By Douglas Bower, Editor

ERS Rural America No. 172. September 2002

About this magazine

This issue features a series of articles on socioeconomic conditions in rural America, including population change in the rural midwest, rural health issues, the implications of Medicare restructuring for Rural America, rural income inequality, and the well-being of rural farm operator households. Rural updates articles highlight rural earnings, rural development policy, and Federal tax policy changes.

In this report ...

Articles are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Contents, 75 kb

Frontmatter, 58 kb

Feature Articles

• Wealth and Income Contribute Jointly to the Economic Well-Being of Farm Operator Households (395kb)—Economic well-being of the farm sector and farm households has been historically associated with incomes, especially income from farming. However, net income of the farm business may be a small percentage of the total income available to the farm family. Since the early 1990s, just under half of U.S. farm operators indicated in USDA surveys that their major occupation was something other than farming. Thus, the true economic well-being of farms must account for all income, both farm and off-farm, as well as the growing importance of wealth such as home equity and investments. For more information, contact Ashok Mishra, Hisham El-Osta, Mitchell Morehart, James Johnson, Jeffrey Hopkins.

• Income Inequality in America: Nonmetro Income Levels Lower Than Metro, But Income Inequality Did Not Increase as Fast (118kb)—The gap in median household income increased between metro and nonmetro households between 1979 and 1999. At the same time, inequality in metro household income distributions increased faster than among nonmetro households, resulting in nonmetro income inequality essentially identical to that in suburban areas and lower than in central cities. The continuing disparity in income levels by race/ethnicity and residence may reflect the local and race/ethnic-specific consequences of industrial restructuring, globalization, and changing household structures. For more information, contact Diane K. McLaughlin.

• Population Change in the Midwest Nonmetro Population Growth Lags Metro Increase (795kb)—The Midwest posted population growth in both its nonmetro and metro areas from 1990 to 2000, but nonmetro areas with larger cities and closer to metro centers were more likely to gain residents than were completely rural counties. Nonmetro counties closer to urban areas were also less likely to lose youth and more likely to gain residents of working age. The Midwest saw a dramatic increase in Hispanic residents from 1990 to 2000, with numbers at least doubling in many nonmetro counties. For more information, contact Willis Goudy.

• Rural Health Issues for the Older Population ( 263kb)—The rural elderly assess their health as poorer than that of the urban elderly. The range of health care providers and services in rural communities is narrower than in urban areas, and the rural elderly may experience structural barriers to accessing doctors, hospitals, or advanced medical services. For example, the per capita supply of physicians in nonmetro areas is considerably lower than in metro areas. Rural communities differ in their ability to meet the growing need for health care and other services of an aging population. For more information, contact Carolyn C. Rogers.

• Implications of Medicare Restructuring for Rural Areas (108kb)—As the American population ages, the Nation's health resources are bearing an increased burden. The elderly are the primary users of health care services, and as their numbers have increased so has spending for the Medicare program. Balanced budget legislation introduced many changes to the Medicare system in an attempt to curb spending. The legislation creates opportunities to improve the rural health delivery system, but low population density, limited managed care experience, and less access to health care providers in rural areas make market-based efficiencies and equity difficult to achieve in rural areas. For more information, contact Carolyn C. Rogers.

Rural Updates

• Rural Development Policy: Transition Year Brings Changes for Rural Development (161kb)—Richard J. Reeder

• Federal Tax Policy: Numerous Changes Lower Income and Estate Taxes (73kb)—James Monke and Ron Durst

• Earnings: Nonmetro Earnings Continue Upward (149 kb)—Robert M. Gibbs and Timothy S. Parker

Entire Report (2,385 kb)

Order this report (stock #ERSRA172)

Past Issues ­ pdf format

web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
page updated: September 10, 2002