Research Profiles Rural Pennsylvania Women

A report from by Dr. Diane Shinberg of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, provides a profile of the lives and livelihoods of rural Pennsylvania women.

The research noted that rural Pennsylvania’s population is aging more rapidly than the rest of the state, so the rural population, in general, includes relatively fewer younger adults (aged 25-34 years) compared to older adults (aged 35-64 years).

Educational attainment among rural women has increased from 2005-2009 to 2014-2018, however, high school graduation remained the most common level of completed schooling for rural women. About two-thirds of rural women participated in the labor force, and the most commonly held jobs among rural women were at risk of replacement due to automation or other economic restructuring. The research also revealed that more rural women work now than in the past, and their time “on the clock” increased. While personal wages and salaries of working rural women increased from the previous decade, they also earned the least among rural men and urban women and men.

Access the report here.