Just over four in 10 Michigan households don’t earn enough money to pay for the basics. That’s according to a new United Way report.
Combining the number of households living below the poverty level with the ones above it that still can’t afford essentials like childcare, food or medicine, and transportation is the ALICE threshold.
“When you combine those two groups, it helps to paint that bigger picture," said Natalie O'Hagan, the senior director of strategy and culture at the United Way of South Central Michigan.
"It helps folks to pay a little bit more attention, I think, when we think about that's 41% of folks in our state, right? That's four out of 10 households that are really struggling to make ends meet.”
In parts of Kalamazoo County, the ALICE threshold is even higher than the state's average of 41%.
O'Hagan says 54% of households in the city of Kalamazoo are struggling. So are 54% in the rural community of Galesburg, which O'Hagan said may surprise people.
“I think that there's some assumptions that higher rates of financial hardship will exist in those urban areas,” O'Hagan said.
And it's higher still in Calhoun County where six in ten households are struggling to meet their needs in Jackson, Battle Creek and Springfield.
Certain groups take a harder hit. Statewide, nearly three-quarters of households led by single mothers and about six in 10 Black households live below the ALICE threshold.
O'Hagan said that the numbers were fairly consistent during the pandemic when families found some relief in the COVID stimulus package and increased wages.
But inflation is taking its toll.
“Although there were some wage increases, the increases were not enough to be able to combat the increase in cost that our households were facing,” she said.
ALICE is an acronym that stands for people who are Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed.
The Michigan Association of United Ways latest ALICE Report was released on Monday. The report is based on 2023 data.
