Families in the New Rural Community

This chapter examines how the transformation of the rural social fabric in process challenges the maintenance of a viable family life in rural areas. Family life in rural communities has undergone fundamental changes, making questionable whether some households can provide basic support to their members. Takie Sugiyama Lebra argues that the labor bank provides form of "human insurance" that links autonomous households in reciprocal exchanges. Local businesses have either changed management or closed so that it is unlikely that rural families are dealt with according to the traditional criteria of personal reputation, community contribution, or background. The changes outlined make continued rural residence less viable for young people through loss of the social benefits that tie them to agricultural communities. Rural communities that situate schools outside village limits must blame themselves for negative outcomes. Rural communities have historically provided a highly valued and desired life for people. Young families only reluctantly leave that setting when economic demands force out-migration.