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National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty

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National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty REPO T RESUME ED 016SK; RC 002 030 THE PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND, A REPORT BY THE PRESIDENT'S NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMISSION ON RURAL POVERTY. BY- BREATHITT, EDWARD T. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMISSION ON RURAL POVERTY PUB DATE SEP 67 EDRS PRICE MF.-$0.75 HC -$6.76 167P. DESCRIPTORS- COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY, DEPRESSED AREAS (GEOGRAPHIC), DEVELOPMENT, *ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGEMENT, ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, FAMILY PLANNING, GOVERNMENT ROLE: HEALTH.NEEDS: *HEALTH SERVICES, HOUSING, JOBS, LOW INCOME, MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT, MANPOWER UTILIZATION, NATURAL RESOURCES, ORGANIZATION, *RURAL AREAS, RURAL POPULATION, *RURAL EDUCATION, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, WELFARE SERVICES, OPPORTUNITIES, OUR NATION IS PLAGUED WITH RURAL POVERTY EXTENDING THROUGH MOST AREAS OF OUR COUNTRY AND ENCOMPASSING SOME 14 MILLION RURAL PERSONS. THIS TOTAL NUMBER WOULD BE EVEN LARGER IF SO MANY RURAL PERSONS HAD NOT MIGRATED INTO THE URBAN AREAS OF OUR COUNTRY. THE RURAL POOR POPULATION IS CHARACTERIZED BY- -LOW INCOME, A HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (4 PERCENT NATIONALLY AND 18 PERCENT FOR RURAL AREAS), LOW EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, POOR HOUSING, HUNGER, MALNUTRITION, AND A HIGHER INFANT MORTALITY RATE THAN AMONG THE LEAST PRIVILEGED GROUP IN URBAN AREAS. THE PRESIDENT'S NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMISSION ON RURAL POVERTY HAS CHARTED A COURSE TO ELIMINATERURAL POVERTY, AS NOTED IN THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS - -(1) THE U.S. SHOULD ADOPT AND EFFECT A POLICY OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL PEOPLE, (2) THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FULL EMPLOYMENT, INAUGURATED IN 1946, SHOULD BE MADE EFFECTIVE, (3) OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD ASSURE ALL PEOPLE ENOUGH INCOME FOR A DECENT LIVING, (4) MANPOWER POLICIES AND PROGRAMS SHOULD BE REVAMPED, (5) RURAL EDUCATION SHOULD BE IMPROVED' (6) BETTER HEALTH SERVICES WITH FAMILY PLANNING SHOULD BE PROVIDED, (7) AN IMPROVEMENT SHOULD BE MADE IN RURAL HOUSING, AND (8) MULTICOUNTY DISTRICTS SHOULD BE FORMED TO PLAN COOPERATIVELY AND COORDINATE PROGRAMS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR $1.00 FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C., 20402. (ES) I U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE -.1- PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS Lr STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION ,,C0 POSITION OR POLICY. T.--q . A A ."1111 II' III THE PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND A Report by the President's National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty Washington, D.C. Issued September 1967 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price $1.00 To The President: We have the honorto submit to you, through your Camnittee on Rural Poverty, the Report of the National Advisory Commission on RuralPoverty.This is in response to your instructions tothe Commission asgiven in Executive Order 11306 of September 27,11966. You will notefromthe signatures below that this Report was unanimously approved bythe members of the Camnission. EDWARD T. BREATHITT, CHAIRMAN 04?. NNIE B. GAY WHOP LIBBY DAVID W. MOCKS CARLYLEMARti .11,4edt V SARA R.. CALDWELL VIVIAN W. HENDERSON THOMAS W. MOORE ZA4thatA P-40. CIS S. HUTCHINS ROBERT A. WESSEL, JR. V Members of the Commission Dr. James T. Bonnen Francis S. Hutchins Professor of Agricultural Economics. President, Berea College Michigan State University Dr. Kara V. Jackson Honorable Edward T. Breathitt (Chairman) Professor of Education Governor of Kentucky Grambling College David W. Brooks Lewis J. Johnson Executive Vice President and General Manager President, Arkansas Farmer's Union Cotton Producers Association W. Wilson King Mrs. Sara R. Caldwell Owner, King lore Farms Director, Division of Child Welfare Mississippi State Department of Public Welfare Oscar M. Laurel National Transportation Safety Board Dr. Lawrence A. Davis President, Arkansas Agricultural Technical and Dr. Winthrop C. Libby Normal College Dean, College of Agriculture University of Maine Neil 0. Davis Editor, Lee County Bulletin Dr. Carlyle Marney Auburn, Alabama Pastor, Myers Park Baptist Church John Fischer Thomas W. Moore Editor-in-Chief President, ABC Television Harper's Magazine Dr. Thomas R. Ford Robert A. Roessel, Jr. Director, Rough Rock Navaho Demonstration Professor of Sociology University of Kentucky School Herman E. Gallegos James Earl Rudder Consultant to the Ford Foundation President, Texas ARM University Connie B. Gay Dr. 