Overall, West Virginia families were better off in 2000 than they were in 1990.

New data from the 2000 Census released Wednesday shows that both the median family income and per capita income increased during the last 10 years, when adjusted for inflation.

But families in some areas were left out.

About one-fifth of West Virginia's families with children under age 18 - or 21.4 percent - lived in poverty, according to the Census. That's a slight drop from 23.2 percent in 1990.

In some counties, conditions for children and families grew worse during the prosperous 1990s, according to the Census.

McDowell County continued to have the highest proportion of poor families with children - 47.5 percent.

That's an increase from the 44.8 percent of families with children who were poor in 1990.

McDowell is followed by Webster County with the second-highest rate of children who live in poor families, at 40.5 percent. That rate also increased from 40 percent. Mingo was third with 36.5 percent of its families with children living in poverty.

"We always say in Mingo, ‘Thank God for McDowell County,'" said Sister Janet Peterworth, director of ABLE Families in Kermit.

Parents in those counties work sporadically as small mines or other opportunities open and close, she said.

Her agency sees many families who have used up their five years of welfare benefits and are being cut off, or families who were unable to meet the obligations the state set for them to receive the benefit, so they are cut off.

"That just throws people into a tailspin," she said. While they are working, parents often try to buy furniture, improve their housing or buy or fix a vehicle. When they lose the job or public assistance, they often fall into debt.

"Any time there are financial issues, it's going to bring stress into the whole situation," Peterworth said. "That tension gets played out with the kids."

Poor, in this case, means $16,895 a year for a family of four, including two parents and two children.

The Census Bureau uses 48 income levels to determine poverty based on family size and the number of adults in the family. They are similar to poverty guidelines used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine who qualifies for welfare and other benefits.

It takes $36,238 for two adults and two small children to be self-sufficient in McDowell County, according to the West Virginia Self Sufficiency standard. In Kanawha County, it takes $41,927 for such a family to be self-sufficient.

Overall, West Virginia families were better off in 2000 than they were in 1990.

New data from the 2000 Census released Wednesday shows that both the median family income and per capita income increased during the last 10 years, when adjusted for inflation.

But families in some areas were left out.

About one-fifth of West Virginia's families with children under age 18 - or 21.4 percent - lived in poverty, according to the Census. That's a slight drop from 23.2 percent in 1990.

In some counties, conditions for children and families grew worse during the prosperous 1990s, according to the Census.

McDowell County continued to have the highest proportion of poor families with children - 47.5 percent.

That's an increase from the 44.8 percent of families with children who were poor in 1990.

McDowell is followed by Webster County with the second-highest rate of children who live in poor families, at 40.5 percent. That rate also increased from 40 percent. Mingo was third with 36.5 percent of its families with children living in poverty.

"We always say in Mingo, ‘Thank God for McDowell County,'" said Sister Janet Peterworth, director of ABLE Families in Kermit.

Parents in those counties work sporadically as small mines or other opportunities open and close, she said.

Her agency sees many families who have used up their five years of welfare benefits and are being cut off, or families who were unable to meet the obligations the state set for them to receive the benefit, so they are cut off.

"That just throws people into a tailspin," she said. While they are working, parents often try to buy furniture, improve their housing or buy or fix a vehicle. When they lose the job or public assistance, they often fall into debt.

"Any time there are financial issues, it's going to bring stress into the whole situation," Peterworth said. "That tension gets played out with the kids."

Poor, in this case, means $16,895 a year for a family of four, including two parents and two children.

The Census Bureau uses 48 income levels to determine poverty based on family size and the number of adults in the family. They are similar to poverty guidelines used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine who qualifies for welfare and other benefits.

It takes $36,238 for two adults and two small children to be self-sufficient in McDowell County, according to the West Virginia Self Sufficiency standard. In Kanawha County, it takes $41,927 for such a family to be self-sufficient.

West Virginia's welfare payments to families are about 37 percent of the federal poverty rate.

Paul Nusbaum, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Resources, has said he may have to cut that amount even further if the state Supreme Court requires the state to restore benefits to families who have been cut off welfare.

Two McDowell County families filed a class-action lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to force Nusbaum to restore benefits to families who were cut off after five years and who are still unable to support themselves.

The cutoffs violate the state constitution and were not carried out properly, the suit says.

"We should care about this because we want all of our children to be able to have the same opportunities so that they can succeed and be active members of the community," said Margie Hale, director of the West Virginia Kids Count Fund.

"Children who live in poverty are at greater risk of not being able to take advantage of school when they get there. Therefore, they will have school failure, which can lead to teen pregnancy, getting into trouble with the law, dropping out of school, being idle and ultimately being dependent."

Gov. Bob Wise's administration recently cut child-care subsidies to working parents and then more than $27 million worth of services to poor families and abused and neglected children.

Some of the cuts were announced as part of an effort to keep the state from overspending its welfare budget. Nusbaum has blamed that overbudgeting on Gov. Cecil Underwood's administration.

Except for Putnam, other counties with the lowest family poverty rates were in the eastern part of the state.

Pendleton County had the lowest rate, with just 9.8 percent of its 968 families in poverty, followed by Putnam at 10.5 percent, Jefferson and Morgan at 10.9 percent, Berkeley at 13 percent and Hardy at 13.8 percent.

Kanawha, with the most people, also had the most poor families with children, 4,559 poor families, or more than 18 percent of the 25,000 families with children in the county. That's the state's 13th-lowest rate.

"I think people tend to fall into a kind of long-term depression," Peterworth said of some families in the southern counties. "There's a hopelessness. People think ‘I've tried, but I'm tired of trying and I'm sick of trying,' It leads to additional tobacco abuse, alcohol abuse and physical abuse."

To contact staff writer Dawn Miller, use e-mail or call 348-5117.