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Solving poverty takes years of commitment
The Brack Report
By Andy Brack
After studying South Carolinians in poverty for three weeks, there are a couple of clear conclusions that can be drawn.
First, it will be tough for people already mired in poverty’s cycle to get out. Yes, some will emerge because they have innate artistic or athletic talents. But for regular folks who live on a few hundred dollars a week, there is no quick fix solution.
“There isn’t going to be a lot you can do to substantially improve their condition if they’re middle-aged and particularly if they’re middle-aged and don’t have a lot of job skills,” says John Simpkins, a Furman University political science professor who has been studying policy alternatives to help people in poverty.
Baron Holmes, a longtime poverty analyst who runs the state’s Kids Count program for the Budget and Control Board, echoed those sentiments.
“The plight of people who have a low education is pretty awful,” he says. “We’re not saying it’s all over, but there’s a high degree of predictability about their lot in life.”
Despite these sobering assessments, a second conclusion is more heartening: there are strategies governments and volunteer groups can utilize to help break the cycle of poverty. The most promising strategy involves early educational intervention.
“You’ve got to win early,” Holmes says.
To win a war on poverty, the state could invest in developmentally-based early education programs that do more than provide meager child care services for poor people who work. Instead, it could start providing much earlier educational opportunities so that kids start first grade with a better base, which Holmes says will save money in the long run. Such programs initially are not cheap, though, and could cost $150 million to $200 million on a sustained basis to do correctly.
“Provide something more than a school-day education,” Simpkins added, “that follows kids outside the school and gives them something that allows them to remain engaged in learning.”
Other policy alternatives:
More training opportunities. As students get older, schools could offer more higher education opportunities earlier for those who will go to college. For those who won’t, they could offer better and more training to provide skills that can help them get jobs.
“Instead of using the 12th grade year as a placeholder, students should have the opportunity to begin the next level of their education, whether it’s technical or higher education. School-to-work programs and early college entrance opportunities will accomplish that,” Simpkins says.
More technical school opportunities. State officials also could do more to help poor people take advantage of training opportunities through the state’s technical education system, analysts say.
Tax incentives. The state could consider offering more tax incentives to companies that work to hire poorer people and provide them with training opportunities through tech schools.
Tax credits. Expanding an earned income tax credit for people in poverty could reduce their tax burden and improve their quality of life.
Marriage incentives. With four out of 10 South Carolina children born to single mothers, there is an automatic stressor created because day care costs eat away at wages earned by mothers so much so that work becomes a disincentive. Some suggest that providing incentives for families to stay together can create a dynamic where at least one family member is working, which in turn, keeps children out of the worst situations.
Immigration reform. An increasing number of illegal immigrants in South Carolina hold down wages because some employers will hire lower-wage illegals instead of native poor workers. Stronger enforcement of existing employment laws also may discourage in-migration of illegals that often have lower educational attainment than poor South Carolinians.
Bottom line: The poor and working poor comprise about one in four South Carolinians. State officials need to remember them in public policy decisions and do more to make their lives better because if we can’t do more to help those in need of help, what does that say about our values?
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the S.C. Statehouse Report (www.statehousereport.com), a forecast of business developments in the South Carolina Legislature and state government. E-mail him at brack@statehousereport.com.
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