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As the bureaucrats at the U.S. Census Bureau sort through the data collected not just in this most recent census but over the past several decades, a fascinating report has been released on "Persistent Poverty in Counties and Census Tracts."
As one might expect, West Virginia has quite a share.
"While definitions vary, typically, counties are considered to be in persistent poverty if they maintained poverty rates of 20% or more for the past 30 years," the report reads. The 30 years studied were 1989 to 2019.
During that period, at least 20% of residents have lived in poverty in Barbour, Braxton, Clay, Fayette, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mingo, Monongalia, Summers and Webster counties. While Monongalia might come as a surprise, most of the rest of the list is predictable.
"Poverty status is determined by comparing annual income to a set of dollar values that vary by family size, the number of children in the household, and the age of the householder. If a family's before-tax money income is less than the dollar value of their threshold, then that family and every individual in it are considered to be in poverty," the report says. In other words, the Census Bureau did not just determine a dollar amount that means "poverty" and run with it.
Here in the Mountain State, such a report brings data to an idea most understand but could not quite articulate. Our struggles have been going on for so long that they cannot be blamed on one presidential administration -- not even one political philosophy. This data stretches from the end of the Reagan presidency through five other administrations -- three Republican, two Democratic. And those whose families have been here for generations know the problem stretches back many more than 30 years.
Sadly, the Census Bureau report does not offer suggestions for solving the problem. That part is up to us. It won't come from clinging to the past.
If we are to shake off decades and generations of persistent poverty in too much of our state, we've got to forge a new future for West Virginia.