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Wednesday, May 1st, 2024

29% of households have jobs but struggle to cover basic needs: They are ‘one emergency from poverty,’ one expert says

Author:     Jessica Dickler
Source:     CNBC
Publication Date:     APR 29 202411:38 AM EDT
 Link: 29% of households have jobs but struggle to cover basic needs: They are ‘one emergency from poverty,’ one expert says
Stephan:  

America’s grotesque wealth inequality is one of the major trends destroying our social wellbeing, and threatening our democracy. This is one of the reasons low income people are thinking about voting for Trump, or not voting at all. This trend has been coming in since the Reagan administration when the Republican Party rigged the entire tax system to favor the rich. Every Republican administration since then has just made it worse. Yet American voters don’t seem to understand this.

  • The number of households that live above the poverty line but are barely scrapping by is ticking higher.
  • Currently, nearly 40 million families are defined as ALICE, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
  • High inflation and higher interest rates have taken a hefty toll, and there is little relief in sight.

Over time, higher costs and sluggish wage growth have left more Americans financially vulnerable, with many known as “ALICEs.”

Nearly 40 million families, or 29% of the population, fall in the category of ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — according to United Way’s United for ALICE program, which first coined the term to refer to households earning above the poverty line but less than what’s needed to get by.

That figure doesn’t include the 37.9 million Americans who live in poverty, comprising 11.5% of the total population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

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“ALICE is the nation’s […]

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