Race, family structure and rural poverty: An assessment of population and structural change

Family structure has been cited as a major factor in the differential rates of poverty between Blacks and Whites. However, most studies have focused p rimarily on the urban Black family. Relatively little attention has been gi ven to poverty among Black families in rural areas. Moreover, sociologists have yet to place the rural Black family in the context of the broader chan ges occurring within the American industrial economy. Accordingly, the purp ose of this article is to determine the extent to which poverty among rural Black families has changed over the 1980-1990 decade. Specifically, the fo llowing questions are addressed: 1) What are the relative effects of place and family structure on levels of poverty for rural Black families? and 2) What are the theoretical implications of rural-urban differentials in Black family poverty? The legit analysis of U.S. Census data for 1980 and 1990 r evealed that family structure increased in its importance in determining po verty differentials between rural and urban Black families. Moreover, despi te controls for demographic and social factors, Black families continue to experience levels of poverty that exceed that of White families in both rur al and urban environments. These findings suggest that, while the economic restructuring may have had a greater impact upon rural Black families than commonly assumed, racial discrimination still plays a major role in determi ning poverty levels for both rural and urban Black families.