West Virginia can create a more prosperous state if the strength of working families and the policies that support them become a priority. This is according to a West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy report that details seven policies to reverse the top-down approach that has left the average West Virginian behind. Since 2006, West Virginia…
Income and Work
A 2016 federal rule would have raised the salary threshold below which workers are automatically eligible for overtime pay—from $23,660 to $47,476 per year—restoring some of the coverage to inflation. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, workers eligible for overtime must be paid "time-and-a-half" or 1.5 times their regular pay rate for each hour of work…
Sustained economic gains and strong federal and state programs have led to welcome progress in the nationwide fight against poverty over the last several years. This is good news. But West Virginia isn’t sharing in the national progress, as poverty here remains stagnant. And actions from Congress and the Trump administration threaten to increase poverty…
For Immediate Release Media Contact: Caitlin Cook, 304.543.4879 Sustained economic gains and strong federal and state programs have led to welcomed progress in the nationwide fight against poverty over the last several years. This is good news. But West Virginia is not sharing in the national progress, as poverty here remains stagnant. And actions from…
Poverty is a persistent problem in West Virginia, where tens of thousands of West Virginians live in poverty because their jobs do not pay a living wage. Read the full report. This 10th annual State of Working West Virginia focuses on low-wage work, including demographics of those who do the work; the industries that employ…
A persistent question for those who pondered West Virginia’s fate is a simple: why, in a state rich in natural resources, are West Virginians so poor? For more than a century several explanations have been developed by natives and interested “outsiders.” Read the report. This report, the ninth annual investigation of The State of Working…
This report is the eighth in an annual series that examines the state of West Virginia’s economy. While previous editions examined data on employment, income, productivity, job quality and other aspects of the economy as they impact working people, this issue is an in-depth look at one specific economic measure - West Virginia’s labor force…
In honor of Women's Equality Day, recognizing the certification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) released a new report on women in unions. The report found that women in unions earn more than women who are not in a union in every state including West…
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its employment and unemployment survey for July 2015 and the news for West Virginia's economy continues to be bad. West Virginia not only has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 7.5 percent, it is also the only state to have lost a statistically significant number of…
“Right-to-Work” laws do not guarantee jobs for workers. Instead they prohibit unions and employers from including a provision in contracts that requires employees who benefit from union representation to pay for their fair share toward those costs. PDF of Fast Facts. Some state lawmakers argue that if West Virginia adopted a so-called “right-to-work” (RTW) law…