Race, Family Structure and Rural Poverty: An Assessment of Population and Structural Change

Abstract

Family structure has been cited as a major factor in the differential rates of poverty between Blacks and Whites. However, most studies have focused primarily on the urban Black family. Relatively little attention has been given to poverty among Black families in rural areas. Moreover, sociologists have yet to place the rural Black family in the context of the broader changes occurring within the American industrial economy. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to determine the extent to which poverty among rural Black families has changed over the 1980-1990 decade. Specifically, the following questions are addressed: 1) What are the relative effects of place and family structure on levels of poverty for rural Black families? and 2) What are the theoretical implications of rural-urban differentials in Black family poverty? The logit analysis of U.S. Census data for 1980 and 1990 revealed that family structure increased in its importance in determining poverty differentials between rural and urban Black families. Moreover, despite controls for demographic and social factors, Black families continue to experience levels of poverty that exceed that of White families in both rural and urban environments. These findings suggest that, while the economic restructuring may have had a greater impact upon rural Black families than commonly assumed, racial discrimination still plays a major role in determining poverty levels for both rural and urban Black families.

Household Composition and Poverty among Female‐Headed Households with Children: Differences by Race and Residence*

“…Prior research has documented higher poverty rates in each race/ethnic group in nonmetro than in central city areas (Jensen, McLaughlin, and Slack 2003). In addition, the sharp rise in female-headed families among rural minority groups, especially rural African American families, has placed them at a distinct economic disadvantage compared to other rural families, and also African American families in other residential areas (Horton and Allen 1998;Horton, Thomas, and Herring 1995). We expect these nonmetro disadvantages in economic opportunities to continue to be a force for worse economic outcomes and to be exacerbated among nonmetro racial and ethnic minority groups.…”

“…Family structure, especially the proportion of femaleheaded families, has been highlighted as an important factor that contributes to higher poverty rates among racial and ethnic minority groups (Eggebeen and Lichter 1991). The shift in recent decades away from a traditional two-parent family has occurred to a greater degree among racial/ethnic minority groups, especially non-Hispanic blacks (Casper and Bianchi 2002;Horton and Allen 1998), and there is evidence that minority children have paid a higher price in terms of worse economic outcomes for changing family and household structure (Eggebeen and Lichter 1991;Lichter and Landale 1995).…”

Race and Gender Inequality in Homeownership: Does Place Make a Difference?*

“…Unfortunately we lack the empirical evidence to explain how race and gender combine to create place differences (see Tickamyer 2000) and homeownership inequality among rural, nonmarried women. We do know that nonmarried women are increasingly common in rural areas (Horton and Allen 1998); in fact, femaleheaded households are one of the most prominent new forms in rural areas (Flora 1990). The percentage of female-headed households grew faster in nonmetro than in metro areas from 1980; thus, by 1990, women headed more than one-fourth of rural households (Duncan 1996;McLaughlin, Gardner, and Lichter 1999;Wiener and Belden 1999).…”

“They Get You Out of Courage:” Persistent Deep Poverty Among Former Welfare‐Reliant Women

“…Next, race plays a role in persistent poverty in the United States, with the U.S. Census Bureau reporting the poverty level for Blacks at around 26%. For Blacks, race may be a more significant predictor of poverty than other factors like education (Horton & Allen, 1998). In Louisiana, the state in which this study took place, poverty rates for Black single‐mother families with young children was more than 73%(U.S.…”

“…We identify remote rural residence and a policy context that fails to account fully for the dynamics of rural poverty as the overarching structural impediment for the women in our study. Researchers who study poverty from a spatial perspective indicate that geographic location can influence an individual's risk of impoverishment, with residents of rural communities more likely to experience poverty than urban or suburban dwellers (Horton & Allen, 1998; Kodras, 1997). The impact of rural location exists primarily in how the aforementioned factors combine in such communities to produce daunting barriers for families.…”