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Has anyone read this book? If so, any thoughts? Since it's economics, it's way over my head. But it's a good read on WV's current economic policies and provides insight into some of the hurdles that we face as a state. It seems as though it's possible for the state to improve, it just takes time and policy changes. The chapter about only 54% of WV's able bodied personnel being part of the labor force was somewhat eye opening.
1.8 million...20% totally retired...16% on welfare...6% in prison...20% underage and being schooled.... that leaves 685,000 working...this is my estimate...Bailey...are their real numbers for this? thats 38% of the population working...and almost 60% of those would be working for the state of Wv...
Population under 18 (2006): 21.4%
Population 65 and older (2006): 15.4%
Persons below "poverty" line (2004): 16.2%
Unemployment Rate (2006): 4.9% (U.S. = 4.6%)
Federal Spending per capita (2004): $8,364 ( U.S. = $7,300)
Employment in government is shown as ~151,000, out of a labor force of ~807,000, or about 19%. The web page isn't specific, but it appears that is all levels of government (federal, state, and local).
I think the 16.2% below the poverty line might be where the "1 in 6 West Virginians is on welfare" that appeared in some post or another recently, may have come from. "On welfare" is a nebulous term, since there are a variety of social welfare programs (AFDC, SSI, etc.) that this could refer to. I believe the poster said his state (was it Indiana?) had only 1 in 35 on welfare. Well, not according to this source. The percent below the poverty line in Indiana in 2004 was 11.1%. That's less than WV, but more like 1 in 9 than 1 in 35.
I think the 151,000 in government includes teachers, since they're covered by the state pension plan salaries are set by the legislature. By the way, the government percentage is about 7% nationwide, vs 19% in WV.
But just the total numbers (labor force vs population) show the looming baby-boomer problem, not just for WV but for the entire country. In WV, there's an 800K labor force providing for a 1.8M population. In the US, the workforce is about 151M for a 300M population. As we baby boomers shift into retirement, there will be fewer and fewer workers providing for more and more retirees.
Hear that...but I like work and intend to do it until at least 70...there's too much to do...and I've already retired at 48, 53 and 58...too boring...just too boring and the nagging is incredible...wait and see...
A phone interview with the author of the book was on WVPR last year. The author really became enraged about some of the questions that were being asked of him.
I think Virginia's business tax is about 2 points less than West Virginia's. When one drives past Bluefield, WV on US 460 into Bluefield, VA one notices much of the industry is on the VA side of the line. I know that Joy has a repair shop there, Peformance drives is there. Also Carter Equipment is in VA. Fairchild moved from Beckley, WV to Glen Lyn, VA, also on 460. Actually Conn-Weld and Tabor are still in WV. But many have moved to Virginia.
I support WV becoming more pro-business, but business needs to pay their fair share, too. When the incenatives and tax breaks run out, so do the businesses. Is that what happened to the Excel Homes factory at Ghent???
Here are the latest numbers for the civilian labor workforce in WV from Workforce WV. The site also has a lot of good numbers county by county if anyone finds that interesting.
Total Labor Force 805,100 people with 43,200 or 5.4% unemployed. This data lists 146,200 working for the government.
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