Rural Mothers More Likely To Work, But At Lower Wages
By Lori Wright, Media Relations
September 26, 2007
A new study by the Carsey Institute shows that rural mothers with children
under age 6 have higher employment rates than their urban counterparts,
but have higher poverty rates, lower wages, and lower family income.
“As men’s jobs in traditional rural industries such as agriculture,
mining, timber and manufacturing disappear due to restructuring of rural
labor markets, families increasingly depend on women’s wage labor,” said
Kristin Smith, family demographer with the Carsey Institute and author
of the study “Employment Rates Higher Among Rural Mothers Than
In 2004, 69 percent of rural mothers with young children under age 6
were employed, compared with 63 percent of urban mothers. According to
Smith, higher employment rates among rural mothers are not surprising,
given that rural mothers with children under 6 have higher poverty rates.
In 2004, 24 percent of rural and 20 percent of urban mothers with young
children lived in poverty.
The high labor force participation of rural mothers raises concern about
the availability of high quality child care and preschool programs in
rural communities, especially considering recent research finding that
rural children lag behind urban children in early literacy skills when
“Ensuring that rural preschoolers’ early learning experiences
prepare them for school should be a strong focus of state and federal
policy,” Smith said.
Rural mothers with more education have higher employment rates. In 2004,
46 percent of rural mothers with less than a high school education were
employed, compared to 84 percent of rural mothers with a college degree.
The same pattern is evident in urban areas, where 41 percent of urban
mothers with less than a high school education were employed, compared
to 72 percent of urban mothers with a college degree.
“Rural mothers of young children, whatever their education level,
have higher employment rates than urban mothers likely because rural
areas experienced a real loss in men’s earnings, income, and employment,” Smith