Virginia
State Government
Governor
Glenn Youngkin (R)
State Senate
21
Democrats,
19
Republicans
State House
49
Democrats,
51
Republicans
Economic well-being - Virginia
Extreme poverty rate
0.06
Food insecurity
0.121
Minimum wage
12.4
Percent of working families under 200% of the poverty line
0.241
Poverty rate
9.7%
Unemployment rate
3.6
Number of Black or African American children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Number of Hispanic or Latino children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Percent of individuals who are uninsured
6.9
Poverty by demographic - Virginia
Child poverty rate
0.12
Number of Asian and Pacific Islander children below 200% poverty
18000
Number of Black or African American children below 200% poverty
164000
Number of Hispanic or Latino children below 200% poverty
121000
Senior poverty rate
9.5 %
Women in poverty
4,360,482
Bluefield Daily Telegraph, March 24, 2015: W.Va. low-income kids at risk of falling behind in school
"A report says one-third of West Virginia schoolchildren under age 6 live in poor households and are at risk of falling significantly behind their classmates' achievements.The West Virginia KIDS COUNT's annual report on children's wellbeing says the vocabularies of children as young as 18 months from low-income families are already several months behind their peers, and that continues throughout their educations."
Inside Higher Ed, March 4, 2015: Socioeconomic Gaps in Virginia Higher Ed
"Like their peers across the country, Virginia public institutions have responded to state funding reductions in recent years by raising tuition. A new analysis released Wednesday shows, in stark detail, how those increased costs to students are impairing the success of students in the state, particularly low-income students."
The Washington Post, July 15, 2014: Montgomery schools may explore boundary changes to address achievement gap
"Montgomery schools have experienced a major demographic shift over the past decade. Forty nine percent of students are black or Hispanic. More than a third of the student population is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Most minority and low-income students live and attend school in the eastern part of the county, and their schools for the most part have the lowest test scores."
The Roanoke Times, July 07, 2013: (Op-Ed) Quality Pre-K: the foundation of a competitive, compassionate Virginia
"Alarmingly, approximately 24 percent of Virginia's economically disadvantaged children failed to meet third-grade Standards of Learning in reading in the 2011-12 school year - a critical shortcoming foretelling future poor performance. This failure rate contributes directly to the $5 billion to $9.9 billion the Annie E. Casey Foundation estimates that childhood poverty costs the state of Virginia each year."
The Washington Post, June 26, 2013: Va. Superintendents worry grading scale will only measure poverty
"As Virginia's Board of Education begins to develop a formula for calculating letter grades for each of its public schools by fall 2014, superintendents across the state are getting nervous. The A to F scale, which was approved by the General Assembly earlier this year, is intended to give parents an easy-to-understand summary of the varying quality of each of the state's schools. But school leaders are worried that the measures will be more of a reflection of how many poor students they serve."
The Washington Post, May 09, 2013: Report: U.Va. 1 of nation's least socioeconomically diverse public schools; U. of Richmond OK
"The University of Virginia remains one of the nation's least socioeconomically diverse public schools, according to a new report that also commends the University of Richmond for serving low-income students."