A Picture of Poverty in Horry County

April 24, 2014

Notes on Data and Sources

▪ Unless otherwise specified, all data contained in this presentation was taken from the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Community Survey (ACS)

▪ ACS estimates are from 2012, the last full year’s data available at the county level as of 4/25/2014.

▪ Because ACS data are meant to bridge the gaps between census years and are gathered annually, estimates used here are based on the previous 12 months. Thus the ACS 2012 estimates measure poverty in the previous 12 months (2012 calendar year) only.

▪ In measures of race, “White” includes respondents identifying as “Hispanic”

What is Poverty? General Definition:

1. Shortage of commodities or basic needs: food, clothing, shelter

2. Lack of access to education and employment

3. Deprived of goods and services that other members of society take for granted

How Do We Measure Poverty?

▪ 1964: Mollie Orshansky developed measure based on assumption that families spend 1/3 of income for food– In other words, (3 * amount spent on food) = poverty line

▪ What counts as income?– Pre-tax earnings– Social insurance benefits– Cash from public assistance– Pension or retirement incomes– Interest, dividends, royalties, rents, trusts– Educational assistance– Alimony and child support

▪ Increased every year for inflation

What is Poverty? U.S. Specific, Official Definition

Poverty in the United States

Poverty in South Carolina

All persons

18.3%(18.0 – 18.6)

Children (aged 0 – 17)

26.8%(26 – 27.6)

Poverty in Horry County

All persons

19.6%(17.98 – 21.3)

Children (aged 0 – 17)

32.5%(28.7 – 36.3)

1989 1999 20100

5

10

15

20

25

South Carolina

Horry County

Relative Poverty Over Time

Relative Poverty by County

County All Persons

Children

Horry 19.6% 32.5%

Georgetown

19.8% 35.0%

Florence 20.0% 29.1%

Darlington 25.3% 34.7%

Marion 26.0% 44.3%

NeighborsCounty All

PersonsChildren

Dorchester 11.4% 16.9%

York 13.0 17.2

Beaufort 13.1 22.1

Berkeley 13.8 20.9

Lexington 14.6 21.4

Top 5 (least poverty)

County All Persons

Children

Bamberg 29.2% 40.3%

Lee 29.8 40.1

Clarendon 30.0 44.8

Williamsburg 30.9 41.7

Allendale 41.1 50.6

Bottom 5 (most poverty)

Relative Poverty by County

Floyd’s Crossroad

s

Loris

Longs

Little River

Myrtle Beach

Conway East

Conway

Aynor

Poverty by County Subdivision

Why are the Poor Poor?

Social Explanations

▪ Culture of poverty and difficult mobility– Generational problem;

way-of-life

– Rooted in indifference, alienation, apathy, irresponsibility

▪ Family structure

▪ Discrimination

Economic Explanations

▪ Barriers to work (transportation, child

care, substance abuse, domestic instability)

▪ Low productivity– Human capital theory: knowledge, skills,

training, work habits, abilities appropriate to the prevailing economy (e.g., deindustrialization via W.J. Wilson)

▪ Economic stagnation (i.e., no job/wage growth)

▪ Spatial mismatch

Horry County: Poverty by Family Status

PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES AND PEOPLE WHOSE INCOME IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS IS BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL

All families 11.6%

With related children under 18 years 21.6%

With related children under 5 years only 24.9%

Married couple families 5.1%

With related children under 18 years 8.9%

With related children under 5 years only 7.9%

Families with female householder, no husband present 34.7%

With related children under 18 years 43.7%

With related children under 5 years only 51.9%

Horry County: Poverty By Race (White and Black only)

72%

28%

Poverty by Race

WhiteBlack

15%

85%

Poverty - White only

poornonpoor

38%

63%

Poverty - Black only

poornonpoor

Horry County: Educational Attainment

30%

34%

28%

7%

Educational Attainment of those in Poverty

Less than High SchoolHigh SchoolSome CollegeCollege plus

32.3% 16.1% 11.5% 5.0%

67.7% 83.9% 88.5% 95.0%

Poverty by Educational Attainment

poor nonpoor

Horry County: Poverty and Employment Status

40.7%Of those living below the poverty

line in Horry County are employed

12.8%Of those living below the poverty

line in Horry County are unemployed

46.0%Of those living below the poverty

line in Horry County are not in the labor

force

Horry County: Poverty and Employment Status

15.6%Of married family

households below the poverty line had at least one partner working full time

48.2%Of married family

households below the poverty line had both partners

working at least part-time

61.8%Of single female-headed households below the poverty

line had mom working at least part-time

Horry County: Wages/Earnings and Job Quality?

MEDIAN EARNINGS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (IN 2012 Inflation adjusted Dollars)

 

Less than high school graduate 16,659

High school graduate (includes equivalency) 22,041

Some college or associate's degree 27,226

Bachelor's degree 37,081

Graduate or professional degree 49,880

Horry

County

median

approx.

$42K

A few other interesting statistics…

34.8%

of the poor in Horry County had no health insurance coverage in 2011 – 2012 (not even Medicaid or Medicare)

34.3%of veterans aged 18 – 54 in Horry County are poor

40.1% The average portion of income a low-income to working poor family

spends on child care each month