Poverty associated with agricultural activity seems
to be largely a phenomenon of the past, as mechani-
zation and other trends have already released the
great mass of agricultural laborers. The industrial-
ized agriculture of the 21st century seems destined
to employ largely full-time technical staff. Studies
of the California workers displaced by mechaniza-
tion seem to suggest that after the transition, most
families were better off with stable urban jobs.
Because the agriculturally-related poor is such a
small segment of the overall problem does not mean
that there are no problems and situations in need of
special attention. The migrant workers who remain
still have many unmet needs and difficult circum-
stances which are not as yet attended to. Housing
arrangements, wages, sanitary facilities, and other
conditions of employment all represent direct costs
to agricultural employers. Regulation in these areas
has been effectively circumvented or diluted for
many generations. The terms of employment and
working conditions facing caneworkers in Florida
and Louisiana, for example, represent anachronistic
situations maintained by raw political power though
there are few other examples as egregious as this.
CONCLUSION
Rural poverty rates will likely remain high for
some time to come, but the demographic character
of those in the state of poverty is likely to change.
More families and children will replace declining
numbers of extremely poor elderly individuals, par-
ticularly among minorities. Local efforts to provide
employment and exploit situational resources will
assume growing importance.
Community self-determination will be a signifi-
cant theme in coming economic development ef-
forts. For the poor who possess sufficient education,
appropriate skills, and productive work attitudes, the
opportunities generated by local initiatives will lift
families out of poverty.
For the poor unable to participate in the world of
work by reason of incapacitation, substance depend-
ence, or other social-psychological reason, the wel-
fare system will continue to be the support of last
resort. Food stamps, health care subsidies, and hous-
ing allowances will continue to provide a meager
existence. National-level crises in health costs,
budget deficit, and nonsocial spending priorities will
also adversely affect the well-being of the poor and
nearly poor in rural areas.
Migration has long been an answer to rural pov-
erty, but national economic declines tend to reduce
the value of moving as an alternative to poverty.
Perversely, rural poverty is exacerbated by high lev-
els of outmigration because the most able tend to
leave first, leaving a dependent population of the
very old and the very young.
Bootstrap solutions that employ an inductive ap-
proach to internal job creation and economic devel-
opment will ameliorate poverty for some locales.
New industry will bring employment to some rural
communities, but the overall effect of rapid changes
associated with new plants or extractive facilities are
not without their detrimental social and fiscal im-
pacts (Summers).
Differential migration and the cumulative liabili-
ties of rural residence seemingly will always lead to
higher rates of rural poverty. In the context of a
healthy national economy, state and federal efforts
to ameliorate rural poverty must recognize the struc-
tural and demographic realities that perpetuate rural
poverty in the long term. At the same time, programs
and institutions must continue to alleviate human
suffering and endeavor to break the internal cycle
that reproduces poverty in subsequent generations.
When the national economy falters, the prospects for
improvement seem bleak indeed (Reid and Freder-
ick).
It is difficult to improve on the 1966 conclusion of
the National Advisory Commission on Rural Pov-
erty which established poverty as a result of a web
of issues related to: poor health and nutrition; inade-
quate housing and sanitation services; marginal edu-
cational and vocational training programs; the lack
of accessibility to services and economic opportuni-
ties; and in many cases, racism, sexism, and age
discrimination. Only by addressing all of these mat-
ters can rural poverty be conquered.
REFERENCES
Bailar, B.A., and N.D. Rothwell. “Measuring Employment and Unemployment.” Chapter 5 in Surveying
Subjective Phenomena, Volume 1, C.F. Turner and E. Martin, eds. New York: Russell Sage Foundation,
1987.
Bane, M.J., and D.T. Ellwood. “Slipping Into and Out of Poverty: The Dynamics of Spells.” J. Human
Resources, 21(1986):1-23.
Bane, M.J., and D.T. Ellwood. “One Fifth of the Nation’s Children: Why are they Poor?” Science,
238(1989):1047-1053.
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