“The Forgotten Fifth: Child Poverty in Rural America”

A new report by William O’Hare, Fellow at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, looks at the unique challenges faced by rural children living in poverty. The report finds that rural children experience many of the same disadvantages as urban children but that limited access to support services and social and economic isolation exacerbate these problems. Additionally,

The urban focus of welfare programs means policy makers often shortchange needy
rural families when designing and implementing the safety net. The socioeconomic
environment that poor rural families face should be considered before designing
and implementing policies and programs for the poor. Because of their isolation,
poor rural children may be more disadvantaged in some ways than poor children in
urban areas.

Policies for reducing child poverty.