South Carolina Kids Count
2008 Kids Count Databook > What Will it Take to Improve South Carolina's Rankings?
›› The 2008 Kids Count Databook
No one is willing to accept the rank of children in South Carolina as 46th in overall child well-being. In order to transform our concern into focused action, we should note that South Carolina can reach improved rankings by reducing the numbers and rates of problems for each of the indicators as follows:
| Indicator | Current Number & Rate of Children in SC** | Required Reduction in Number and Rate to Improve Ranking | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39th | 25th | 10th | 1st | ||||||||
| Rank | # | Rate* | # | Rate | # | Rate | # | Rate | # | Rate | |
| Low Birthweight | 47 | 5,885 | 10.2 | 635 | 1.1 | 1,154 | 2.0 | 1,962 | 3.4 | 2,365 | 4.1 |
| Infant Mortality | 47 | 543 | 9.4 | 81 | 1.4 | 150 | 2.6 | 208 | 3.6 | 283 | 4.9 |
| Child Deaths (1-14) | 38 | 200 | 25.4 | .1 | 1 | 31 | 4.0 | 68 | 8.7 | 135 | 17.1 |
| Teen Deaths (15-19) | 38 | 251 | 83.6 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 18.0 | 86 | 28.7 | 139 | 46.4 |
| Birth to Teens (15-19) | 42 | 7,478 | 51.0 | 279 | 1.9 | 1,950 | 13.3 | 3,035 | 20.7 | 4,853 | 33.1 |
| High School Dropouts*** | 36 | 19,910 | 7.6 | 0 | 0 | 3,144 | 1.2 | 7,597 | 2.9 | 10,741 | 4.1 |
| Idle Teens (16-19) | 43 | 26,797 | 10.2 | 2,102 | 0.8 | 7,356 | 2.8 | 12,085 | 4.6 | 16,288 | 6.2 |
| Families with Children Without Secure Employment | 40 | 369,025 | 35.6 | 7,256 | 0.7 | 33,171 | 3.2 | 78,781 | 7.6 | 116,098 | 11.2 |
| Children in Poverty | 40 | 226,292 | 22.1 | 19,455 | 1.9 | 54,269 | 5.3 | 99,323 | 9.7 | 127,993 | 12.5 |
| Children in Single-Parent Families | 48 | 378,663 | 39.6 | 52,592 | 5.5 | 84,147 | 8.8 | 116,659 | 12.2 | 205,587 | 21.5 |
*Child and teen deaths are rates per 100,000. Teen births and infant mortality are rates per 1,000. All others are percentages.
**2005 and 2006 data for SC calculated by the Casey Foundation is used in order to compare with 2005 and 2006 national data.
***South Carolina Kids Count can make available an alternative calculation using 8th grade to graduation cohort data from NCES.
The 2008 Kids Count Databook Index
What It Would Take to Improve South Carolina's Rankings?
What It Would Take for the County to Reach the National Average?