The poverty rate in Virginia has ranged between 10 percent and 11 percent over the last decade. Specifically, the report released by the U.S Central Bureau in 2019 showed that Virginia’s poverty rate had gone down by one percent. This rate has been just below the 12 percent national rate, which makes it rank well compared to some other states with higher poverty rates. Very few states registered an increase in poverty rates, including Nevada and Alaska. The poverty status used to come up with these rates is based on income level and family size. Even after the expansion of Virginia's Medical program, there still lacks any notable reduction in the number of residents without health insurance.
Income inequality has continued to grow in Virginia over the past years. The widening inequality has seen richer households have significantly bigger incomes compared to the poorest households (Yandle, 2019) . For Instance, the richest 5 percent of households have 13.4 times bigger income than the poorest 20 percent of households. This is 4.5 times larger than the middle 20 percent of households (Marshall, 2015) . This clearly shows that there exist two extremes that are significantly unequal in terms of income distribution.
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Various efforts have been made in an attempt to reduce poverty levels in Virginia. The expansion of the Medical program increases the number of residents who have health insurance. This will help them access health care services affordably. The Virginia Employment Commission provides financial support for individuals who are unemployed until they find suitable employment. This helps them meet their daily needs. Moreover, there are efforts by the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis to push for public policies aimed at further reducing poverty in Virginia. Several strategies could be employed to further reduce poverty levels in Virginia. Increasing the minimum wage per hour to around $10.50 would help residents support their families. A proper work schedule should also be put in place to avoid low wage and hourly jobs that tend to be unpredictable and unreliable.
References
Marshall, R. (2015). Back to shared prosperity: The growing inequality of wealth and income in America. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315706214
Yandle, P. (2019). Hard, hard religion: Interracial Faith in the poor south by John Hayes. West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies , 13 (1), 114-116. https://doi.org/10.1353/wvh.2019.0013
