(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

West Virginia has work to do in the coming year. Census data released earlier this month shows the state lost nearly 6,800 residents over the most recent year reported (July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021). By midsummer of this year, there were 1,782,959 Mountain State residents. It is a safe bet the number is even lower now.

It is not so much that people are leaving the state in droves — though there are too many leaving — but more the number of deaths far outpacing the number of births in the state. COVID-19 can share part of the blame for that, as population growth has slowed all over the country. Certainly we know the virus has had a significant impact in West Virginia. (We also know the rise of remote work created an opportunity for the state to recruit new residents. We had to pay some of those folks to move here.)

But the virus does not bear the blame alone. We are one of the top five oldest states in the country. So, in the period reported, there were 27,102 deaths in the state, and only 17,232 births. Fewer people are choosing to start families here.

Some young people are leaving and raising their families elsewhere. Some who are staying don’t find themselves in an economic position, or with a bright enough sense of the future, to be encouraged about starting a family.

While lawmakers have for a couple of years now pretended as though they are interested in making decisions and introducing legislation that will make the Mountain State more appealing as a place to live and raise children, the numbers show their actions have spoken louder than those words.

In less than two weeks, they’ll get another shot at it, as the 2022 legislative session begins. There is no arguing with the data. Lawmakers will have to be honest about what is fueling this trend, and thoughtful in their behavior and the changes they attempt to make, if they are to be part of the solution, rather than the problem.