WASHINGTON -- A new study indicates the rural South has a bigger percentage of families fighting poverty than any other region in the nation.

The Brookings Institution looked at earned income tax credits, or EITC -- a federal benefit designed to help working families get out of poverty.

Researchers found that low-income working families live in large cities and rural areas in nearly equal numbers, but the percentage of rural Southern residents who were poor was much larger than in urban areas.

The numbers from 2001 show that nearly one-third of all families in the rural South were poor enough to receive federal help.

In the Midwest and Northeast, EITC earners were generally concentrated in large cities. In the West, they were dispersed relatively evenly among large cities and suburbs, smaller metros, and rural areas.

One of the researchers said the data should be a reality check to lawmakers. He said it shows that the working poor don't just live in depressed inner cities.

Overall, more urban families across the nation claimed the tax credit than those living in rural areas. But the rural South showed the deepest level of poverty of any one region.

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