Premium
Spatial Redistribution of Poverty through Migration of Poor People to Depressed Rural Communities 1
Author(s) -
Fitchen Janet M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
rural sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.083
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1549-0831
pISSN - 0036-0112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1549-0831.1995.tb00568.x
Subject(s) - poverty , redistribution (election) , economic growth , population , welfare , rural area , demographic economics , community service , renting , development economics , central city , socioeconomics , labour economics , economics , political science , sociology , politics , demography , economic geography , market economy , law , public relations
Recent demographic studies document movement of poor people from both urban and rural places to depressed rural communities. Such migration redistributes poverty to rural areas and further concentrates it within them. This article presents a case study of one depressed community in New York that became a migration destination for urban poor people, causing dramatic increases in poverty rate, welfare rolls, and service needs. On‐site research showed that the community's attraction was inexpensive rental housing that had become available after loss of manufacturing jobs prompted a middle‐class exodus. The lack of jobs was not a deterrent for low‐income inmigrants, though, because many of them had limited job skills and other employment barriers and would have had difficulty getting or holding a job anyway. Similar processes of economic decline, population loss, and poverty inmigration appear to be occurring elsewhere also. The article identifies community‐level impacts and policy implications; it concludes with suggestions for further research needs.