CT’s wealth gap a threat to economy

October 17, 2016

There’s the affluent state in which Connecticut remains one of the wealthiest places in the nation, with an average per-capita income 141 percent above the national level. But there’s also a growing population — 38 percent of the state’s 1.36 million households to be exact — struggling financially, unable to afford basic needs such as housing, child care, food, health care and transportation. This resource-strapped population includes households living below the federal poverty level and those living above that level but who still struggle to meet what the United Way calls the average “household survival budget” for a Connecticut family of four, which ranges from $66,168 to $73,716 — more than triple the U.S. family poverty rate of $23,850. United Way has aptly labeled this group ALICE — for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

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