KALAMAZOO, Mich. — United for ALICE (Asset, Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) released a report revealing that nearly 40 percent of Michigan households are considered financially insecure.
Mauw - Mi Alice Release 2023_final by WXMI on Scribd
The Michigan Association of United Ways puts together the report every two years.
"It's a very specific group of households, folks that are living above the federal poverty line but are still struggling to make ends meet," Alyssa Stewart, the chief impact officer of United Way South Central Michigan, explained.
The report varies by county and city— it's calculated using localized cost of living data.
2023 ALICE Report-UWSCMI Region County Data Sheets by WXMI on Scribd
According to Stewart, the 2023 report reflects data from 2021.
"Everyone has been impacted by the...fluctuating cost of gas, the increasing costs of food and really, housing," Stewart added. "Housing costs have grown really significantly over the past several years."
Data shows ALICE households are even more prevalent after COVID— including in Kalamazoo.
According to the report, the city of Kalamazoo has nearly 30,000 households— 56 percent of those are considered ALICE.
In Portage, 34 percent of the 20,000 households are considered financially insecure.
"The cost of living increasing and wages staying relatively flat is really what's leading to an increase in the number of ALICE households," Stewart explained to FOX 17. "Folks are working hard. They're working one, two, three jobs in some cases and they still can't keep up with that increasing cost of living."
ALICE in South Central Michigan region:
She says that, while ALICE is everywhere, it's not distributed evenly in Kalamazoo County.
“The number of Black households that is across the entire county, that is below the ALICE threshold, so that includes poverty and ALICE is 67 percent— compared to 37 percent of white households, so that's significant,” she said.
While the data can feel overwhelming, Stewart told FOX 17 that there is help through the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit for Working Families. She said if people can show on their taxes that they’ve been working and have earned income, they can apply for that credit and get money back in their pockets.
