Author

Sarah Melotte

Sarah Melotte

Study: Poor, rural kids earn more than urban poor kids later in life

By: - December 11, 2023

Authors of a new study on social mobility found rural children born in poverty gain higher incomes as adults compared to low-income urban children. But on some measures of income attainment, girls born in low-income households don’t benefit from the same rural advantage as boys. Factors like community trust, social capital, and the rate of […]

Disaffiliation votes hold special risks for rural churches, United Methodist pastors say

By: - August 27, 2023

Rev. Katie Black had been serving her United Methodist Church congregation for less than a year when a member knocked on her office door and told her the congregation had been praying about withdrawing from the denomination. “I had heard a lot of stories about churches (disaffiliating) in bigger cities and it becoming a very […]

Rural food stamp recipients will have a harder time with new requirements

By: - July 9, 2023

More than 1.7 million rural Americans live in counties where there aren’t enough jobs for people who want them, making it harder for SNAP recipients to meet work requirements that were reinstated when the federal pandemic emergency declaration ended. Able-bodied adults without dependents must work 80 hours or more per month to continue receiving benefits […]