ALICE in the News

By Kerensa Konesni September 29,2018 Just ahead of the holiday season, the Thompson Ecumenical Empowerment Group (TEEG) has announced it will change and expand hours at its food pantry to better assist working families in the towns of Thompson, Woodstock and Pomfret. “It’s something we had been toying with for a while, but weren’t completely sure how exactly to do it,” TEEG Community Outreach Coordinator Jason Bleau said. On Oct. 8, TEEG will begin offering a new evening food pantry distribution day in a two-hour block from 4-6 p.m. Existing food pantry hours — from 9-11 a.m. Tuesday, and Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 1:30-3:30 p.m — will remain in place. The reason for the change? It all comes back to a single question, Bleau… Read More »Thompson Ecumenical Empowerment Group adds evening hours

By Hannah Dellinger September 22, 2018 Aziz Elsoudani is an economics professor and financial analyst. He’s written multiple books and dozens of articles in three different languages. Despite years of toiling and saving to support his family, he is looking for work at 79. Elsoudani left Egypt for political reasons and came to the U.S. in 2002 to teach, leaving behind his land and assets. He worked at high schools, colleges and universities in the U.S. for over a decade, but recently he had to stop teaching after suffering a spinal injury that precludes him from standing for long periods at a time. The professor said the savings he brought to America was quickly depleted by high rental prices and medical bills. “I lost everything,”… Read More »Report: More Greenwich families struggling financially

September 21,2018 A closer look at the Census data shows that Fairfield County had triple the number of people earning $200,000 or more a year compared to the country as a whole. The median income in the country was $61,372 — meaning half the households earned more and half less — a 1.8 percent increase from 2016 to 2017. Overall, in Connecticut the median income of $74,200 grew by 1 percent from 2016 to 2017, which is the right direction but not far enough. In New Jersey the median income rose 5.2 percent and in New York by 3.2 percent. We could do better. Disparity among income in the state’s cities persists. Stamford at $87,300 had the highest median income among large cities, with Norwalk… Read More »Editorial: Connecticut’s persistent wealth gap

By Karla Santos September 14,2018 This year’s ALICE report states that in New Britain, 28,118 households are living below the basic cost of living. That number accounts for 62 percent of New Britain households and it also includes those who are living below the Federal Poverty Level. According to the ALICE Report, in our region, a family of four with two parents, an infant and a preschooler needs to earn up to $79,000 a year just to be able to afford basics such as housing, transportation, healthcare, food, child care, technology and utilities. For New Britain, the numbers have stayed the same since the last report came out, two years ago. “For families here in our region, housing and childcare makeup more than 50 percent… Read More »United Way launches new fundraising campaign

By John Voket September 15, 2018 Having learned that four out of ten families in Connecticut continue to struggle to pay for basic needs, United Ways across the state are working to implement strategies to help nudge these families toward more stable financial security. According to Annie Scully, a Research Analyst and Community Outreach Coordinator for United Way of Connecticut, the agency’s 2018 ALICE update affirms that 40 percent of state households cannot afford to pay for basic necessities, including housing, food, child care, health care, technology, and transportation. United Way defines ALICE households as Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed. “Since we released the report, we believe a lot more people are becoming aware and paying attention to ALICE and the struggles families are facing,”… Read More »State United Way Releases 2018 ALICE Update

By Kevin Wilhelm September 14,2018\ More families in Connecticut are facing financial hardship, according to the 2018 ALICE Report released this month by Connecticut United Ways. The update to the original ALICE Report, which released in 2014, and again in 2016, reveals that more than 1 in 3 Connecticut residents are struggling to afford their basic needs. ALICE, which stands for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed, is defined as individuals or families who have earnings above the federal poverty level, but below a basic cost-of-living threshold. Despite working hard at often more than one job, these households struggle to make ends meet. The updated 2018 Connecticut United Way’s ALICE Report documents the challenges facing ALICE families throughout our state, and identifies trends that affect ALICE’s… Read More »Middlesex United Way: 1 in 3 Connecticut residents can’t afford basic necessities

By Kevin Wilhelm September 14,2018 The updated 2018 Connecticut United Way’s ALICE Report documents the challenges facing ALICE families throughout our state, and identifies trends that affect ALICE’s ability to achieve financial security. In Middlesex County, there are 16,834 households who fall under the ALICE criteria, approximately 25 percent of all Middlesex County households. One of these trends discovered is that even though Connecticut may be known as a state with one of the highest “per capita” incomes, the fastest growing jobs right now are the ones with the lowest pay. Also, there has been a rise in what is being called the “gig economy” — short-term site-specific jobs that are have limited job security, few or no benefits, fluctuating hours and unreliable wages. These… Read More »Middlesex United Way: 1 in 3 Connecticut residents can’t afford basic necessities

By Greg Bordonaro September 10, 2018 The United Ways of Connecticut recently released their third annual ALICE report, which revealed 40 percent of households in our state have incomes that fall below what is needed to pay for basic necessities. The number is startling in many respects but also not totally surprising. Most people understand that Connecticut is an expensive state. In fact, the United Ways report concluded that a household of four, including one infant and a toddler, must earn nearly $78,000 a year to afford basic necessities, including housing, food, child and health care, technology and transportation. That’s a large number in a state where the median household income is $73,433. The United Ways should be commended for putting a spotlight on the… Read More »ALICE households an important focus

By Sean Teehan September 10, 2018 What are the most pressing issues in Greater Hartford that could be helped by United Way? Too many households are struggling to make ends meet — unable to afford the basics such as food, housing, child care, health care and transportation. United Way coined the acronym ALICE to describe these households: asset limited, income constrained, employed. ALICE household income ($78,000 for a household of four) is above the Federal Poverty Level, but below financial security. Our United Way and its partners are working to ensure ALICE has affordable, quality child care, access to health care and opportunities to secure good-paying jobs. Continue reading:Hartford Business Journal

By Zach Murdock September 8, 2018 A new United Way report delivers a sobering statistic: Half of Danbury households struggle to pay for necessities like housing, child care and groceries. But those 15,400 households across the city are not the initial stereotype that first comes to many people’s minds, local officials warn. These are families who are “employed but constrained,” not homeless or living in squalor. They have jobs, many earning $20 to $40 per hour, but who still struggle to afford the nearly $78,000 in basic needs the report estimates a family of four faces every year. “We’re talking about your home health aid or your grocery store clerk, not somebody out there panhandling on the street,” said Kim Morgan, CEO of the United… Read More »Danbury households stugglings are made of those “employed, but constrained”