Meet ALICE

Who is ALICE?

We all know ALICE. ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed and puts a face on those people who are working but still struggling to make ends meet. ALICE families have household incomes above the Federal Poverty Level, but below a basic cost of living threshold.

The Connecticut ALICE Report is a study of financial hardships in our state. ALICE may be your family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors, and represents every race, gender, age, and ethnicity. ALICE lives in every town and city in our state. ALICE is your nursing assistant, childcare worker, home health aide, car mechanic, security guard, hair stylist, store clerk, and office assistant -- workers essential to us and to every community, but who still stuggle to survive on what these jobs pay.

The financial hardships that ALICE faces affect the overall social and economic stability of our community. When ALICE moves from simply surviving to thriving, our entire community thrives.
 

What does the latest ALICE Report tell us?

 The Connecticut United Ways’ 2020 ALICE Report Lays Bare the Severity of the Economic Challenges Facing Many Families in the State and Outlines Proven Strategies to Move These Families Toward Financial Security

Before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived this year, 38% of Connecticut residents were already struggling to make ends meet. Those are the findings of Connecticut United Ways’ 2020 ALICE Report, a study on financial hardship.  

The 2020 report concludes that before the onset of the pandemic, 38% of Connecticut’s households lacked the income to pay for necessities such as housing, food, childcare, health care, technology, and transportation. That number includes those families living at or below the federal poverty level and the 27% who live above it but below the basic cost of living threshold.

Read more:

• Full 2020 Connecticut ALICE Report
• ALICE Executive Summary
• Our local, United Way of Southeastern Connecticut catchment area

Please also see the 2022 ALICE in Focus Reports:

• ALICE in Focus: Children
• ALICE in Focus: People with Disabilities
• ALICE in Focus: Veterans

The 2020 Connecticut ALICE Report takes a deep dive into the growing financial challenges that require more and more families to make tough choices every day as they manage their household budgets. Consider these findings, which were made prior to the pandemic, in the new ALICE Report:

• 38% of Connecticut households (513,727) cannot afford the basics of housing, food, health care, child care, and transportation. (This includes both ALICE households and those below the poverty line.)
• Despite working hard, 27% of Connecticut households (367,175) have incomes above the federal poverty level but below the ALICE threshold.
• In 148 of Connecticut’s 169 towns and cities, at least 1 in 5 households are below the ALICE Threshold.
• It now costs more than $90,000 a year for a family of four with one infant and one toddler to pay for the basic needs in the ALICE Household Survival Budget.
• Connecticut’s high cost of living is a big part of the ALICE story, especially for housing and child care.
• 55% of jobs in Connecticut pay $20 per hour or more, which is among the highest in the country, but only two of the top 20 occupations in Connecticut (in terms of number of jobs) pays enough to support the ALICE Household Survival Budget for a family of four.
• 52% of workers in Connecticut are paid hourly. These workers are more likely to have fluctuations in income, with frequent schedule changes and variations in the number of hours available for work each week/month.

Households in Connecticut who cannot afford the cost of living