Commentary: Have you identified an ALICE in need?

The mission of United for ALICE is to make the often-invisible ALICE struggle visible. Using a standardized methodology, United for ALICE assesses the true cost of living in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, resulting in a comprehensive look at financial hardship in Delaware.”

Have you seen ALICE? Could the person who runs your child’s day care, cares for your aging parents, waits on you at a restaurant or bags your groceries be ALICE? Maybe a friend or neighbor is ALICE? Come to think of it, are you ALICE?

Let me explain. ALICE is an acronym that stands for asset-limited, income-constrained, employed. It’s a relatively new term and a shorthand way of defining and understanding the financial struggles that thousands of Delaware households face every day. ALICE families earn above the federal poverty level but not enough to maintain even a bare-bones household budget. Simply put, while ALICE families earn a paycheck — often working some of the most difficult, lowest-paying jobs out there — they just can’t keep up with the cost of living.

ALICE families struggle to manage basic needs like housing, food, transportation, child care, health care and basic household technology (like internet access for a child’s education). When funds run short, cash-strapped ALICE households must make impossible choices: Do we pay the rent this month or cancel child care? Do we fix the furnace, fix the car or fill those prescriptions? These short-term financial decisions have long-term consequences for ALICE families. And because the financial stability of these fragile ALICE households impacts entire communities, each and every Delawarean has a stake in addressing this problem.

United Way of Delaware (UWDE) wants to help change the story for ALICE families in Delaware. That’s why UWDE has joined the national United for ALICE movement. Traditional measures of poverty do not capture the magnitude of people who are struggling financially. The mission of United for ALICE is to make the often-invisible ALICE struggle visible. Using a standardized methodology, United for ALICE assesses the true cost of living in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, resulting in a comprehensive look at financial hardship in Delaware.

UWDE is collaborating with the national United for ALICE movement to:

• Produce a comprehensive report that measures financial hardship in Delaware. Our ALICE Delaware report can be found here.
• Lead an ALICE Delaware learning community for sharing experiences and developing best practices to build a broader, more effective approach to addressing ALICE issues.
• Drive action to improve financial stability for ALICE families in Delaware.

I think you will find the report illuminating and a good place to start the discussion about ways we can collaborate to help lift more Delaware families out of the ALICE trap.

Dan Cruce is the chief operating officer for United Way of Delaware.