TAMPA, Fla. — About 50% of Florida families struggle to pay for basic necessities. According to the recently released United Way ALICE report, 47% of families can’t make ends meet to pay for housing, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare and technology.
The United Way Suncoast research serves as a snapshot into the financial hardships of meeting basic needs. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
“Florida now ranks fourth in the country for the highest percentage of ALICE households, meaning 47% of our Florida communities or our five-county footprint neighbors are living in that financial stress,” said Kourtney Sanchez, chief executive officer of United Way Suncoast.
The report said a Florida family of four with two children in childcare must earn more than $106,000 a year to afford essentials, with some areas experiencing more extreme financial hardship.
“Pinellas County, actually, it ranks second-highest in the entire state for survival budget, meaning that a family of four with two young children in childcare has to make over $114,000 annually to make ends meet,” Sanchez said. “This is a survival budget. So this is housing, transportation, food, just the basic necessities.”
The state’s median household income is $77,735. The research revealed that out of Florida’s more than 9 million households, 12% were in poverty and 34% were below the ALICE threshold. That is more than 4 million households.
Florida ranks as one of the highest states below the ALICE Threshold, rated 47th. Louisiana rounds out the list.
According to United Way, the information can help the organization and community partners pivot programs to help meet community members where they are.
“Whether that’s the food pantry and the wellness hub here or other, you know, expanded learning programs or family engagement programs, we really want to wrap around not just the kids in the school, but also the families that they live with, the community in general,” said Meg Jenkins, health & wellness coordinator with Sulphur Springs YMCA.
The report helps put faces to the populations in need.
“We have a very large elderly population that comes, and they are here Mondays like clockwork,” said Kathy Cubbage, who works in operations and serves as community school director for Sulphur Springs YMCA. That is where the need is seen among multiple generations.
“Every time they come into the pantry, they are asking, ‘Did you get any cleaning supplies? Do you have paper towels?’ When we get paper towels, paper plates, toilet paper, baby wipes, formula, all of those things go very quickly because it is a real need for our families,” Cubbage said.
It’s a need the organization helps fulfill, not as a handout, but as giving a family a hand up.
“When kids’ bellies are full, they’re able to pay attention in class; they’re able to participate; they’re able to run around and play, and just get to be kids,” Jenkins said. “Which is all that we really want.”
And with data from the ALICE Report, those needs can be reevaluated.
“It’s a real call to action and moment of awareness and reflection for our employers, for our politicians and policymakers to see the realities that our neighbors are facing every day so that we can come together to solve and create some solutions to support them,” Sanchez said.
Solutions are aimed at helping families gain financial stability.