CHARLESTON W.Va.
Experts in economics, education and welfare agree: a key to
improving West Virginia’s
long-struggling economy is developing the state’s “human capital.”
That means while the state wants young people to catch up to
national standards, West Virginia’s
adults are also in need of education and training to build and sustain new
industries.
A national study released last week by the Annie E. Casey
Foundation noted that in 2005, 39 percent of West
Virginia’s children live in homes “where no
parent has full-time, year-round employment,” which gives the state a rank
of 46th in the country. That is a slight improvement over 2000, when 40 percent
of the state’s parents were considered “idle.”
The Mountain State’s
dependence on seasonal work may play into its low ranking, said West
Virginia University
economist George Hammond.
“We’re a heavily rural state and sometimes what we see
in these rural states is that the informal economy tends to be relatively
large. There are opportunities or ways that individuals or families can make
their way without necessarily holding the types of full-time jobs we think
about as traditional full-time work,” Hammond
said.
While some people are able to lead relatively stable lives
through part-time seasonal work and bartering for goods, that isn’t the whole
story, Hammond said.
