Employment Status of Parents
- In South Carolina, many children in low-income families have parents who are employed.
- 53% (199,564) of children in low-income families have at least one parent who is employed full-time/year-round.
- 29% (107,980) of children in low-income families have at least one parent who is employed either part-year or part-time.
- Just 18% (69,498) of children in low-income families do not have an employed parent.
Parental employment is the employment level of the parent in the household who maintained the highest level of employment in the previous year. Parents can either have no employment in the previous year, part-year or part-time employment, or full-time/year-round employment. Part-year or part-time employment is defined as either working less than 50 weeks in the previous year or less than 35 hours per week. Full-time/year-round employment is defined as working at least 50 weeks in the previous year and 35 hours or more per week for more than half the year.
Low-Income Children by Parental Employment Status
| Low-Income Children | Above Low-Income Children | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed Full-Time/ Year Round (Parent Who Works Most) | Employed Part-Year ot Part-Time (Parent Who Works Most) | No Parent Employed | Employed Full-Time/ Year Round (Parent Who Works Most) | Employed Part-Year ot Part-Time (Parent Who Works Most) | No Parent Employed | |||||||
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | |
| South Carolina | 199,564 | 53% | 107,980 | 29% | 69,498 | 18% | 534,899 | 93% | 35,977 | 6% | 3,965* | 1% |
| United States | 14,660,000 | 55% | 7,550,151 | 28% | 4,606,673 | 17% | 39,340,000 | 91% | 3,319,026 | 8% | 614,002 | 1% |
*This estimate should be used with caution. It may be unreliable due to small sample size.
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
State data were calculated from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March supplement) of the Current Population Survey from 2002, 2003, and 2004, representing information from calendar years 2001, 2002, and 2003. NCCP averaged three years of data because of small sample sizes in less populated states. The national data were calculated from the 2004 data, representing information from calendar year 2003.