Fikri: Persistently Poor, Left-behind, and Chronically Disconnected

In Persistently Poor, Left-behind and Chronically Disconnected, Kenan Fikri (Economic Innovation Group), provides an analysis of places—both rural and urban—experiencing persistent poverty across the United States, focusing on multiple factors contributing to their disconnection. Disconnection, in Fikri’s framework, refers to a lack of social and economic ties that results in isolation from the greater economy.

According to Fikri, although people may move in and out of poverty, certain geographic places are more susceptible to persistent poverty. Persistent poverty occurs when an area has elevated poverty rates (at least 20%) for three decades or more. Most studies only account for poverty at the county level, but Fikri includes both measurements by county and census track, providing a more accurate view of persistent poverty across the US.

The article explores three ways areas struggling with persistent poverty experience disconnection: commuting patterns, social networks, and job growth. Each reveals how local government and institutional segregation, which sorts families by socioeconomic status, concentrates disadvantages. Commuting data indicates the degree of access an area has to regional and national economies. Fikri argues that commuting flow reveals the local economy’s circulatory system and highlights barriers preventing residents from accessing opportunities.

Social networks are significant to understanding how poverty endures in certain places because they function as bridges, linking residents of low socioeconomic backgrounds to opportunities not available in their home communities. Without social connections that straddle economic classes, individual communities can remain poor even when the wider community is thriving.

Finally, job growth is also an indicator of places being left-behind, but variations across these areas create an inconsistent connection between job growth and persistent poverty. For example, Fikri notes that while job growth has declined in eastern rural counties in Appalachia and the Deep South, high poverty rates in these regions predate the downturn, underscoring the complexities of chronic economic disconnection.

Looking ahead, Fikri proposes a dual approach of strengthening foundations of economic development and reconnecting affected areas to the wider economy by establishing channels of growth and opportunity into persistently poor places. The author hopes that the concept of economic disconnection can shape policy frameworks to tackle persistent poverty.