Event News
New Report on South Carolina's Latino Population Is Released
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Dr. Lacy |
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Dr. Woodward |
Woodward and Dr. Elaine Lacy, research director for the University of South Carolina’s Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies and a professor of history at the university’s Aiken campus, relayed the latest facts during a noon luncheon at the conference, hosted by the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs. The research was also supported by the Moore School’s Center for International Business and Economic Research (CIBER).
The report, titled "The Economic and Social Implications of the Growing Latino Population in South Carolina," is the latest research collaboration by Woodward and Lacy. The pair’s first report, on the Mexican labor force in the state, was released last year.
The latest research discussed demographics of the Latino population, potential stress on the state's educational and healthcare systems, impact on employment and wages, and poverty level and use of social services.
What we know, said Woodward, is that (1) Latino
employment in South Carolina is increasing, mainly in the areas of construction, animal
slaughtering, and landscaping; (2) labor costs for Latinos are relatively low, and some industries
benefit from this; (3) real wages declined between 2000 and 2005 for Latinos and blacks in the
areas of construction, animal slaughtering, and landscaping; (4) the poverty rate has decreased for
Latinos and increased for blacks; (5) more research is needed.
A summary and the complete study is available online via the Moore School Division of Research at: http://mooreschool.sc.edu/moore/research. Some key findings:
- 62 percent of Latinos in South Carolina are of Mexican origin.
- Latinos' average stay in South Carolina is 4.8 years, as compared to 7.9 years nationally.
- 68 percent of Latinos live with non-immediate family members, and the average household size is 5.1 persons.
- 37 percent of Latinos in South Carolina do not speak English; more than 50 percent speak no or only a few words of English.
- According to 2006 data, only 3.7 percent of all South Carolina public school students are Hispanic. The largest enrollment of Latino children are in Greenville County, followed by Beaufort, Spartanburg, Horry, Lexington, Charleston, Richland, Berkeley and York counties.
- 40 percent of Latino students are fluent in English and fully integrated into "mainstream" classrooms.
- Latino students in South Carolina graduate at a rate of 68 percent, close to that of American-American students.
- 84 percent of Latinos characterize their health as "good" or "very good." Nearly half of Latinos don't seek medical treatment either because of a lack of health insurance or because lack of need.
- In 2005, Latinos in South Carolina made up 1.6 percent of all hospital discharges and appear to not be overwhelming the system.
- While South Carolina employers are more apt to offer health benefits than other benefits to service workers, few Latinos take the benefit, reporting their decision as an "economic impossibility" due to cost.
- Of Latino workers in South Carolina, only 16 percent have completed high school. Some 39 percent of males, age 25 or older, had attended school less than nine years.
- From 2000 - 2005, median wages for full-time white South Carolina workers increased by 1.2 percent. It fell by 1 percent for black South Carolinians and by 9.6 percent for Hispanics.
- Median annual earnings for Latinos is $20,400, far below median earnings for South Carolinians in general.
- Construction is the primary employment sector for Latinos, followed by animal slaughtering and landscaping services. Overall, for each of the three largest sectors with a Latino work force in South Carolina, African- Americans either lost jobs, saw earnings decline, or both.
- 25.7 percent of Latinos in South Carolina live in poverty, a figure that has increased slightly. Black poverty levels in the state fell to 25.1 percent in 2005. In contrast, whites have a poverty level of 9.3 percent.
- 8 percent of Latinos received food stamps in 2005, as compared with 23 percent of African-Americans and 5 percent of whites. Early 2007 data from the Department of Social Services indicate the following breakdown of food stamp recipients: 2.3 percent, Latino; 62.6 percent, African American; and 34.5, white.
August 2007