Research Accomplishment Reports 2007

Rural Low-Income Families: Tracking their Well-Being and Function in an Era of Welfare Reform

P.H. Dyk
Community and Leadership Development

 

Project Description

During this year, Patricia Dyk's and Leigh Ann Simmons' work focused on analyses from the three waves of data that had been sent to Oregon State University for incorporation into quantitative and qualitative data sets compiled from 471 interviews across 18 states. Analyses have focused on the relationship of community context, social support, mental and physical health, food security and the ability to maintain a job. Rural community context factors have demonstrated the impact of differential opportunity structures to the sustainability of labor force participation. Job availability, reliability of transportation, childcare and healthcare access are barriers while lack of flexibility at work and individual and family related health issues posed major challenges to maintaining employment.

In addition, findings substantiate that in our sample of rural women, poor physical health, depression and difficulty paying for medical expenses impact food security. Compared to women not reporting depression, women who reported depression were significantly likelier to report physical health problems, smoking, permanent disability and injury or illness in the last year. Research findings were disseminated through presentations drawing from the Kentucky and full sample data at the following professional meetings: Rural Sociological Society; Southern Rural Sociological Society, the National Council on Family Relations; and the American Public Health Association.

Dyk's ongoing responsibilities as KY PI with the project include collection and management of Kentucky data, participation in the Policy, Community (co-chair), and Economic Well-Being work groups, as well as developing the county-level contextual data set. Several journal articles exploring the interface of health (mental and physical), food security and economic well-being as well as community, family and individual factors impacting job sustainability are being revised for publication. Further data analyses are continuing.

Impact

The desired impact of this project is multi-faceted: to increase the capacity of communities and families to enhance their own economic well-being; to increase understanding of the individual and family characteristics of rural low-income families; understand how devolution is influencing rural families and communities; provide insight into interactions of federal, state, and local welfare policies, community infrastructures and individual family well-being. The voices of the low-income rural women interviewed are being heard at professional meetings, policy briefs that have been widely distributed at the state and federal level, and via our project website, http://www.ruralfamilies.umn.edu.

A social theater production, Livin' on the Byways, was presented as a plenary session at the annual National Council on Family Relations meeting where scholars and practitioners heard the stories of the low-income women, learned how to engage citizens in their communities in a Kettering-style deliberative process, and saw the opportunity to utilize the script in college classrooms. By understanding real vs. perceived needs, policies can be developed and targeted to best utilize taxpayer investments in food stamps, welfare, and healthcare transfers - all big ticket items. These federal and state policies are essential to the well-being and quality of life of taxpayers and recipients alike.

Publications

Simmons, L. A., Dolan, E. A., & Braun, B. (2007). Rhetoric and reality of economic self-sufficiency among rural, low-income families: A longitudinal study. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28(3): 489-505.

Simmons, L. A., Huddleston-Casas, C. A., & Berry, A. A. (2007). Low-income rural women and depression: Factors associated with self-reporting. American Journal of Health Behavior, 31(6), 657-666.

Simmons, L. A., Braun, B., Wright, D. W., & Miller, S. R. (2007). Human capital, social support, and long-term economic well-being among rural, low-income mothers: A latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28(4), 635-652.