Welfare Reform and the Plight of the Poor in the Rural South

Abstract

[Excerpt] The major discussions of welfare reform today center on: (1) who would be affected—primarily recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children— and, for the first time, households headed by men regardless of their employment status; (2) what effect reform would have on the working poor—basically a discussion of work incentives among the low income population; and (3) which regions of the country would be most affected? Relative to the population in other regions, the Southern population is characterized as being more rural and more poverty stricken. Moreover, the poor in the South, who accounted for 44 percent of the total in the Nation, are more likely to be employed than those in other regions.