Request for Articles: Growing Up in Rural America

See full details here of call from the Russell Sage Foundation.  Here's a brief excerpt:

It is well established that childhood conditions have profound and lasting influence on children’s wellbeing (Duncan et al. 1998). Yet, much of what we know comes from studies of urban children or national databases, which are dominated by urban samples (Duncan and Magnuson 2011; Brooks-Gunn et al. 1997). Consequently, surprisingly little is known about how the social and economic conditions in which rural children are raised are related to their outcomes and life chances. Such analyses are important as the experience of growing up in rural America has changed over the past several decades and varies considerably across rural communities, leading to contrasting images of what it is like to grow up in rural America. Some depictions emphasize its positive dimensions including strong social support among neighbors, opportunities for learning the disciplines of hard work and personal integrity, and developing a deep attachment to the land and natural environment (Stegner 1992; Howarth 1995). Other accounts detail the hardships experienced during childhood, where good job opportunities are limited, incomes are low, housing is dilapidated, and racial discrimination is deeply entrenched (Duncan 2015; Edin and Schaefer 2015; Tickamyer et al. 2017). Even within a given rural area, its image may change over time. In his book Our Kids, Putnam (2015) described how the small town where he grew up has changed from a relatively classless place, where children from all socio-economic levels studied and played together, to a town with sharp class divisions and rigid segregation. These dramatic changes and contrasting images highlight the growing need for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how rural environments may shape the immediate and longer-term wellbeing of children and youth. 

Existing studies, which often rely on simple dichotomous measures of rural and urban areas, further highlighting the need for additional research by revealing sharp differences in the lives of rural and urban children across multiple important life domains, including family, education, economic security, and health. For example, rural households are more likely to experience joblessness as unemployment rates remain significantly higher in rural than in urban counties (Economic Research Service, 2019). The experience of poverty also differs in rural areas as rural children are more likely than urban children to live in poverty, rural workers are more likely to be poor, and poverty is more persistent across generations in rural areas (Lichter and Graefe 2011; Lichter et al. 2004; Lichter and Schafft 2016; Rothwell and Thiede 2017; Thiede et al. 2018a; Thiede et al. 2018b; Thiede et al. 2017)1. Historically, rural children were more likely to be raised in stable two-parent households, although recent data show that rural children are now as likely as urban children to live with single-parents, and more likely to live with cohabiting adults (MacTavish and Salamon 2004; McLaughlin et al. 1999; O’Hare et al. 2009).

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To advance academic knowledge of the implications of growing up rural and to develop policies that promote greater geographic equality, this volume will examine how being born and raised in rural America shapes the immediate and longer-term wellbeing of children and youths. The issue will feature original qualitative and quantitative research that focuses on four key life domains: family dynamics, education, economic security, and health. We are particularly (but not exclusively) interested in studies that expand our current knowledge by 1) examining the links between specific rural contextual characteristics and the wellbeing of children and youth and/or 2) assessing the cumulative or longer-term outcomes for those born and raised in rural areas. We also invite studies that provide a synthesis of person- and place-based policies designed to improve outcomes for rural youths. We encourage proposals from a range of social sciences including economics, education, demography, geography, public health, social work, and sociology.

Bruce Weber of Oregon State (Applied Economics) and McGill University professors Shelley Clark (Sociology) and Sam Harper  (Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health) will edit the volume.