title: Spatial variations in US poverty: beyond metropolitan and non-metropolitan.
abstract: Because poverty in rural and urban areas of the US often has different causes, correlates and solutions, effective anti-poverty policies depend on a thorough understanding of the ruralness or urbanness of specific places. This paper compares several widely used classification schemes and the varying magnitudes of poverty that they reveal in the US. The commonly used ‘metropolitan/non-metropolitan’ distinction obscures important socioeconomic differences among metropolitan areas, making our understanding of the geography of poverty imprecise. Given the number and concentration of poor people living in mixed-rural and rural counties in metropolitan regions, researchers and policy-makers need to pay more nuanced attention to the opportunities and constraints such individuals face. A cross-classification of the Office of Management and Budget’s metro system with a nuanced RUDC scheme is the most effective for revealing the geographical complexities of poverty within metropolitan areas.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Rachel Garshick
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Kleit
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cover
authors.forename: Christopher S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fowler
mesh_terms: D006076:Government / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011640:Public Policy / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012423:Rural Health / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history; D012424:Rural Population / Q000266:history; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors / Q000266:history; D018881:Suburban Health / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history; D013383:Suburban Population / Q000266:history; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history; D014505:Urban Population / Q000266:history