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From the Rural Utilities Service:
Revenue per mile for urban utility systems is 8 times higher than for rural systems.
Only 17% of rural libraries are connected to the Internet, as compared to 80% of libraries in cities with populations exceeding 250,000.
From the Economic Research Service:
Poverty is 2 percentage points higher in rural areas than in urban areas (15.6% rural; 13.4% urban).
Poverty in the rural south is 19.2%.
The unemployment rate is 16% higher in rural areas than in urban areas (1st quarter 1997).
48% of rural Black children live in poverty (1995).
3.2 million rural children live in poverty (1995).
23% of the rural poor were either full time workers or were in families with one or more full time workers.
The unemployment rate is 16 percent higher in rural areas than urban areas.
6.3 million rural households have household incomes under $15,000.
23 percent of rural people in poverty were either full time workers or were in a family with at least one full time worker.
More than 60 percent of rural people in poverty worked at least part time or had a family member who worked at least part time.
Key External Factors: The ability of the mission area to achieve the goals of its strategic plan can be impacted by a variety of factors beyond its control. Primary external factors affecting all programs are:
Macroeconomic influences - Changes in the economy can have a major impact on our financial programs and the ability of our customers to meet their obligations. A rise in unemployment generally impacts low-income families first. Inflation can impact the disposable income of low-income families and may also adversely impact the ability of small communities and businesses to meet their obligations if their operating expenses are increasing faster than their income. Changes in the cost of money have the greatest impact on the mission area. As interest rates rise or fall, there is a clear impact on the cost of the financing provided by the mission area and the ability of new customers to afford the assistance they need. For instance, high interest rates reduce the ability of our existing direct loan borrowers to graduate to private sector credit. Changing interest rates will impact the subsidy rates of each program. Lower interest rates reduce the subsidy cost of direct loans, and increase the subsidy cost of guaranteed programs. Rural Development can partially ameliorate the impact of adverse economic conditions by increasing its loan servicing activities to minimize delinquencies.
Reductions in funding - Reductions in level of funding provided to the Rural Development agencies will reduce their ability to help rural America and to achieve their goals. Likewise, reductions in funding for Salaries and Expenses will limit the ability of the mission area to provide the staff and other resources needed to deliver the programs or achieve the anticipated level of performance. Reductions in program funding can be partially offset by efforts to increase the leveraging of agency funds with other sources of funds. Reductions in Salaries and Expenses can only be offset by the elimination of lower priority work efforts which may, in the long run, be to the detriment of the Government or its customers.
Coordination of Cross Cutting Program Activities: The partnerships and coordination with other organizations required for program delivery varies among agencies and by programs within the agencies. Most of the direct financial programs do not require a partner for program delivery.