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 AFL-CIO Dr. Vivian W. Henderson John Wooden legs President, Clark College President, Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council iu Members ofthe Committee Orville L. Freeman, Chairman Sargent Shrivel- Secretary of Agriculture Director of Office of Economic Opportunity Bernard C. Boutin Stewart L. Udall Administrator of Small Business Administration Secretary of the Interior Robert C. Weaver John T. Connor Administrator of Housing and Urban Develop- Secretary of Commerce ment John W. Gardner W. Willard Wirtz Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary of Labor LIAISON WITH PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE Kenneth M. Birkhead Elmer 3. 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 Lisle C. Carter, Jr. Millard Cass Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Department of Labor iv Members of the Staff Executive Director C. E. Bishop Associate Director George L. Wilber 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, Economist J. Patrick Madden, Economist Cleveland A. Chandler, Economist Marcel le Masters, Editor Lynn M. Daft, Economist Me lda Richardson, Editor Jack. Fleming, Writer George M. Stephens, Jr., Development Consultant Goo loo S.Wundeulich, Demographer Secretarial and Clerical J. Gayle Carpenter TADene 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. Henricks Velma B. Tachovsky Task of the commission In the President's Executive Order No.11306, the National Advisory Com- mission on Rural Povertywas charged with the following responsibilities: To make a comprehensive studyand appraisal of the currenteco- nomic situations and trends in Americanrural life, as they relate to the existence of income and communityproblems of ruralareas, includ- ing problems of low income, thestatus of rural labor, including farm labor, unemployment andunderemployment and retraining in usable skills ;rural economic development andexpanding opportunities; sources of additional rural employment; availabilityof land and other resources ; adequacy of food, nutrition, housing, health,and cultural opportunities for rural families; thecondition of children and youth in rural areas and theirstatus in an expanding national economy;; the impact of population and demographicchanges, including rural migra- tion; adequacy of rural communityfacilities and services; exploration of new and bettermeans of eliminating the causes which perpetuate rural unemployment and underemployment,low income andpoor fa- cilities; and other related matters. To evaluate themeans by which existing programs, policies, and activities relating to the economicstatus and community welfare of rural people may be coordinatedor better directed or redirected to achieve the elimination of underemploymentand low income of rural people and to obtain' higher levels ofcommunity facilities and services. To develop recommendations foraction by local, Stateor Federal governments or private enterpriseas to the most efficient and promising means of providing opportunities for the rural populationto share in American's abundance. ....1/. Preface In the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 the Congress declared it to be the policy of the United States to obliterate poverty. Since that date, antipoverty programs of unusualscope and variety have been developed and put into effect by Federal, State, and local governments and by numerous private organizations representing business, labor, church, and other interested groups. Many of these programs have hada significant effect. A heavy burden of poverty remains, however. Most of the antipoverty effort has been aimed at urban poverty. Few of the new programs have had a major impacton rural America. Yet, as Presi- dent Johnson indicated by his Executive order creating the National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty, the problem of poverty in ruralareas is so acute as to require immediate and special attention. The heavy migration from. rural America to the blighted areas of our major cities clearly shows how bad economic and social conditions are in rural areas. This Commission has assembled the facts of rural poverty andon the basis of these facts has made specific recommendations calling for majorchanges in our antipoverty programs. The Commission's objective is both to give immediate aid to the rural poor and to attack thecauses of their poverty. Chapters 1 and 2. of this report focus sharplyon current conditions in rural America and
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