The child poverty rate in rural America grew to 26 percent in the decade following the 2000 Census, when it was 19 percent, says a USDA analysis. By comparison, the poverty rate for urban children is now 21 percent. “The weak job market, with declining employment and earnings in most non-metropolitan counties during 2000 to 2009/13, clearly played a role in the rise in child poverty over this period, particularly in counties with vulnerable children,” wrote David McGranahan in the article in USDA’s Amber Waves magazine. While one of five rural counties had child-poverty rates of about 33 percent, an equal number of counties had rates of less than 16 percent.
Child-poverty rates rose the most, by 9 percentage points, in rural counties with manufacturing plants, a sector that was hit especially hard by the recession. Farming and mining counties saw the smallest increases, of 1 point on average. McGranahan said a widespread increase in single-parent families was a significant factor in the higher child poverty rate.