SES Continued

Now that the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on rural education is partially understood it is important to explore differences in rural and urban SES. "Economic behavior, including decisions regarding the quantity and quality of education one desires, is influenced in part by economic and social conditions in the local community" and since the communities in these two areas differ so will the economic behavior therein (Broomhall 566-567).

It is observed that poverty rates are in fact higher in rural areas than in urban areas; this has been true for quite a while. Due to this observation the fact that most impoverished areas are rural areas is brought about. "Of the almost four hundred counties with poverty rates of twenty percent or greater in every decade since 1959, ninety-five percent are rural" (Mosley). This quote further supports the idea of poverty being more prevalent in rural areas over time. These poverty levels affect education within both the rural and the urban areas. "As of 2001, more than 26 percent of metropolitan residents possessed at least a college
degree, compared to only 15 percent of those in nonmetropolitan areas" (Mosley). This difference in education levels is partially due to the fact that people in so called "nonmetropolitan" areas lack funds for college or their environment doesn't support the idea of college.

Here is a graph that represents poverty levels and the gap between urban and rural:

(Jolliffe)
This graph shows the rates of poverty over time in both urban (metro) and rural (nonmetro) areas. The drastic difference of poverty shows that there is something off about the distribution of wealth in America.

Another important aspect in the differences in poverty is how persistent poverty tends to be in rural and urban areas. It is found that "nonmetro counties make up the large majority (340 of 386) of persistent poverty counties" (Jolliffe). Persistent poverty is when "20 percent or more of their populations were poor over the last 30 years" in a certain area (Jolliffe). The idea of persistent poverty supports the claim that rural areas have suffered from poverty in high rates for long periods of time. Following is a map showing what areas are experiencing persistent poverty:

(Jolliffe)

Using a quote from the previous entry, "in many rural areas, jobs that require larger amounts of education and that pay relatively higher wages may not be available" which shows that people in this areas are destined to lower SES" it can be seen that low education is a feasible cause of persistent poverty (Broomhall 559). As long as educational inequality between rural and urban areas continues, rural areas will be the ones experiencing poverty.

What can be done to confront this educational inequality? In order to answer this question the entire spectrum of explanation of poverty needs to be covered. There are in fact more reasons as to why poverty is prevalent and persistent in rural areas and these include: race, age, ethnicity, and family structure. These areas will be examined in the next blog entry.

Broomhall, David E., and Thomas G. Johnson. "Economic Factors That Influence
Educational Performance in Rural Schools." American Journal of Agricultural
Economics 76 (1994): 557-67. JSTOR. WSU, Pullman. 27 Sept. 2008. Keyword:
Rural Education.

Jolliffe, Dean. "Rural Poverty at a Glance." ERS/USDA Publications. July 2004. USDA. 6 Oct. 2008 .

Mosley, Jane M., and Kathleen K. Miller. "Spatial Variations in Factors Affecting Poverty." Rural Poverty Research Center 2004-1 (2004): 1 http://www.rprconline.org/WorkingPapers/RP0401.pdf