Yesterday, the Daily Mail published an editorial claiming that "family disintegration", or the lack of marriage among low-income West Virginians, is the central reason why the state ranks low in several social and economic welfare indicators, such as poverty, truancy, and crime to name a few. To make its case, The Daily Mail relied on…
Economic Security
As state lawmakers and others review and debate the findings of the recent education audit, it is important that they consider the economic and social conditions of our state's children. This is especially true when evaluating our state's K-12 education outcomes, which likely has more to do with the income of a student's parent than…
On November 9, 2012, Executive Director Ted Boettner presented to the Governor's Committee on Child Care Assistance to discuss a new report that looked at the impact of recent and future changes to the West Virginia Child Care Program.
Every day in West Virginia, thousands of low-income families rely on public child care assistance. In 2011, the West Virginia Child Care Program – which is funded primarily through the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and state matching funds – provided financial assistance to more than 24,000 children whose parents…
With seniors expected to make up nearly a quarter of West Virginia’s population by 2035, policymakers need to plan today to ensure seniors have a secure retirement, according to a new report by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and the West Virginia Partnership for Elder Living. The report examines the current economic…
Starting next year, the state Department of Health and Human Resources plans to cut child care subsidies, affecting 800 families and 1,400 children. According to state officials, the cuts are necessary due to a depletion of surplus federal funds and are expected to save the state $8 million. Could the state find $8 million in the budget…
Last year, legislation was introduced in Congress to apply the Social Security payroll tax to earnings above $250,000, to help alleviate Social Security's long term budget shortfall. Currently, wages over a certain yearly total ($110,100 this year) are exempted from Social Security payroll taxes. Raising or eliminating this cap could help strengthen Social Security's finances, but for…
West Virginia’s unemployment insurance program is in urgent need of re?tooling, especially with the state’s rapidly rising unemployment. Read
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy proposes key actions to strengthen early childhood programs. Read
Parents have an increasingly difficult time finding child care as the state’s child care providers are hard-pressed to keep their doors open and provide the quality of care important for the developing child. Read