• Community Development
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Rural Entrepreneurship Listening Sessions
  • eXtension
  • Northeast Key Contacts
  • Access eNonProfit Tutorial
  • Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E)
• Land Use
  • TALUC
  • Land Use Toolbox
  • NEELUN Key Contacts
  • 2003 Land Use Conference
  • Land Use in the Northeast U.S.
  • GIS in Your Community
  • Consortium for Atlantic Regional Assessment (CARA)
• Small Farms Industry Clusters
  • National Research Initiative (NRI) Project
  • Committee Members
• Poverty
  • 2005 Poverty Conference
  • Poverty Data
  • Big Boxes
• Other
  • Diversity
  • eCommerce
  • Energy
  • Social Capital Resources
  • Issue Briefs: Population Change and Rural Society
  • Tourism

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
The Pennsylvania State University
7 Armsby Building, University Park PA 16802-5602
814/863-4656(phone); 814/863-0586(fax)
Please send questions and comments to:
nercrd@psu.edu

Demographic Dimensions of Diversity Relevant for Extension Educators:

What To Look For, Why, and Where To Find the Data on The Web

2. Income/Poverty

The poor may be more difficult to reach because they lack the time and resources to attend meetings, or the skills needed to take advantage of educational materials and opportunities. The poor are also less likely to use information technology. While rural areas may have IT access, they usually do not have Broadband capability. The average national poverty rate increased in 2001, after falling for most of the previous decade.

Related factors include the condition of housing (age of the home, whether it is a mobile home, number of people per room, access to telephone, availability of plumbing, kitchen facilities and motor vehicles, etc.) as well as educational attainment and reliance on welfare payments. The general trend is one of reduced welfare dependence (as a result of the Welfare Reform Act or PRWORA of 1996) but stable or even increasing poverty percentages. Access to a vehicle, for example, can be an important determinant of whether or not a person can find and keep a job, especially in rural areas that lack public transportation.

Key variables

• Per capita income in 1999 (dollars)
• Income in 1999 below poverty levels; percent of population for whom poverty status is determined; all ages, related children under 18 years (child poverty rate); 65 years and over; and percent of families
• Percent of homes that lack complete plumbing facilities or complete kitchen facilities
• Percent of homes with no vehicles available
• Percent of homes with no telephone service available
  • Geographic Comparison Table (where to find the data):
  • Income and Poverty and Structural and Facility Characteristics of Housing

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development is located at the Pennsylvania State University and collaborates with land grant institutions in the northeast U.S.