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Rural women's economic realities

D K McLaughlin¹

¹Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, USA.

Journal of Women & Aging

|January 27, 1999

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Older women in nonmetropolitan areas consistently face lower incomes and higher poverty rates than their metropolitan counterparts. Economic disparities persist, with no signs of convergence between these groups in recent decades.

Area of Science:

Gerontology
Sociology
Economics

Background:

Elderly economic well-being has improved, yet disparities persist for specific demographics.
Nonmetropolitan elders and women remain economically disadvantaged.
Understanding these economic differences is crucial for targeted policy development.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine differences in household income and poverty rates between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan women aged 55 and over.
To analyze these economic disparities across three decades: 1970, 1980, and 1990.
To assess trends in income convergence or divergence between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan older women.

Main Methods:

Analysis of household income and poverty rates using census data from 1970, 1980, and 1990.

Related Experiment Videos

Comparison of economic indicators for women aged 55 and over, stratified by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residence.

Control for demographic characteristics to isolate the effect of location on economic well-being.

Main Results:

Nonmetropolitan women consistently exhibit lower median incomes and higher poverty rates compared to metropolitan women across all study years.
While the income gap narrowed between 1970 and 1980, it widened significantly from 1980 to 1990.
The largest income disparity was observed in the youngest cohort (ages 55-64) in 1990.

Conclusions:

Economic well-being improvements for older women are largely cohort-driven, with younger cohorts entering older age with higher incomes.
Persistent economic disadvantages for nonmetropolitan older women indicate a lack of income convergence.
Future research should investigate factors contributing to the widening metro/nonmetro income gap for older women.