Title:	Workforce Development Networks in Rural Areas
Authors:	Gary Paul Green
Keywords:	Rural development United States
Issue Date:	2007
Publisher:	Edward Elgar
Description:	Rural life has changed dramatically over the past century.1 One of the most salient features of rural areas in the past was social isolation. Advances in telecommunications and transportation have integrated most rural communities into the larger society. Rural residents now have access to the internet, which allows them to shop and communicate with others outside their local community. Many rural workers commute to urban areas. Improvements in telecommunications also permit some people even to work at home, often relatively long distances from the business site in urban settings. Mass communications also provide rural residents with the same news and information that once was available only in the largest cities. They are therefore exposed to the same elements of mass culture that influence urbanites. There also has been a transformation in how people earn a living in rural areas. Farming is no longer the primary occupation in most rural areas. Even in agricultural dependent areas, farming provides less income than other sources. Other extractive industries, like mining and forestry, no longer provide many jobs either. Technological change has been the major force displacing jobs in extractive industries. Today, the majority of workers in rural areas are now employed in the services sector. This is not to suggest that rural–urban differences do not remain. Rural residents continue to maintain stronger ties and relationships with their neighbors than do urban residents. Similarly, rural residents tend to be more traditional and conservative with respect to their values and attitudes. Rural areas also tend to have less access to health and social services, primarily a result of the low population density in many rural communities
URI:	http://10.6.20.12:80/handle/123456789/48359
ISBN:	978 1 84542 872 3
Appears in Collections:	Rural Development Studies

Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.