West Virginia Center for Civic Life
The West Virginia. Center for Civic Life is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that helps engage our citizens in community discussions of important public issues that affect our state and nation.
Think. Talk. Act.
How do we create opportunities for young adults in West Virginia?
After decades of West Virginia’s young people moving out of the state, we now have fewer
people under the age of 18 and the oldest median population of all the states in the nation,
according to the US Census. The percentage of residents past retirement age greatly
exceeds US averages, while West Virginia has low percentages of children and young
adults beginning their careers and raising their families.
According to a 2002 poll conducted for The Herald-Dispatch, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, and WMUL-FM, today’s youth plan to continue the trend of migration out of the state. Seventeen percent of the young adults surveyed say it is probable or very probable that they will move out of the state in the next five years.
Our forums have focused on three different approaches for creating opportunities for young adults in west Virginia:
- Building career and advancement opportunities
- Building connections to the rest of the world
- Builing individual and community strengths
Civic engagement can make opportunities for our young adults and keep them in West Virginia.
Creating opportunities for young adults in West Virginia is one of the issues developed by The West Virginia Center for Civic Life for discussion and action in deliberative forums.