West Virginia's poverty rate increases to 19.1 percent

The Mountain State's poverty rate has not declined since the end of the Great Recession.

Sean O'Leary, senior policy analyst for the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, said he had not expected the poverty rate to increase.

"We will really have to dig in there and figure out what is causing that," he said.

West Virginia's child poverty rate in 2017 was 25.5 percent, up 1.9 percentage points from 2016. An estimated 91,734 children lived in poverty in 2017. West Virginia had the fourth highest child poverty rate among the 50 states in 2017.

O'Leary said looking at the hard numbers doesn't give any indication as to why child poverty increased, but said it's a strong possibility it is linked to the opioid epidemic.

"It's always been at about this level for about a decade, and it's always possible it will increase one year then decrease the next," he said. "The fact it's been stuck at this level while the economy is supposedly growing is troubling."

Poverty remains a more serious problem for blacks in West Virginia. The state's poverty rate for blacks was 31.7 percent in 2017.

Women in West Virginia face higher poverty rates than men. In 2017, West Virginia's poverty rate for women was 20.9 percent, compared with 17.2 percent for men.

Seniors, on the other hand, are less likely to be in poverty than the rest of the state. The state's senior poverty rate in 2017 was 10.2 percent. An estimated 34,792 West Virginians over the age of 65 lived in poverty in 2017.

O'Leary said this is thanks in part to Social Security.

Poverty rates decrease for adults with higher levels of education. In 2017, the poverty rate for West Virginians with at least a bachelor's degree was 5.2 percent, while it was 17.6 percent for those with just a high school diploma. Poverty was highest among those who did not graduate from high school, at 32.9 percent.

At the same time, unemployed West Virginians are five times more likely to be living in poverty as employed West Virginians. In 2017 the poverty rate for employed West Virginians was 8.0 percent, while it was 42.6 percent for the unemployed.

The numbers show West Virginia is not keeping up with national growth. Nationally, the income of a median U.S. household rose for a third straight year in 2017 as solid economic growth helped put more people into full-time jobs. West Virginia's median household income was an estimated $43,469 in 2017, $16,867 below the national average and the lowest in the nation.

The median household income for a family in the Huntington-Ashland metro area was $40,646 and the area has a poverty rate of 20.9 percent.

Del. Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, said the numbers show the disparity between the haves and the have-nots in the state.

"We think sometimes in the more urban areas, like Huntington or Charleston, there might be less people in poverty, but spending some time in the schools here, you find the percentage of kids coming from homes below that (poverty) line is a lot," Lovejoy said.

Lovejoy said the Legislature needs to ensure it is not solely focusing on policies that assist big business, but also working families.

"We have to focus on policies that help working families, whether it be on child care, food access, education access - it has to be a big part going forward or we will continue to see the numbers go up," he said.

Both Lovejoy and O'Leary mentioned a state-earned income tax credit, a benefit for working people with low to moderate income, as a specific policy the state could adopt to help address poverty.

Follow reporter Taylor Stuck on Twitter and Facebook @TaylorStuckHD.