Purpose: Agricultural extension services in poor countries often identify opinion leaders based on criteria such as wealth and social status. We explore the effectiveness of this top-down approach by analysing the role of so-called model and nodal farmers in the diffusion of malt barley in a highland community in Ethiopia. Research approach: We…

This paper explores the relations between older people, poverty and place in rural Britain. It develops previous work on rural poverty that has pointed both to the significance of older people within the rural poor population and to their denials of poverty. The paper also connects with recent discussions on the complexity of relations between…

In recent years India has seen an explosion in low-fee private (LFP) schooling aimed at the poorer strata of society. This marketisation of primary education is a reaction to the well-documented failings of the government system. This paper looks at LFP schooling in one rural district of Uttar Pradesh, and compares government to low cost private…

A pervasive anti-statism often blinds us to the democratic victories in the past and thus to possibilities in our future. This article argues that big government can democratize society and uses historical investigation to make the point. The study of history emancipates us from the tyranny of the present. Progressive social change has come about…

The authors of this brief examine child poverty rates using decennial census data from 1980, 1990, and 2000, as well as American Community Survey five-year estimates between 2005 and 2009, to identify those counties where child poverty has persisted. They find persistent child poverty in nearly twice as many U.S. counties as those that report high…

This paper constructs an intertemporal substitution educational model based on endogenous growth theory and examines the rural education, farmer income and rural economic growth problems in China. It shows that the households originally with the same economic endowment but different education endowment take different growth routes, the income…

Shifts the focus of poverty theory from individual characteristics to a more structural, community level. Defines and tests a measurement model of a structural conceptualization of poverty by applying confirmatory factor analysis to data on 5 poverty indicators from 881 nonadjacent nonmetropolitan counties. Contains 69 references. (SV)

Summarizes the revised economic and policy types of the Economic Research Service's rural county classification system. The new typology is based on conditions in more recent years, includes Alaska and Hawaii, redefines persistent poverty, includes more county types, makes economic types nonoverlapping, and classifies counties designated as…

A rural Mississippi Delta study found that participation in subsistence activities was greater among whites, persons with higher income and education, and those from larger families, suggesting an element of lifestyle choice (rather than economic strategy). However, a subsistence lifestyle may deter youth from leaving to pursue higher education,…

This map of the contiguous United States uses a seven-color scheme to display a rurality index score for counties. The measure of rurality is intended to represent degree of isolation from and inability to participate in the programs of the larger society. It is intended to reflect both physical isolation and the isolation that comes from a lack…

The Rurality Index measures community access to resources for resolution of local problems; includes physical, population, educational, and financial elements; and assesses community connections to the larger society and the global economy. Analysis found that U.S. metro counties were heavily skewed to the least rural end of the scale but…

Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1985 wave) indicate that rural households have the highest probability of poverty, followed by metropolitan-core households. Household factors (educational attainment, family structure, age, minority status) and the local opportunity structure were important determinants of poverty, but controlling for…

Uses long-term field research, interviews, questionnaires, and public records in upstate New York to link the risk of rural homelessness to poverty trends. Recommends broadened definition of rural homelessness to include those at risk. Suggests homeless programs apply themselves to rural situations. (TES)

This book consists of 13 essays discussing rural poverty in the United States, including historical and current conditions of rural poverty, underlying the social, economic, and political factors, and policy implications. The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 consists of four essays that provide a comprehensive description of the poverty…

During an extensive search for college curricula focused on rural poverty, the Rural Sociological Society's Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty identified only a dozen such courses being taught in the United States today. This guidebook provides professors and instructors with a conveniently organized set of sample syllabi and instructional…