Contents Acknowledgments List of Tables and Figures Introduction 1. Rural Places, State Welfare Policies, and Theoretical Bases Part I: What the Numbers Tell Us 2. Welfare Caseloads: Changes in Public Assistance Program Use 3. Labor Markets: From TANF to Low-Wage Part-Time Jobs 4. Poverty: Family and Community Well-Being Part II: What the People Told Us 5. Welfare Reform on the Reservation, South Dakota 6. Welfare Reform in Appalachia, Kentucky 7. Welfare Reform in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas 8. Welfare Reform in the Mississippi Delta, Mississippi 9. Welfare Reform in Persistent Rural Poverty Appendix A: TANF Participant Respondent Characteristics Appendix B: Cluster Counties and Reservations References Index