By Keith Phaneuf September 6, 2020
For more than a decade prior to the pandemic, a growing number of working poor families in Connecticut faced stagnating wages and a rising cost of living, according to a new report from the United Way.
The latest biennial ALICE analysis — an acronym for Asset Limited, Income-Constrained and Employed households — also found that 38% of Connecticut’s nearly 1.4 million households could not afford basic needs in 2018, including 11% that lived below the federal poverty level.
Connecticut’s income inequality also continued to skew along racial lines, with more Black and Hispanic households disproportionately falling into the ALICE category.
“ALICE is our friend, our neighbor, our co-worker,” said Richard J. Porth, CEO of the United Way of Connecticut. “ALICE could be our brother or sister, or even our children.”
The coronavirus pandemic also has shown how much Connecticut relies on this group. “We all depend on ALICE,” Porth said, noting that many caregivers in nursing homes and and in other health care jobs fall into this group, as do restaurant workers.
Continue Reading: CT Mirror