ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and represents the growing number of families who are working, but unable to afford the basic necessities of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care or technology. These workers often struggle to keep their own households from financial ruin, while keeping our local communities running.
ALICE is the cashier at your supermarket, the child care worker, the delivery driver and the EMT providing you life-saving assistance. ALICE is our neighbor.
Households experiencing ALICE are forced to make tough choices, such as deciding between quality child care or paying the rent. This has long-term consequences not only for those currently experiencing ALICE but for all of us.
A household experiencing ALICE is technically defined as having an annual household income above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) but below the basic cost of living. The basic cost of living is defined by the Household Survival Budget, which calculates the bare-minimum cost of household basics at the county level. The Household Survival Budget considers county-specific costs of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and a smartphone plan, plus taxes and a small contingency.
For a family of four (two adults and two children in childcare), the ALICE Household Survival Budget for Bexar County requires an annual income of $68,316. Whereas the Federal Poverty Level for a family of four requires an annual income below $26,500. Families within this “gap” are considered ALICE.The driving force behind United For ALICE is the data and metrics. There were 35 million ALICE households (29%) nationwide in 2018. Combined with households below the FPL, a total of 4.6 million households (43%) struggle to make ends meet in Texas in 2021.
The number of families experiencing financial hardship is even more pervasive in Bexar County.
While 14% of these households are living below the Federal Poverty Level, an additional 32% – more than twice as many – are experiencing ALICE in Bexar County. Again, these households earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to afford basic household necessities.