Welfare Reform in Persistent Rural Poverty: Dreams, Disenchantments, and Diversity

Contents

Acknowledgments ix List of Tables and Figures vii Introduction 1 1 Rural Places, State Welfare Policies, and Theoretical Bases 11 Part I What the Numbers Tell Us 37 2 Welfare Caseloads: Changes in Public Assistance Program Use 39 3 Labor Markets: From tanf to Low-Wage Part-Time Jobs 49 4 Poverty: Family and Community Well-Being 69 Part II What the People Told Us 85 5 Welfare Reform on the Reservation, South Dakota 87 6 Welfare Reform in Appalachia, Kentucky 123 7 Welfare Reform in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas 149 8 Welfare Reform in the Mississippi Delta, Mississippi 189 9 Welfare Reform in Persistent Rural Poverty 209 Appendix A: tanf Participant Respondent Characteristics 221 Appendix B: Cluster Counties and Reservations 227 References 229 Index 239 CONTENTS ...