West Virgina -economical situation (Parkersburg, Romney: crime, house, employment)

[David Kennedy]

gdude to answer your questions...yes...and yes.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by harborlady

"WV is #1 in for instance in free school breakfasts & lunches.

Not so according to the link below:'

StateMaster - Elementary & Secondary > Free Lunch Eligible (most recent) by state

[tallylady46]

I was looking through census reports and while there are some places in WV with 30-40% poverty rates, the overall rate is not anywhere near that (17%). The national average is 12%.

But if you want to judge a state based on its bad parts, what if I judged Indiana based on what I saw in Gary? Or Terre Haute? To be honest, after driving through Indiana, I did not get a great impression of that state, even after driving through the not so bad parts.

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

Not so according to the link below:'

StateMaster - Elementary & Secondary > Free Lunch Eligible (most recent) by state

HEYYYY NO FAIR! There are only 95.3 men to every 100 women in WV. No WAY I am getting stuck with the .3 guy!

I dont know where the other statistic came from. I just know you shouldnt begrudge free lunch for kids, because the payoff far outweighs the price. Levels the playing field, offsets the handicap the kid would have of parental economics. If the path to higher education is through their stomaches, so be it.

[LadyLinda]

Well, like any area there are high and low places Romney has more nursing homes than churches I think.. NO that cannot be true. There are churches in hollorin' distance from one another all over. If it is poor in placs, it is polical. They took out the factories where a woman could feed her family and stay off the welfare rolls. Men too. But they took all the shoe and sewing factories and I huess send the work to Inia. So that made it difficult for older residents. So they kicked back. All they knew was hard work
.

The young ones have to travel to work or be carpenters, maybe teachers.
Our kids actually have one huge thing going for them.. They schools are small enough and hometown enough that the kids are really smart. Strict study rules at home, not many places for kids to go get in trouble so they study and work,. My one son now lives in Florida, but he was transferred there by MCi and he is top of his dept, has the boat, 3 vehicles, etc telecommunications. 4 are in the construction business and own their own. Their preference. They have ambition and are creative. Most of the teachers are related I guess and the grades are mostly above average. 45 minutes away are cities where they can go to college, nursing schools, x-ray school
If you go thru the state and see what you think is poverty, it is just maw and paw sitting their in their paid for home relaxing after a life time of work. They don't care if the washer is on the front porch beside the couch and old chair. They are haooy , not poverty ridden. It is old country. Enough health care and soc. Sec, retirement, and their electric bill is only 50.00 and no rent. Low income housing is everywhere at under 100.00. This isn't poverty. We take care of out own.

[LadyLinda]

Originally Posted by harborlady

HEYYYY NO FAIR! There are only 95.3 men to every 100 women in WV. No WAY I am getting stuck with the .3 guy!

I dont know where the other statistic came from. I just know you shouldnt begrudge free lunch for kids, because the payoff far outweighs the price. Levels the playing field, offsets the handicap the kid would have of parental economics. If the path to higher education is through their stomaches, so be it.

The free breakfast and 1/2 price lunch has been in the system a long time. Some kids don't eat breakfast at home so their energy levels go down. That may be why they are well educated and make good grades. Mom tells me stories of the walking to school and having a biscuit from Mom's kitchen in their lunch bag. Things have improved.
Ithink MD has the breakfast now too.

[David Kennedy]

Do you think that those stats come from 'Cooked Books'?

Well, yes they do...
Unemployment is one of them...after 2 yrs of being on the roll, a person is dropped.
Then with him/her and thousands more the rates are adjusted to look better.
MANY give up and take their SSI government welfare check of $500 a month and 'Make Do'.
One of the guys working for me does that...I pay him $12 per hour cash, he lives in a nice apartment (costs $90 per month), rides his bicycle to work and cuts wood. He just gets by...but his network of customers will take care of him until his health fails...What an example of dire survival he is...he is only one of thousands here.

[Future Trooper]

thank you for all your guys's input i will record the information and use it for later studies! here are the stats for my state just incase you are wondering poverty in Indiana 11% down from 12% in 2006 poverty for my part of the state(Hendricks County) 4.5% for 2007 and expected to go to 3% by the end of 2008 Thank you for your comments and jokes!

[Hinton Bound]

I offer that anyone not employed after 6 months is not "unemployed", but "unemployable". There are jobs to be had everywhere, the "unemployed" simply don't want to do them. "The pay is too low", "it's not my kind of work", "I don't like that company"...those are the ones I hear the most. As with water, most things seek their own level. If the wage for your area is XX dollars, that is what you're worth in that area. You can budget your lifestyle for that amount, or move to a higher paying area. It amazes me that a person finds it more logical to NOT work, than to work for what they feel is beneath them. But then again unemployment figures are a political tool... and as my Opa said " Figures don't lie, but liars do figure..."
Mark

[italianbluesboy]

All of the people I work with in an engineering office in Beckley are middle class. So are most of our business associates and contacts. Almost all the people in the surrounding neighborhood where I live are middle class. And all of the people at my church are middle or upper class. My parents' and siblings' neighborhoods are actually upper class. The people I shop around at Krogers or JC Penny look middle class or upper class. I don't see any 40% poverty in the Beckley-Beaver-Daniels-Shady Spring area. What are you talking about? McDowell County?