West Virginia Public News Service – At the ripe old age of 79, Social Security is helping West Virginia residents and the economy. Read
While pensions have changed, jobs have been lost and homes have lost equity, a quarter of folks in the state rely on Social Security benefits. As the program celebrates another birthday, federal figures show it brings almost $6.5 billion a year to West Virginia – nearly 10 percent of the state’s total income.
Sean O’Leary, a policy analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said it’s enough to keep more than 100,000 West Virginians out of poverty. “West Virginia is one of the states where Social Security is really, really important. We have an older population, we’ve got a lot of retirees, and we have low income. And without that guarantee from Social Security, they can find themselves easily living in poverty.”
