A decade ago, 2.5 million children in rural communities in the U.S. were estimated to live in chronic poverty. The education provided to these children is often substandard; their opportunities for adequate health care, basic services and youth development opportunities are limited; and the rural jobs available to them and their families are less likely to offer adequate income.
Save the Children explored the problems –– and reasons for hope –– in four of the six regions where this poverty is concentrated: Central Appalachia, the Deep South, the Southwest, and the central valley of California. The project captured the experiences of the young people in their own voices as part of a policy report created to refine programs addressing these regions. The goal was to capture the challenges faced by children growing up amid the isolation imposed by rural poverty as well as the various programs that have helped empower these young people and work to create positive new opportunities for their lives.
