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
Children (aged 0 – 17)
18.3% 26.8%
(18.0 – 18.6)
(26 – 27.6)
Poverty in Horry County
All persons
Children (aged 0 – 17)
19.6% 32.5%
(17.98 – 21.3)
(28.7 – 36.3)
Relative Poverty Over Time
25
Horry County
20
South Carolina
15
10
5
0
1989
1999
2010
Relative Poverty by County
Top 5 (least poverty)
Neighbors
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%
County
All Persons
Children
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
Bottom 5 (most 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
Relative Poverty by County
Poverty by County Subdivision
Floyd’s
Crossroads
Loris
Aynor
Longs
Conway
Little
River
Conway
East
Myrtle
Beach
Why are the Poor Poor?
Social Explanations
Economic Explanations
▪ Culture of poverty and difficult
mobility
▪ Barriers to work (transportation, child care,
– Generational problem; way-of-life
– Rooted in indifference, alienation,
apathy, irresponsibility
▪ Family structure
▪ Discrimination
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
With related children under 18 years
With related children under 5 years only
Married couple families
With related children under 18 years
With related children under 5 years only
Families with female householder, no husband present
With related children under 18 years
With related children under 5 years only
11.6%
21.6%
24.9%
5.1%
8.9%
7.9%
34.7%
43.7%
51.9%
Horry County: Poverty By Race
(White and Black only)
Poverty - White only
Poverty by Race
15%
poor
nonpoor
85%
28%
White
Black
Poverty - Black only
72%
38%
63%
poor
nonpoor
Horry County: Educational Attainment
Educational Attainment of those in
Poverty
Poverty by Educational Attainment
poor
83.9%
7%
30%
Less than High
School
nonpoor
88.5%
95.0%
67.7%
High School
29%
32.3%
Some College
16.1%
11.5%
5.0%
College plus
34%
Less than High High School Some College College plus
School
Horry County: Poverty and Employment
Status
40.7%
12.8%
46.0%
Of those living below
the poverty line in
Horry County are
employed
Of those living below
the poverty line in
Horry County are
unemployed
Of those living below
the poverty line in
Horry County are not
in the labor force
Horry County: Poverty and Employment
Status
15.6%
48.2%
61.8%
Of married family
households below the
poverty line had at
least one partner
working full time
Of married family
households below the
poverty line had both
partners working at
least part-time
Of single femaleheaded 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
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