Financial and policy discrimination in favour of urban areas has been accompanied by a decline in provision for youth in rural areas of England, resulting in deprivations of opportunity, mobility, and household. Lack of public transport and the escalating costs of motoring are the most important factors in depriving rural youth access to opportunities for employment, educational improvement, domestic requirements, and leisure. Low monies, poor housing, stressed families, and low educational aspirations correlate with the incidence of low educational attainment, and remoteness further discourages rural youth from studying for higher qualifications. Low wages and high costs of goods and transport in rural areas are basic causes of rural poverty, and access to information about welfare rights is more difficult for young people in rural areas than in urban areas. Lack of adequate housing has resulted in many young people living at home in unsatisfactory conditions or moving to cities and towns. Decreasing agricultural employment has not been replaced by alternative employment opportunities, and unemployment problems must be alleviated by greater use of local resources for economic development and greater co-ordination between policies of various government departments concerned with rural affairs. (JD)