Education that Provides Workforce Skills

The lack of well-paying jobs, places to gain job skills and money for education were top needs stated by the community. Education and job skills have a direct link to poverty. Securing a job at a livable wage makes it possible for a person to obtain adequate housing, food, health care and transportation.
Unemployment, Under Employment and Low Wages
In December 2008, Lexington County with 6.5% unemployment had the lowest unemployment rate in the state, and Richland County, with 7.8% unemployment, had the sixth-lowest rate of unemployment. The state average in December 2008 was 9.5% for yearly unemployment rate.
For those who have jobs, wages are low.
In the Columbia
  •   Metropolitan area in 2007, the mean wage and salary of all occupations ($36,880) is less than the estimate of the $37,657 that it takes for a parent with two children to meet basic needs.
  • According to the 2007 Income estimates, 35% of those in Richland County and 33.5% of households in Lexington County have incomes under $35,000.
Persistently high dropout rates contribute to the area's undereducated workforce,  according to Kids Count Data,
  • For the years 2006 to 2008, 18.1% of students in Lexington County and 22.5% of students in Richland County dropped out of school.
  •  According to 2005-2007 estimates, 55.8% of the 18-24 population in Richland County and 63.6% of that population in Lexington County were not enrolled in college or graduate school.
  •  Educational attainment data for that same period for those 25 and over shows that 35.8% of people in Richland County and 44% of those in Lexington County have a high school diploma or less.
  • Earnings data show that having a bachelor's degree increases earnings by 70%.