Our Work » ALICE

Have you met ALICE?

You may not know it, but you already know ALICE.  In fact, you know a lot of ALICEs.  CNN recently discovered ALICE, too. Click here to see a real northern New Jersey ALICE family struggling to make ends meet.

ALICE is actually an acronym that stands for:  Asset Limited, Income Constrained, yet Employed.  Those may be impersonal words, but they represent real people, real families, and real neighbors.  For behind the acronym are thousands of ‘real’ ALICEs: hard working residents who live each day just one step away from potential and debilitating crisis.
 
ALICE may be a recent grad who is working and paying off tuition debt; a young family struggling to pay for child care so they can work; the underemployed working less than full-time and without benefits; active duty military personnel; a family caregiver; or a senior on a fixed income struggling with health issues.  Throughout each and every day, we all encounter many ALICEs.  Many essential community services depend on them for success.

Who exactly is ALICE?

United Way commissioned a study to take a deeper look at this unique population.  What they found was startling – and has radically shifted the way we think about the communities we serve.  The statistics reveal that despite the fact that we live in one of the wealthiest areas in the country, there is a large, often hidden, low-wage population living throughout our communities. 

These individuals and families live in the gray area between abject poverty and some semblance of financial and social stability.  ALICE residents are defined as earning above the poverty line but below the level of self-sufficiency (considered to be approximately $60,000 annually for a family of four.)  What is startling is that the research shows that nearly one-quarter of our residents fall into the ALICE population.     

The bottom line is that ALICE residents are upstanding citizens trying to make a living.  They are employed, but have low paying jobs with little opportunity for advancement.  They may have enough to eat and a roof over their heads, but nothing saved.  ALICE residents have many strengths and the potential to become financially stable; however, for ALICE residents, a “minor” setback such as a car repair, a leaky roof, or the responsibility of caring for a loved one can catapult them into a spiral of poverty, homelessness, and suffering. 

PDF   Download the ALICE report to learn more about this population and their daily struggles to keep their heads above water.