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This study, titled “PINEY ROAD: WORK, EDUCATION, AND THE RE-MAKING OF THE SOUTHERN FAMILY” by Jacqueline J. Saindon, examines how work, education, and family dynamics have shaped the lives of rural Southern families, particularly Black families in Gresham County, Georgia. The research, funded by the Rural Economic Policy Program of the Aspen Institute and Ford Foundation, focuses on twelve women who worked in the poultry industry. It highlights the shift from a cotton-based agricultural economy to an industrial one, particularly the growth of poultry processing plants, which became major employers in the region. Key findings include:
- Impact of the Poultry Industry: Many women, often with limited education, started working in poultry plants due to a lack of other opportunities. These jobs, while providing income, involved harsh working conditions, unpredictable hours, and low wages, often leading to repetitive motion injuries.
- Education and Economic Development: The study explores the debate about whether low literacy rates deter or encourage low-skill industrial development. It concludes that low literacy and high school dropout rates are more closely tied to past and present employment opportunities, pressing family responsibilities, and the availability of relatively high-paying, low-skill jobs in poultry or textile plants, which disincentivize further education.
- Family Structures and Support: Long and unpredictable work hours in the poultry industry necessitated extended family networks. Women relied on mothers, sisters, or other relatives to care for children and manage households. This extended family support system, while crucial for coping, often limited personal time for the women and their children’s educational and social mobility.
- Challenges for the Younger Generation: While many children of these poultry workers finished high school and some pursued higher education, the study reveals that investment in education often only brings financial rewards if children are willing to move out of Gresham County. Staying in the county, often due to strong family ties, frequently means working multiple low-paying jobs, as finishing high school offers little salary advantage.
- Racial Disparities in Education: Black students faced discrimination in integrated schools through tracking systems and inadequate counseling, hindering their access to higher education and better job opportunities.
- Recommendations: The study advocates for attracting locally-run industries with a long-term commitment to the area, developing part-time training programs, expanding high school counseling, and fostering joint high school and technical degree programs to improve opportunities for the rural South.
Overall, the document portrays a cycle of “underdevelopment—southern style,” where intentional policies attracting low-skill, low-wage industries, combined with inadequate educational systems and strong family allegiances, limit upward mobility for many, despite their hard work and resilience.
