Abstract
This paper presents a study of Ontario non-farm ruralresidents’ perceived quality of life. The researchsought to understand residents’ perceived quality oflife both in absolute and relative terms. Measurementfocused on indicators of satisfaction with personallife, community and environment and quality of life incomparison to others. A pre-tested questionnaire wasmailed to a random sample of non-farm rural residentsin Brock and Uxbridge Townships, which lie within onehour’s drive northeast of metropolitan Toronto. Nearly forty-two (41.8) percent of the residentsreturned completed questionnaires. The majority ofrespondents indicated they were satisfied with mostaspects of the quality of their lives. The demographiccharacteristics that were consistently found to havesignificant associations with indicators of absolutequality of life and relative quality of life wereincome, length of residency, presence or number ofchildren in the home and township. Other demographiccharacteristics almost as consistently found to besignificantly associated with indicators of absoluteand relative quality of life were gender, followed byage, marital status, amount of land surrounding thehome and education. Comparing objectively-baseddemographic characteristics and more subjectivelyderived indicators of absolute and relative quality oflife provided a useful way of understanding quality oflife perceptions of Ontario rural non-farmresidents.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acock, A. and F. Deseran: 1986, ‘Off-farm employment by women and marital stability’, Rural Sociology 51(3), pp. 314-327.
Barrett, S.: 1994, Paradise: Class, Commuters and Ethnicity in Rural Ontario (University of Toronto Press Inc., Toronto).
Beesley, K. B.: 1991, Rural and Urban Fringe Studies in Canada (Geography Department, Geographical Monographs, No. 21, York University).
Bell, M.: 1992, ‘The fruit of difference: The rural-urban continuum as a system of identity’, Rural Sociology 57(1), pp. 65-82.
Bokemeier, J. and R. Maurer: 1987, ‘Marital quality and conjugal labour involvement of rural couples’, Family Relations 36(4), pp. 417-424.
Brooks, N. L., T. A. Stucker and J. A. Bailey: 1986, ‘Income and well-being of farmers and the farm financial crisis’, Rural Sociology 51(4), pp. 391-405.
Brown, R. B., H. R. Geertsen and R. S. Krannich: 1989, ‘Community satisfaction and social integration in a boomtown: a longitudinal analysis’, Rural Sociology 54(4), pp. 568-586.
Coughenour, C. M. and L. E. Swanson: 1988, ‘Rewards, values, and satisfaction with farm work’, Rural Sociology 53(4), pp. 442-459.
Coughler, P. H.: 1992, Comparative Analysis of Dairy Farm Family Support Systems: New York and Ontario, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Agricultural Economics and Business, University of Guelph.
Crider, D. M.: 1991, ‘Rurality and well-being during the middle years of life’, Social Indicators Research 24, pp. 253-268.
Davies, S. and M. Yeates: 1991, ‘Exurbanites as a component of migration: A case study in Oxford County, Ontario’, The Canadian Geographer 35(2), pp. 177-186.
Dahms, F.: 1988, The Heart of the Country, From the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Coast — Rediscovering the Towns and Countryside of Canada (Deneau Publishers and Co. Ltd., Toronto).
Davis, J. A.: 1981, ‘The parental families of Americans in birth cohorts 1890-1955: A categorical, linear equation model estimated, from the NORC general social survey’, Social Indicators Research 9, pp. 395-453.
Davis, E. E. and M. Fine-Davis: 1991, ‘Social indicators of living conditions in Ireland with European comparisons, Social Indicators Research 25, pp. iii-365.
Filson, G.: 1993, ‘Comparative differences in Ontario farmers’ environmental attitudes’, Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Ethics 6(2), pp. 165-184.
Filson, G. and M. McCoy: 1993, ‘Farmers quality of life: sorting out the differences by class’, The Rural Sociologist 13 (Spring), pp. 15-36.
FitzSimons, J. G.: 1983, Issues in a Rural — Urban Fringe. Studies in Rural Adjustment (Geography Department Report No. 15 and School of Rural Planning and Development Publication No. 112, University of Guelph).
Fletcher, S.: 1992, Cumulative Effects of Rural Residential Development on Agriculture, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Rural Planning and Development, University of Guelph.
Garkovich, L. and J. Bokemeier: 1988, ‘Agriculturalmechanization and American farm women’s economic roles’, in W. Haney and J. Knowles (eds.), Women and Farming: Changing Roles, Changing Structures (Westview Press, Inc., Boulder), pp. 211-228.
McCoy, M.: 1992, The Effects of Non-farm Employment on the Quality of Life of Farm Families in Western Ontario, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph.
McCoy, M. and G. Filson: 1996, ‘Working off the farm: impacts on quality of life’, Social Indicators Research 37, pp. 149-163.
McMullan, J. P.: 1994, Expectation and Satisfaction of Exurbanites in a Rural Living Environment, Unpublished Masters Thesis, School of Landscape Architecture, University of Guelph.
Richmond, L.: 1995, The Perceived Quality of Life of Non-farm Rural Residents in Brock and Uxbridge Townships, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph.
Sofranko, A. J. and J. D. Williams: 1980, Rebirth of Rural America: Rural Migration in the Midwest (North Central Regional Centre for Rural Development, Iowa State University).
Smit, B., A. Joseph and S. Alexander: 1984, Non-farm Residential Development Service Provision, Taxes and Policy: The Case of Puslinch Township (Department of Geography, Occasional Paper No. 4, University of Guelph).
Statistics Canada: 1994, ‘Canadians on the move’, Catalogue number 96-309E (Minister of Industry, Science and Technology, Ottawa).
Wilkening, E. A. and D. McGranahan: 1978, ‘Correlates of subjective well-being in northern Wisconsin’, Social Indicators Research 5, pp. 211-234.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Richmond, L., Filson, G., Paine, C. et al. Non-Farm Rural Ontario Residents’ Perceived Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research 50, 159–186 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007043530451
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007043530451