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Agency presents district poverty fact sheets and explains federal-poverty methodology
Summary
Presenters showed prototype district fact sheets derived from the American Community Survey, explained that poverty rates use the federal household-based guideline, and discussed a cited child-poverty share of about 18% and differences between poverty and Medicaid eligibility.
A presenter introduced prototype fact sheets that break poverty and related community-development data down to senate and house district levels, intended for use by incoming legislators after the November election and refreshed every two years. The agency said it will publish the package statewide when finalized.
Dr. Fenton (introduced by Dr. DeCosta) explained that the data come from the American Community Survey and that poverty is calculated at the household level based on household size and income. Presenters said they prefer to show both the number of children in poverty and the share of the impoverished population that are children, which can differ across districts depending on demographics.
During questions, a committee member (S1) read figures on the fact sheet: "the total population of South Carolina is 5,300,000 and 13 percent of those are in poverty, but 18% of the children are in poverty," and asked about the definition of poverty used. Dr. Fenton confirmed the agency used the federal poverty guideline (household income thresholds that vary by household size) for the presented measures and noted alternative thresholds (such as Medicaid eligibility) can produce higher counts of eligible people than the federal poverty guideline alone.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about household counts versus people and noted variation in renter cost-burden rates across districts. The presenters said additional research products (a forthcoming report) would be available in two to three weeks and that fact sheets will be made available statewide as they finalize the package.
The subcommittee asked no formal action on the fact sheets; the session moved on after the presentation.
