Children's Trust

The 2010 Kids Count Data Book – The South Carolina Perspective
Baron Holmes, Kids Count South Carolina State Project Director
July 27, 2010

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has released its annual Kids Count Data Book for 2010. The Data Book presents ten indicators of child well-being with standardized, comparable data for the latest available years (2007 and 2008). South Carolina once again ranks among the bottom ten states in terms of child well-being. The 2010 report ranks SC 45^th, ahead of only 5 states (Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, and New Mexico). Over the past two decades of the Kids Count Data Book, South Carolina has never ranked better than 42^nd. Typically, SC ranks 45^th or 46^th. Fluctuations in low incidence indicators such as child and teen deaths tend to move states up or down within the bottom 10 states, but these fluctuations have little statistical meaning. The bottom line for SC is that we are very near the bottom, reliably ahead of only Mississippi and Louisiana.

So does our dismal ranking at 45^th mean that nothing has improved? The 2010 Kids Count Data Book reports that between 2000 and 2008 SC has improved on 4 indicators, one more than the number that became worse. For the US overall, five indicators improved while three became worse. For both SC and the US, the three deteriorating indicators have been low birth weight, poverty, and single parent families. Being 45^th and making almost no progress is cause for serious concern. On most indicators, our children do rank near the bottom. Because children are our best hope for the future, we have made continuing, though modest attempts to improve. Where have we improved? Are the 10 Kids Count Data Book indicators telling the whole story? And does the period from 2000 to 2008 sufficiently reflect longer trends?

To answer these concerns, SC Kids Count offers a two decade retrospective for the full period of our Kids Count existence since 1990. Drawing on a wider array of indicators than the Casey Foundation’s Data Book for trends over a much longer time frame, a more complete review provides a somewhat more encouraging picture of our progress. The additional indicators offer a more complete accounting of how well the “kids” have done themselves, rather than their well-being described primarily in terms of the circumstances and influences of their families and the economy. In the Kids Count Data Book, only 4 of the 10 indicators are primarily under the control of youth themselves: teen deaths, births to teens, dropouts, and idleness (not in school or working). Many of the additional indicators utilized by SC Kids Count are taken from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and from state data sources on adolescent risk behaviors. Also included is data from NAEP for academic performance which is standardized and comparable over time.

The SC Kids Count data shows that the “kids” have improved their own well-being on three or more times as many indicators as they were responsible for making worse. Even though the structure and finances of their families have not improved or have worsened, the youth are taking fewer risks and are doing somewhat better in school. Overall, the youth improved on safety, smoking, alcohol, sex, non-lethal violence, and education but did worse on delinquency and homicide.   

So we celebrate the 20^th year of SC Kids Count by asking ourselves the advocacy question: “Who’s for kids and who’s just kidding?”  This broader perspective from SC Kids Count data should encourage parents, policy-makers, and the public to engage in some serious self-critical reflection about our dedication to children in South Carolina. 

South Carolina 2010 Data Table