New Data Shows S.C. Child Poverty Rate Nearly Cut in Half by Safety Net Programs and Tax Policies
February 25, 2015
CHARLESTON, SC – A report released today urges policy makers to permanently adopt an updated poverty measure – the Supplemental Poverty Measure – to more accurately capture the effect of safety net programs and tax policies on families. Released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the new KIDS COUNT© Data Snapshot,Measuring Access to Opportunity in the United States, shows the government’s official poverty measure does not provide the accurate information policy makers need to measure the success of anti-poverty programs at the state or federal level. Children’s Trust is the KIDS COUNT partner in South Carolina.
“Critical safety net programs alleviate the devastating effects of poverty, including poor health outcomes, low educational attainment and increased risk of child abuse and neglect,” said Sue Williams, chief executive officer of Children’s Trust of South Carolina. “Accurate and updated poverty measures must be used to show the full effect — successes and limitations — of anti-poverty programs.”
The current federal poverty measure is based on the percentage of income that families spent on food in the 1960s. The measure needs to be expanded to include important non-cash assistance such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and housing and child care subsidies, Williams added.
According to the current poverty measure, 31 percent of South Carolina’s children are living in poverty. The updated Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for a number of social programs, brings the percentage down to 17 percent.
“One effective anti-poverty intervention currently not available to families in South Carolina is a state earned income tax credit,” Williams said. “Children’s Trust, along with partners across our state, support implementing the state earned income tax credit, or EITC, so working families have more access to concrete support such as food and housing. Research shows when families are strong and stable, the likelihood of child abuse and neglect occurring is reduced.”
Children’s Trust, along with the United Way Association of S.C., the Institute for Child Success and partners across the state, support the state EITC as part of its Early Childhood Common Agenda, which was presented to S.C. legislators this session.
“This report should give us hope that we really can reduce poverty. We already have tools to do it, and they work,” said Tim Ervolina, president and chief executive officer of the United Way Association of South Carolina. “For instance, the report documents the powerful impact of the federal EITC on child poverty. And it demonstrates why we need a state EITC as well — so hard-working, lower-income families in South Carolina can keep more of the wages they’ve earned.”
Today’s report supplements a previously-released report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Creating Opportunities for Families: A Two Generation Approach.
“The Supplemental Poverty Measure is an important next step in guaranteeing through measurements that more children are on the pathway to success and critical investments in our state and nation’s future prosperity are safeguarded,” Williams said.
Measuring Access to Opportunity in the United States is available at aecf.org and atscchildren.org.
