What makes a rural community age-friendly?
Rural communities are aging rapidly. This brief by Ilona Matysiak examines how small rural towns remain viable as their populations grow older and how communities can be age-friendly. It draws on findings from study of four towns in Iowa and highlights key factors that influence rural livability for aging populations.
Rural-Urban Disparities in Work Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Samuel C.H. Mindes finds that self-employed workers experienced prolonged work interruptions from the pandemic and that education provided more protection from work disruptions for urban workers than for rural workers. Findings indicate a policy need for stronger protections for rural self-employed workers in times of crisis and targeted outreach to support self-employed workers.
Identifying and Understanding Rural Legal Deserts to Inform Public Policy
David Peters and team describe legal deserts and the policy implications of lawyer shortages in rural America. Over half of non-metro counties fall into a legal desert. Current programs to address lawyer shortages are not designed to address the disadvantages related to distance from urban areas, disconnections, diversity, and economic disadvantage that are prominent in rural legal deserts.Addressing Black-White Economic Inequality in Rural America
This report by Heather O'Connell and colleagues quantitatively links contemporary inequality to the legacy of slavery across the rural South. It examines how the relationship between slavery rates in 1860 and contemporary poverty differentials persists, but has diminished over time in some states more than others.Future Directions for Rural Population Research
Findings from RPRN’s listening sessions by Kristina Brant, Paige Kelly, Danielle Rhubart, Gloria Mangoni, John Green, Katherine Curtis, Sreedhar Upendram, Jason de Koff, and Eleanor Green
Age Influenced Who Moved Where in the 2010s
Richelle L. Winkler, Katherine J. Curtis, Kenneth M. Johnson, and David Egan-Robertson
The Rise of Nontraditional Rural Families Reflects Rural Women’s Socioeconomic Disadvantage
Shelley Clark and Matthew M. Brooks
Counting Moves to Rural Counties 1991-2016 – In exurban America, ‘Moving to the country’ means ‘staying close to the city.’
Shaun A. Golding and Richelle L. Winkler
Growing Up in Rural America: New Disadvantages and Surprising Advantages
Shelley Clark, Sam Harper, and Bruce Weber
Rural Adults Report Worse Employment and Economic Impacts from COVID-19
than Urban Adults
Shannon M. Monnat