The Cycle of Out-Migration
What happens to small rural towns when they lose such a large percentage of their population over such a long period of time?
The initial loss and lack of jobs in the farm economy starts the first wave of population loss, especially among skilled workers and youth who head to urban areas and beyond in search of work. Their departure increases the average age of the remaining population. Deaths begin to exceed births, and the local population shrinks even further.
With a smaller tax base and fewer customers, key government functions and crucial private sector services become unsustainable. Schools, hospitals, and post offices close or consolidate their services. Grocery stores and restaurants close their doors.
Both public and private investment decrease, or shift from future-oriented investments, such as infrastructure and education of the young, to less productive expenditures, such as income payments to individuals. And over the long-term, this lack of investment contributes to even more people leaving in search of work and opportunities elsewhere, continuing.
These are serious problems. Left unaddressed a community can reach a point where, because of continued out-migration, it no longer possesses the critical mass it needs to sustain and reproduce itself. And so it begins to decline.
But this doesn’t have to happen. Our government could back a national farm policy that supports a network of family-owned and operated food producers. This would give a much-needed boost to the farm economy.
Government should also do for rural areas what it did for urban areas a generation ago. At the time, our cities were losing people and jobs, and it was viewed as a national crisis. Our leaders called for “urban renewal,” ultimately committing billions of dollars to this cause. And this national call to action made a difference.
We can and should do the same for rural towns fighting against out-migration in the Heartland.
