The League of Women Voters of South Carolina (LWVSC) Working Group on Gender and Women’s Equity summarized the WREN (Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network) 2025 study.  You can read the entire study.

Please communicate with your elected representatives and utilize these facts to bolster your messages to policymakers.  Research shows that informed policies can help women, girls and their families while ignoring facts and research leads to worse outcomes for everyone.        

Introduction

The study reveals gaps in access to health care, fair pay, childcare, housing, food and more, both statewide and at the county level. By sharing both state and county data widely, we can spark activism and drive change. Page 4 of the report is a useful sum of the data.  

Maternal and infant health

The study documents how maternal and infant care is severely lacking. 

• SC has a Pregnancy-Related Mortality Rate of 47.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, a 46.2% increase from the previous year. Black women and those living in rural areas were the most affected. 
• SC scores 92% overall on the Maternal Vulnerability Index, although this varies widely by county. 
• Infants are also at risk. In 2023, 16.9% of SC babies were born to mothers who received inadequate prenatal care. The overall infant mortality rate in 2021 was 7.3 babies per 1,000 live births with non-Hispanic black infants having the highest rate of 12.7 per 1,000 live births. Rural infants are also more likely to suffer negative outcomes due to the mother’s lack of access to care.

Access to care

Essential reproductive health care is not readily available to all women in South Carolina, resulting in significant issues and even death. 

• Many communities are maternity care deserts with little or no available reproductive health services. With only 12.9 obstetricians per 10,000 births, available health care providers for pregnant women are perilously low. 
• Geographical barriers to obtaining reproductive care are significant. Women in some rural counties travel more than 40 miles to access reproductive care. 
• Financial barriers prevent reproductive care even if services are nearby. 
• Legislative bans and delays force women to travel out of state for legal abortions. 

An expansion of provider networks, investment in rural and community health care, and elimination of political interference in health care decisions would improve access.  

Family sustainability and housing 

Family health is dependent on sustainable housing. For one-third of families, their wages are too low to allow for both stable housing and basic supplies for health. Eviction rates are among the highest in the United States. Efforts must be made to work with people struggling to stay in their homes. There is no guaranteed legal representation for people facing eviction. Once evicted, a family carries this mark, making future housing tenuous.

Food insecurity

An estimated 13% of South Carolinians experience food insecurity, lacking consistent access to sufficient nutritious food to support an active, healthy, and productive life. Food insecurity contributes to infant mortality, child health issues, school readiness and performance and adult earning capacity. These effects of food insecurity led to government and community programs to assist people obtain food, the biggest is the federal SNAP (Food Stamp) program. However, there are many gaps in these programs, such as restrictive income eligibility rules and limited access to school lunches and other feeding programs. Food insecurity has many causes, including unemployment and underemployment, economic downturns, discrimination and the geographic distribution of job opportunities. Addressing food insecurity requires refined policies affecting these intertwined systemic issues as well as addressing problems with access, cost and quality of food.

Childcare

South Carolina’s childcare system is in crisis with limited availability and unaffordable costs. The situation affects women’s economic opportunities and the stability and well-being of families. There is one childcare center for every 247 children in the state.  Families spend 28% of their income on childcare in SC, four times worse than the federal benchmark of 7%. 

Rural areas are acutely affected by the crisis. Improving childcare would increase the percentage of children prepared for kindergarten and first grade, help adults achieve educational goals and to secure and retain employment. Accessible, quality childcare is an investment in the state’s workforce stability and long-term prosperity.

Conclusion

The challenges women face in South Carolina with health care, economic well-being, education, housing, food security and childcare are interconnected. These issues overlap and compound, especially in rural areas and communities of color. Policy changes are needed, the study displays, for more families in South Carolina to thrive.