Low-Income Rural Wisconsin Households with Older Heads. Institute for Research on Poverty, Discussion Papers No. 206-74.

The characteristics, particularly those related to low income and poverty, of rural Wisconsin households (families and individuals living along) whose head was age 63 or older were studied. "Rural" was defined as towns of 2,500 population or less and the open countryside, including farms. Data were gathered in early 1968 through interviews in 1,021 households of which 290 were with heads age 63 or older. The total household income for each respondent was compared with the poverty line as calculated by the Social Security Administration and then classified as poor, near poor, or above average income. Some findings were: (1) mean income was $3,678 for those 63 or older as compared to $7,927 for rural households with heads aged 21 to 62 years; (2) 68 percent of the heads had finished eight grades of schooling or less; (3) among rural aged households, 39 percent were poor, 34 percent were near poor, and 27 percent had above average income in 1967; (4) among the farmers, the poor received most of their income from farming but the nonpoor received half their income from a variety of nonfarm sources; (5) farmers held substantially more net worth than nonfarmers of comparable poverty position; and (6) relatively more female-headed households were poor than those with male heads. While primarily descriptive in nature, the report has implications for action programs, assistance agencies, and public policy makers, and it establishes the magnitude of the low income problem among Wisconsin's rural aged. (NQ)