However, rural employment continues to be dominated by low wage industries:

• In 1996, 23% of rural workers were employed in the service sector
• Rural workers are nearly twice as likely to earn minimum wage as are their urban counterparts. (12% rural, 7% urban)
• Most importantly, rural workers are more likely to be underemployed, and less likely to improve their employment circumstances over time. (40% less likely to move out of an entry-level or low wage job than are central city residents.)

Therefore,

• Rural incomes remain significantly lower than urban. (1997 median: 30K+ Rural, 39K+ Urban)
• Rural poor families are more likely to be employed and still poor. (In 1995, 60% of rural poor families had one member working at some time during the year. 24% of these families had a full time worker.)

Between 1990 and 1996, rural America gained 2,756,000 jobs, an increase of 11.3%. However, there was negligible improvement in rural job earnings.

• While the economy of rural America, in general, has improved, persistent pockets of intractable rural poverty remain.



• In general, poverty rates are higher in rural than in urban areas. (15.9% rural vs. 12.6% urban, 1997.)
• Rural poverty is working poverty. Nearly two-thirds of the rural poor live in a family with at least one member working.
• Child poverty is higher in rural areas. (22.7% rural vs. 19.2% urban, 1997.)
• Over half of rural children in female-headed households are in poverty. (3.2 million rural children, 1996.)

These challenges are particularly daunting in our nation's 600 persistent poverty counties. (These represent 23% of all rural counties, in which the poverty rate has remained above 20% in each decade from 1960 to 1990.)

• These pockets are located in the rural South, core Appalachia, the lower Rio Grande Valley, and on American Indian reservations.

• The 1990's rural population shifts are fascinating and significant, with major implications for rural public policy.



• During the 1990's, a significant rural population rebound occurred, totally reversing the rural outmigration of the 1980's, in general.
• Three-fourths of our country's 2,350 rural counties grew in population between 1990 and 1997.
• However, this growth is concentrated in only four out of ten counties. (Counties with concentrated growth were primarily those near metropolitan areas, scenic amenities, or regional commerce hubs, and in suburbanized rural counties, such as those in the intermountain West. Those counties which lagged in population were primarily the traditional rural natural resource / extraction industry based areas.)
• As is obvious from the above, significant rural population decline continues in the Great Plains.
• Seven-eighths of these growing counties derived some or all of their population increase from in-migration of metropolitan residents. Of the rural population increase of 800,000 between 1995 and 1997, 400,000 came from metropolitan areas, and 100,000 came from immigration.
• Due to these shifts, many growth counties are experiencing unique new diversity in ethnic, racial, and cultural composition, with attendant challenges and conflicts.
• Finally, in stark contrast to the 1980's, in general, the proportion of elderly in the rural population is declining. (The non-metropolitan population under 65 grew faster, at 6.0% than did the population over 65, at 5.5%)

• Next, the relationship between federal, state, and local governments, and government revenue streams, has a major impact on rural communities.

• 2,350 of our nation's 3,041 counties are rural. (These rural areas account for 76% of all counties, 83% of our nation's land, and nearly 25% of our nation's population.)
• As we continue to streamline and decentralize government, rural economies, which have been significantly dependent upon federal government transfer payments, will continue to face unique challenges. (20% of total personal income in rural America comes from federal transfers to rural citizens.)

This reinforces the critical importance of rural governance and community-based policies.

• 75% of all counties are rural:
• Nearly three-quarters of these counties have a population under 50,000.
• Nearly one-quarter of these counties have populations under 10,000.
• These realities create unique challenges in assuring locally-based governance:
• In 1990, 67% of the 39,500 U.S. governmental units had populations under 2,500.
• In 1990, 48.6% of the 39,500 U.S. governmental units had populations less than 1,000.

• Rural America continues to face multiple challenges in assuring the health, education, and workforce preparation of its citizens:

Education:

• Rural areas continue to produce high school graduation that match or exceed urban areas, and rural drop out rates have fallen sharply in recent years, significantly closing a prior gap. However, persistent challenges remain:
• Rural America's most important export continues to be its best and its brightest young men and women - rural outmigration is largely our youngest and most highly educated.
• Therefore, fewer young adults in rural areas seek post-secondary education or have college degrees; and more have not completed high school. (23.5% rural vs. 17.4% urban, 1997.)

Health:

• Rural residents continue to have poorer health care access, less health insurance coverage, and little or no managed care availability. (22 million rural residents, slightly less than half the rural population, live in federally-designated Health Professions Shortages Areas or Medically Underserved Areas.)

Welfare:

• 21% of our nation's welfare population live in rural areas. (In 15 states, 50% or more of the welfare population lives in rural areas.)

One example, among many:

The public mythology surrounding rural America is evident in many of these trends. As with so many other social indicators, there is great similarity between rural and central city areas in degree of challenge. Drug and substance abuse is one glaring example.

In 1999:

• Rural eighth graders were 32% more likely to have used marijuana in the past month than those in large metro areas.
• Rural eighth graders were 52% more likely to have used cocaine in the past year than those in large metro areas.
• Rural eighth graders were 75% more likely to have used crack cocaine in the past year than those in large metro areas.
• Rural eighth graders were 104% more likely to have used amphetamines, including methamphetamines, in the past month than those in large metro areas.
• Rural eighth graders were 29% more likely to have used alcohol in the past month than those in large metro areas.
• Rural eighth graders were twice as likely to have smoked cigarettes in the past month than those in large metro areas.

• Despite indications in the early 1990's that rural America's citizens and businesses were effectively exploiting information technologies, it is now quite clear that a significant and growing "Digital Divide" exists between America's metropolitan and rural areas. This is now evidenced across all sectors in the rural community, from household usage through educational utilization and business applications.

Summary

• The "New Rural" is much more than agriculture. While agriculture remains a critical component of many rural economies, and the Farm Gate and Main Street are more closely linked than ever, new economic engines must be found if we are to create and sustain a broad-based rural renaissance.



• While the rural economy, in general, is stronger, it remains fragile and very uneven. The current challenge in the agricultural economy is but one of several examples. Rural communities must close the growing digital divide, entice new venture and equity capital, and support rural entrepreneurs and new, environmentally appropriate, business opportunities.



• Poverty remains an intractable challenge in many rural areas. This rural poverty is working poverty, which points to the challenges in overcoming these human and social capital challenges with welfare or workforce programs.



• "Rural" is "younger," less "homogenous," a more attractive lifestyle choice, and more diverse than it has ever been.



• Rural America has three-quarters of our governmental jurisdictions, and is much more heavily affected by federal transfer shifts than urban America. Assuring adequate resources and technical support to sustain an emergent rural "new governance" milieu is particularly critical.



• Rural America continues to educate and export our best young people. Health care quality, finance, and delivery remain huge challenges. Welfare and workforce development programs are critical to assuring viable rural communities.



• Despite early successes, rural America is now suffering from a growing "digital divide."

Mr. Chairman, in closing I want to again commend you and the Members of this Subcommittee for your continuing efforts to craft a more integrative, common sense rural policy framework for our nation. I hope this overview was helpful in pointing out the tremendous diversity of the "space between the suburbs," and the obvious necessity for crafting grassroots, place-based, community policy programs as a central component of an emergent national rural policy.