Editorial: The State's Future Depends On Now

As long as deaths outnumber births, West Virginia's future is endangered

Charleston Daily Mail, May 30, 2005

When he was the city's mayor, Jay Goldman joked that Charleston was God's waiting room. Given the fact that the city is losing population even while its average age increases, there is truth in that remark.

The same can be said for the entire state. Numbers for 2003, recently released by the state's Bureau of Vital Statistics, show that once again, the number of people who died in West Virginia outnumbered the number of babies who were born.

The good news is that fewer babies died in infancy. In 2003, 153 infants died, an improvement on the 188 infant deaths the previous year.

Births are on the rise, with 711 more births in 2003 than there were in 2002.

But the number of deaths remained ahead of the number of births. Overall, 21,299 people died in 2003 vs. 20,986 newborns. This reflects the state's status as the oldest state in the union.

The state's economic exodus seems temporarily at bay. Overall, the state's population rose by about 8,500. That reflects a net immigration.

As beautiful as the green, wooded hills of West Virginia are, the bottom line is the bottom line. People cannot move to West Virginia unless it makes economic sense. That usually means jobs.

More jobs would mean more young people, which would boost the state's births while reducing the state's average age. Legislators should bear this in mind as they deal with workers' comp, tort reform and taxation.

The more competitive the state becomes, the younger it will appear to be.