According to the definition of the Social Security Administration, a family of four was considered "poor" when their total annual income was less than $3,000. In 1955, the Household Food Consumption Survey found that all families spent one-third of their annual income on food, regardless of place of residence and income level, and farmers produced…

On July 22, 1971, the subcommittee initiated the hearings, noting that "the problems of the most severely disadvantaged people in rural America--migrant and seasonal farmworkers--cannot be described, much less solved, unless examined in the light of the larger difficulty in agricultural America--rural poverty." Questions set forth at…

The first part of a report by the Special Committee on Aging of the United States Senate provides additional evidence about the need for far-ranging federal attention to the needs and aspirations of older Americans. A number of difficulties such as special transportation needs in rural areas, contradictions in policies and programs, and disaster…

Although a growing theoretical literature points to credit constraints as an important source of inefficiently high child labor, little work has been done to assess its empirical relevance. This paper examines the direct effect of a transitory income shock on household child labor choices, as well as the extent to which access to credit helps…

Unless disparities in education are addressed, market-oriented reforms in Vietnam will generate inequitable agricultural growth. It is argued that if the marginal gains from investment in physical capital depend positively on knowledge, but a household cannot hire skilled labor to compensate for low skills, then even if it has access to credit,…

On marginal farms, and in agriculture in general, sustainability is largely guaranteed by a broad range of survival strategies, closely interlinked and embedded in the household structure of typical family farms. This paper reports results of a socio-economic study carried out among Belgian farmers, focusing specifically on the opportunities…

On November 5, 1971, the subcommittee heard testimony on the: (1) history of land ownership in rural America, (2) extent of corporate and conglomerate involvement in rural America and the resulting economic consequences, and (3) impact of the large vertically ano horizontally integrated corporations and conglomerates on the well-being of rural…

Beginning with definitions of land ownership and natural resources, this paper traces United States resource ownership patterns and draws conclusions for rural areas. Following the definitions, a general history of resource ownership discusses disposition of land from government to private owner, noting that the cadastral survey system still in…

Rural poverty in Sindh, Pakistan, has been artificially created by low prices of wheat, fixed by the federal government's price control board. Agriculture and agro-based industries account for 80 percent of the country's labor force. Among the consequences of this price control are low margins of profit to the farming community; low capacity to…

In an attempt to obtain a measure of rural-farm poverty conceptually more meaningful than those currently available, a measure based on "full income" (defined as "the purchasing power available for consumption in a normal year while keeping wealth intact") was proposed. The main task was estimation of the full income, rather…

The large scale displacement of small farmers in the South is an important concern to all persons interested in the problems of low-income people. Despite a decline in the numerical significance of farming, a large part of the South remains rural, and agriculture continues to significantly influence the rural economy and rural labor markets. The…

The Plantation Adult Basic Education Program started in 1970 as an alternative to poverty for sugar cane workers in Louisiana. The document discusses the various aspects of the poverty conditions that exist in the area, such as: housing, diet, health, education, and lack of consumer information, and how these existing conditions are to be changed…

The report presents information about client families and their farms during their contact with the Vermont Rural and Farm Family Rehabilitation (RFFR) project from March 1, 1969 to June 30, 1971. Data are from 450 family case histories which include 2,089 members. Most were from northern Vermont. Families averaged 4.64 persons each, about 1 more…

Context and Purpose: This study investigates associations between the proportion of farm families in rural counties and the health of rural individuals, independent of county poverty rate and individual and family socioeconomic factors. This study also examines relationships of these socioeconomic factors and prevalence of specific diseases.…

This report presents data on the 1986 income and poverty status of families and persons from 60,500 households in the United States. Among the variables examined are the following: (1) race; (2) Hispanic origin; (3) sex; (4) age; (5) marital status; (6) residence; and (7) family status. The following highlights are included: (1) for the fourth…