ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Working families right here in the Tri-County are struggling to make ends meet and United Way leaders say there has to be solutions to help these households who may be your neighbor, teacher or healthcare provider.
That’s the focus of a national United Way program called United for ALICE South Carolina.
ALICE stands for- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
The United York County is now participating in this effort.
The agency is expected to release numbers on November 2nd thanks to the ALICE program that will reflect the actual costs of living in York County and how many families earn below that amount, also known as ALICE families.
According to the united way in York County the 2020 self sufficiency standard for a household of one adult, on preschool and one school aged child was 50,746 dollars.
That’s to survive, not including a night out for pizza or Christmas presents.
Leaders say they believe that number now is even higher.
That’s why they are eager to release this new data in hopes state lawmakers will see it and create change on a state level.
Summersby Okey, VP of Collective Impact with the United way of York County says they are seeing families they’ve never heard from before needing assistance because the cost of living keeps increasing in the County.
She says by releasing this new data next week, she hopes it will bring more awareness to livable wages in the community, childcare cost, coat of food and more.
More info is below about the United for ALICE Program below:
| For a growing number of U.S. households, financial stability is nothing more than a pipe dream, no matter how hard their members work. These households are ALICE – Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed – earning above the Federal Poverty Level yet struggling to afford basic expenses. ALICE may be your relative, friend, colleague, or neighbor, or you might be ALICE. ALICE may also be your health care provider, teacher, retail clerk, sanitation worker, and others. ALICE workers are the backbone of our economy, with the pandemic making it crystal clear just how much we need them. United Way of York County is proud to announce our participation in United for Alice SC. United for Alice SC has produced a report that will provide LOCAL data that reflects the actual costs of a Household Survival Budget at the county level and how many households earn below that amount. Households below the ALICE Threshold, poverty-level and ALICE combined, accounted for 41% of U.S. households in 2021 |
