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ural Pennsylvania
  
December 2000
T 
 HE 
C 
 ENTER
 
FOR
200 North Third St., Suite 600, Harrisburg, PA 17101  Phone (717) 787-9555  Fax (717) 772-3587  www.ruralpa.org
A Demographic Profileof Pennsylvania's Rural Women
 A Legislative Agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly
 
Pennsylvania has the largest rural population in thenation, and more than 50 percent of this population isfemale. Since very little was known about our statesfemale rural population, the Center for Rural Pennsylva-nia initiated research, conducted by Gretchen Cornwellof Penn State University, that would gather basic infor-mation about and provide a clearer picture of who theyare.Overall, the research suggests that the states rural women are doing well in the areas of education, familylife stability, and health, relative to the comparisongroups of rural men and urban women and men. On theother hand, the results also indicate that rural womenare not faring as well economically as the comparisongroups.
POPULATION
In 2000, the population in the states predominantly ruralcounties was projected to be about 2.56 million.More than 50 percent of this population is female.
Pennsylvanias Projected Population in 2000
 Age0-45-1920-6465+Number 73,306260,102724,369247,0651,304,842%5.619.955.519.0100.0Number 77,200274,944742,036165,4201,259,600%6.121.858.913.1100.0Female Male
Rural Urban
Number 291,154980,5232,844,523919,8775,036,077%5.819.555.518.3100.0Number 302,9711,012,0312,750,631575,3364,640,969Female Male%6.521.859.312.4100.0
A DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF PENNSYLVANIAS RURAL WOMEN
Marital Status for Pennsylvanians15 Years and Older Rural
MarriedWidowedDivorced/SeparatedNever Married
Urban
MarriedWidowedDivorced/SeparatedNever MarriedFemale11.912.120.550.211.110.827.9Male2.48.635.554.13.18.234.655.4%53.4%
10.3%10.7%41.1%37.9%
Rural femaleRural maleUrban femaleUrban male
Population Projections for Rural and Urban Pennsylvania 2000
MARITAL STATUS
More than 55 percent of rural women are married, almost12 percent are widowed and more than 12 percent aredivorced or separated. Rural women are more likely tobe currently married, than any other of the comparisongroups.
HOUSEHOLD TYPE
 About 20 percent of rural women live in a female-headedhousehold. The same is true for a slightly higher per-centage of urban women (21.7 percent). Approximately50 percent of the states married-couple householdsinclude dependent children, compared to about 30percent of rural female-headed households and 25percent of urban female-headed households.More than 25 percent of rural women live alone, andmany of these women are 65 years old and older. Almost 33 percent of urban women live alone. Ruraland urban men are less likely to live alone.
2 A Demographic Profile of Pennsylvanias Rural Women
Totals
   P  e  r  c  e  n   t  a  g  e  s  m  a  y  n  o   t  a   d   d  u  p   t  o   1   0   0   d  u  e   t  o  r  o  u  n   d   i  n  g .
 
LABOR FORCE
Fifty-five percent of rural women who are 15 years oldand older are in the labor force compared to 69 percentof rural men. Almost 66 percent of rural women who arein the labor force are full-time workers. Urban womenand men are slightly more likely to have full-time jobs.
Labor Force Participation for Pennsylvanians15 Years and Older 
In the labor force
(Rural)
In the labor force
(Urban)EMPLOYMENT
The employment rates for urban women and men areslightly higher than the rates for their rural counterparts.Rural men are more likely to be unemployed than arerural women. While the percentage of rural women thatare self-employed is small (3.3 percent), a substantialnumber of businesses are owned by women. This isparticularly true in rural counties close to large metro-politan areas.
Class of Worker for Pennsylvanias Labor ForceRural
PrivatePublic-FederalPublic-StatePublic-LocalSelf-employedWithout pay
Urban
PrivatePublic-FederalPublic-StatePublic-LocalSelf-employedWithout pay
OCCUPATIONS
 Administrative support (including clerical) and service jobs are the most common types of occupations in which rural women work. More urban workers are inexecutive, managerial, and professional specialty jobs.
Occupations for Pennsylvanias Labor ForceRural
Executive, administrative,and managementProfessional speciality,technicians & related fieldsSales Administrative support(clerical)ServicesProduction, repair,transportation, assemblers,operators, equipment cleaners,laborers Armed ForcesFarming, fishing, forestry
Urban
Executive, administrative,and managementProfessional speciality,technicians & related fieldsSales Administrative support(clerical)ServicesProduction, repair,transportation, assemblers,operators, equipment cleaners,laborers Armed ForcesFarming, fishing, forestryFemale55.0%57.8%Male68.9%70.5%Female2.24.510.83.3<0.184.11.52.57.24.40.3Male2.42.93.45.90.580.72.42.35.88.50.379.2%84.9%Female18.18.127.324.316.2<0.10.512.720.413.225.320.210.9<0.10.6Male12.67.04.213.649.41.32.615.315.310.65.611.439.3<0.12.410.2%5.6%
Center for Rural Pennsylvania 3
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