Social Capital, Structural Conditions, and Mortality: A Study of Nonmetropolitan Counties in Mississippi

In this study, we examine the extent to which structural conditions that favor investment in social capital affect mortality across nonmetro counties in Mississippi. To this end, we focus on four county structural conditions: (1) place of residence within county boundaries, (2) civic infrastructure, (3) economic conditions, and (4) county regional location. The results clearly indicate that structural conditions that favor investment in social capital lead to lower mortality. Specifically, concentration of disadvantage conditions has an independent effect on mortality. That is, its effect operates independentIy of other structural conditions. In contrast, the effects of place of residence and civic infrastructure do not operate independently from county economic conditions. The results also indicate that county regional location has no effect on mortality across nonmetro counties in Mississippi

TANF/Welfare Client Decline and Community Context in the Rural South, 1997-2000

This article examines the extent to which declines in welfare rolls relate to five major dimensions of community: (1) local demographic composition, (2) local labor market conditions, (3) local civic capacity, (4) local spatial characteristics, and (5) changes in local economic opportunities. Results based on data from the Mississippi Department of Human Services indicate that demographically, economically, and socially advantaged communities were more likely to experience high declines in welfare rolls. Rurality was associated with lower likelihood of high declines in welfare rolls across Mississippi counties. Clearly, a combination of a stronger local economy and social support in a local area increases the likelihood of larger decline in welfare rolls. The analysis presented in this article suggests that there is substantial local variation in the decline in welfare rolls that is associated with local economic and social conditions. The success of welfare reform policies clearly hinge on local conditions. What this analysis cannot reveal is the extent to which decline in welfare rolls is the result of recipients marrying, finding good jobs, or simply running up against time limits imposed by the welfare reform legislation

Racial Segregation in Rural & Small Town America: Does New York State fit the national pattern?

CaRDI Research & Policy Brief Issue 1

Race and the micro-scale spatial concentration of poverty

This paper uses block-group data from the US decennial censuses to document changes in concentrated poverty. It provides several substantive and methodological lessons. First, the majority of poor sub-county areas were located (and hidden) in low poverty counties. Second, the 1990s brought large declines in the share of high-poverty (sub-county) areas and the share of people, including poor people, who lived in them. Third, poor minorities--both in metro and non-metro areas--are highly ghettoized in high-poverty neighbourhoods and are highly segregated from whites and the nonpoor population. Discussions of concentrated poverty cannot be uncoupled from minority residence patterns. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.

New York Communities 2007: A Year of CaRDI Publications

CaRDI Reports Issue 4. Compilation of CaRDI Rural New York Minute and the Research & Policy Brief Series from 200