COLUMBIA, S.C. — According to the 2024 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, South Carolina is ranked 40th overall in child welfare.
The state improved in the "Family and Community" category from 2019 to 2022, one of four categories. According to Sue Berkowitz with the SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, improvements are likely due to pandemic-time benefits to help families.
"The fact that we had the refundable Child Tax Credit, where low income families could get up to $350 a month each month for that child," said Berkowitz, "...it shows that when we do give resources, it helps our children the most."
The state improved on several markers in the category. South Carolina has fewer single-parent households, more children in homes where the head of household has a high school diploma, fewer children living in high-poverty areas, and fewer teen births.
Berkowitz worries numbers will worsen once those pandemic benefits from the government expire.
"I think while we have a good number this year in the report, we’re going to see that number change and go back to our old patterns," Berkowitz says.
The pandemic was a time of stability for families like Parker Rous and her husband, who had their first two children since the beginning of the pandemic.
"It really definitely helped us connect with our families and it helped us recenter what we wanted to prioritize as a young family," said Rous. "We felt like we are more comfortable now than we ever have been.”
South Carolina's highest ranking in the report was in family and community, at 36. However, the state still ranks in the bottom ten in economic well-being and health.
