New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows there are few differences in rural and urban child poverty rates. Based on the 2007 American Community Survey, 22 percent of rural children live below the poverty line, compared to 13 percent of suburban children and 25 percent of central city children. Over time, however, the gap between rural children and those in central cities has narrowed.

In 1991, the child poverty rate was 32 percent in central cities and 21 percent in rural areas. The central city child poverty rate has consistently decreased from 1991 to 2006, with a slight increase in 2007. The rural child poverty rate has remained essentially the same since 1991, with fluctuations of two to three points at times, including a slight increase from 2006 to 2007. While child poverty has appeared to ease in recent years in central cities, it has increased slightly in rural areas.

The new data also shows that rural child poverty rates are higher than both suburban and central city rates in 19 states, most in the South or West. Among regions, the South and West have the highest child poverty rates, while the Northeast and Midwest have the highest central city child poverty rates.

The number of rural children in low-income families – those with an annual family income below $40,000 (assuming a family of four) – is almost equal to the rate of central city children. According to new date from the Census Bureau, nearly half of all rural children (46 percent) lived in low-income families. Again, since 2001 this gap between rural children and central city children has narrowed. The number of children living in low-income families in both places has decreased since 2001, with a faster decrease in central cities.

As a report from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire shows, parental work is no guarantee against low income. Nearly 80 percent of rural children who live in low-income families have at least one working parent. Parents in low-income families tend to be employed in service occupations that offer lower pay and few benefits. The median hourly rural wage is $13.99 for full-time work compared to a central city median wage of $16.54, a difference of $5,000 per year.

In a soft economy with increasing prices for the necessities of life and work, these rural families and their children will likely be hit hardest. As public policy is considered to enhance the economies of rural areas, we must develop policy that helps make work pay, that allows rural families to build assets, that improves the long-term financial well-being of rural families and their children, and that has a poverty alleviation focus.

Contact: Jon Bailey, 402.687.2103 x 1013 or jonb@cfra.org for more information.