director George'L. Wilbe7 Assistant to Executive Director Lawrence S. Stinchcomb Professional Staff William B. Back, Economist Clifton R. Jones, Sociologist J. Allan Beegle, Sociologist E. Walton Jones, Economist W. Keith Bryant, Ectinomist J. Patrick Madden, Economist Cleveland A. Chandler, Economist Marcelle Masters, Editor Lynn M. Daft, Economist Melda Riehardion, Editor Jack Fleming, Writer George M. Stephens, Jr., Development Consultant Gooloo S.Wunderlich, Demographer Secretarial and Clerical J. Gayle Carpenter LaDene Hester Marian C. Carter Linda G. Hogberg FlOrentine M. Ford Patricia McEvoy Mary Thomas Fox Anne Reed Jacklyn D. Harris Edna E. Raymond Marjorie L. Henrieks Velma B. Tachovsky iv Preface This report contains papers prepared for the National AdvisoryCommission on Aural Poverty. These and other papers providedbackground information for the Commission in arriving at the recommendations submitted to the Presidentin its report The People Left Behind. Most of the papers included here report on recently completed research. Not every facet of rural poverty is covered,but the papers nevertheless represent as importantcontribution to understanding prob- lems of rural poverty and provide insights toward possible solutions. Part I centers on -rural people and their communities. Particular attention is given to the structural changes taking place in the rural areas and the inter- relationships between rural and urban America. Part II treats occupatiiinal mobility and migration. Emphasis is placed on the transfer of labor between farm and nonfarm employment -Withspecial con- sideration of the problems-uf achievement, migration, and assimilation in urban centers. Part III is concerned with health care and family planning. Emphasis is placed upon the relative lack of medical facilities and services in rural areas and upon possible means of expanding family planning programs in rural areas. Part IV focuses upon the developMental nature of agriculture and other natural resource industries. Special consideration is given to the employment potential ofthese,industries. Part V is concerned with the economics of poverty. Emphasis is placed upon problems of measuring poverty and projecting future poverty.Considera- tion also is given to the income distribution effects of the way -in which the economy operates and to policies and programs designed to alterincome distribution. The views expressed in these papers are those of the authors, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission. In like manner, although these papers were valuable to the Commission, the authors of papers in this volume should not be held responsiblefor the recommendations of the Commission. In addition to the papers in this volume, other papers prepared for the Com- mission, but not published, are listed in -the- appendix. Persons interested in these papers should contact the authors directly. This volume of published papers has 'been edited by George L. Wilber and C. E. Bishop of the staff of the National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty. C. E. BuufdP Executive Director Gtoaos L. Wmava Associate Director Contents Page PART 1:RURAL PEOPLE AND THEIR COMMUNITIES Cnarrza1.Rural People and Their Work 3 Population 3 Labor force 6 Unemployment and underemployment 9 Income - , 10 Projections to 1970 11 2.The Negro Population of the South 13 Introduction i 13 Population distribution 13 , Migration ..- 15 Occupational changes 18 Education 23 Income 28 Fertility, marital status, and dependency ratios 33 Summary 37 3.Rural Poverty: The Special Case of the Aged 40 Introduction 40 Current economic position 40 Economic trends and the rural aged 45 Summary and conclusions 49 References 50 4.Some Characteristics of Villages in Rural America 51 Introduction 51 Findings 53 Summary and conclusion 70 References 72 Appendix 73 5.Rom' Community Institutions and Poverty, With Special Reference to Health and Education 74 Introduction 74 Developing adequate community institutions 76 Summary and conclusions 83 References 84 6.Infrastructure in Rural Areas 86 Introduction 86 Rural industrialization 87 Public service systems 95 Growth, development, and investment 100 Summary 104 References 105 vi Page' Cs:APTER7.Local Government and Poway in Rural Areas 110 An overview of local government 110. Evaluation of present governmental arrangements 116 Conclusions 120 References 124 Appendix 125 8.Patterns of Urban Growth and Growth Nodes 126 9.Patterni of Regional Economic Development in the United States, and Their Relation to Rural Poverty 130 Economic growth and decline among major regions of the United States 130 Ecotiomie effects of intraregional resource movements 131 Interregional migration 132 Supply and demand factors in regional growth 133 Debtor and creditor regions 135 Public policies designed to alleviate rural poverty 135 References 140 10.Appendix: Rural Poverty in Puerto Rico 141 Economic