Discusses the status of rural labor and the performance of labor markets in Latin American agriculture. Points out the rapidly declining share of agriculture in the total labor force, weak capacity for creating nonagricultural employment, and rapidly increasing migration to towns. (JOW)

Data from St. Barthelemy (French West Indies) show that, for people born from 1878 to 1967, neither cohort size nor fluctuations in external demands for labor had a lasting effect on the probability of eventual migration. Emigration slowed only after development of local tourism brought prosperity to the island. (AF)

Examines increasing rural to urban migration as caused by farming crises, employment cutbacks, slow rural population growth in 1980s, and slow rural recovery from recession. The migration was especially heavy during 1983-1986. Cites indicators showing possible future reversal. Includes charts, graphs, and maps. (Author/TES)

To explain the migration turnaround of the 1970s, it has been suggested that the United States may be approaching an equilibrium state in the exchange of populations between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. As metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas have become more similar in population composition and industrial and socioeconomic…

Several simulations of population, income, and employment in rural and urban America during 1970-2000 were made based on alternative assumptions. The assumptions entailed implementation of certain policies that might effect a more equal rural-urban balance by the year 2000, in addition to a continuation of current trends. If basic trends continue,…

This second issue of "Education for All: Status and Trends" focuses on the interactions between basic education and certain demographic and socioeconomic phenomena. It examines significant correlations between selected indicators and the trends in those indicators over a decade or more. It also presents projections of certain indicators to the…

This paper examines the social and economic impacts of Mexican immigration on Fresno (California). Since the early 1980s, immigration to California has been dominated by illegal immigrants from rural Mexico seeking agricultural jobs in rural California. This rural migration impacts urban centers in agricultural regions; these impacts lag the…

Argues that it is easy to overestimate the additional emigration from rural Mexico that could occur as a result of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) related economic restructuring in Mexico. Four major reasons why Mexican emigration may not increase dramatically are suggested. Phase-in recommendations related to implementation are…

Migration is not a new concept. All through America's history, there has been a push and pull related to population movement. Most Americans have moved several times and from one geographical region to another. Others have moved only a short distance from their birthplace or perhaps not at all. U.S. census information shows that each year nearly…

The five volumes of Rural Conditions and Trends for 1990-1994 contain information and statistical data on economic and social conditions and trends of interest to rural educators and researchers. Articles cover the following areas: macroeconomic trends; employment; unemployment; industry; earnings; income; poverty; population; national economic…

Whatever migration patterns evolve, changes in the age structure mean that rural communities in general can expect fairly stable elementary school population, reduced high school population, slower growth in new business and employment, and continued increase in the elderly population. (JHZ)

Demographic and socioeconomic conditions and changes in rural communities provide the context for education programs in such areas. Although these conditions have improved since the 1950s, they have worsened since 1980, affecting the human resource base of rural economics. Cyclical and structural changes affect--and are affected--by: (1) reduced…

Experiences of black women, who migrated from the rural south to the District of Columbia between 1900 and 1926, are examined in order to illustrate the nature of household work during this period. While previous research on black private household workers usually attributed changes in household labor to architectural and technological trends,…

Population distribution and community size make rural areas better suited to production than managerial jobs. Production jobs, however, are threatened by business cycles, foreign competition and technological displacement, more so than by education levels of rural workers. Links outmigration in rural areas to low wages. (Author/TES)

Farming-dependent counties are some of the most economically distressed parts of nonmetropolitan America because their inability to diversify economically has left them vulnerable to changes in natural resource markets, commodity prices, and farm conditions. The Midwest has been hit hardest. The greatest proportion of highly leveraged farms is in…