What’s
Promising
Of West Virginia’s three representatives in the U.S. House
of Representatives in fall 2003, one was a woman, and one-third of
all the state’s high level appointed executive officials were
women.
In West Virginia, children who are eligible under federal rules are
twice as likely to receive child care subsidies as they are nationally.
Women own a larger proportion of businesses in West Virginia than
in all but eleven states.
West Virginia is one of eleven states that require health insurance
companies to cover infertility treatments.
West Virginia women are among the least likely in the country to
have Chlamydia or AIDS.
What’s Disappointing
West Virginia women are among the least likely in the country to
vote, and as of fall
2002, the state had no statewide elected officials who were women.
West Virginia women are among the least likely to work as professionals
and managers, and they have the lowest overall labor force participation
rate in the country.
At 30 cents per dollar, the wage gap between men’s and women’s
earnings is even larger in West Virginia than nationally at 27 cents.
Women in West Virginia have the lowest levels of educational attainment
in the country.
Women in West Virginia are much more likely to live in poverty than
women nationally.
Women in West Virginia are among the most likely in the country to
die of heart disease or lung cancer, to have diabetes, and to experience
activities limitations due to their health status.
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