Chenango United Way leads effort to help the ‘working poor’
Shawn Magrath
Sun Staff Writer
NORWICH – The Chenango United Way is leading a charge to help the working poor– a demographic the organization says is growing in Chenango County.
In 2016, the Chenango United Way banded with United Way organizations across the state to identify households that are financially burdened but not receiving public assistance. The group, labeled ALICE for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, makes up nearly 30 percent of Chenango households, according to data research from the United Way.
Income in those ALICE households are in a tough gap between poverty and the basic cost of living.
In Chenango County, communities like Guilford, Norwich, and New Berlin are at great risk with a combined poverty and ALICE populace between 55 and 60 percent.
“The misconception is that the poverty group is the largest population in our community, but it’s not. It’s the ALICE population,” explained Chenango UW Director Elizabeth Monaco. “These are people who have to choose between paying rent and buying groceries, or paying for a shut-off notice and paying for child care. They are individuals who are working, but still struggling to make ends meet.”
To identify the ALICE populace, the United Way pulled data from state and national resources, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IRS, USDA, HUD, and the State Office of Children and Family Services.
“This effort has been done in other communities in other states, and the data they have collected has helped not only define the population better, but help determine what additional resources are needed for those families,” said Monaco.
The United Way finds that while 55 percent of Chenango households are above the ALICE threshold, 30 percent fall into the ALICE range; another 15 percent are in poverty.
Altogether, one in two Chenango County families face severe financial burden.
“These aren’t people who are just sitting at home taking advantage of services. A lot of these people have important roles in the community,” said Chenango United Way intern Megan Mirabito, who’s playing an instrumental role in ALICE outreach. “These are people you find working in restaurants, or providing services, or they’re caretakers.”
Mirabito additionally noted statewide data that shows 44 percent of households across New York State struggle to afford basic household necessities, 29 percent of which fall into the ALICE category because they’re above the poverty threshold of $23,850 for a family of four. This makes it difficult for families to juggle a basic household budget that includes housing, child care, food, transportation, and health care.
One leading problem, according to the United Way research, is that more than 55 percent of all jobs in New York pay less than $20 per hour, with more than half of those paying between $10 and $15 per hour. Those types of jobs are expected to grow exponentially faster than higher-wage jobs over the next decade.
Nevertheless, the cost of basic household expenses in New York is more than most of the state’s jobs can support. The average annual household budget for a family of four (two adults with one infant and one preschooler) is $62,472 – more than double the U.S. family poverty level of $23,850.
The Chenango UW aims to use collected data to help promote services that are already available to ALICE families, fill gaps in services, or create new ones. The objective, said Monaco, is to educate. The organization intends to partner with other local agencies, such as the Department of Social Services, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors, as well as Commerce Chenango and other business entities in the area.
But Monaco said the focus right now is simply on getting information out there.
“This is not any one organization’s challenge,” she said. “It’s a community-wide issue. These are a lot of families that are struggling every day, so no one organization is going to be able to address the issue on its own.”
The United Way is slated to present research to the county’s Health and Human Services Committee and the Chenango County Rotary next week, and to Commerce Chenango the following week. The ultimate goal, said Monaco, is to work with like agencies to push families and individuals toward financial self-sufficiency.
Sun Staff Writer
NORWICH – The Chenango United Way is leading a charge to help the working poor– a demographic the organization says is growing in Chenango County.
In 2016, the Chenango United Way banded with United Way organizations across the state to identify households that are financially burdened but not receiving public assistance. The group, labeled ALICE for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, makes up nearly 30 percent of Chenango households, according to data research from the United Way.
Income in those ALICE households are in a tough gap between poverty and the basic cost of living.
In Chenango County, communities like Guilford, Norwich, and New Berlin are at great risk with a combined poverty and ALICE populace between 55 and 60 percent.
“The misconception is that the poverty group is the largest population in our community, but it’s not. It’s the ALICE population,” explained Chenango UW Director Elizabeth Monaco. “These are people who have to choose between paying rent and buying groceries, or paying for a shut-off notice and paying for child care. They are individuals who are working, but still struggling to make ends meet.”
To identify the ALICE populace, the United Way pulled data from state and national resources, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IRS, USDA, HUD, and the State Office of Children and Family Services.
“This effort has been done in other communities in other states, and the data they have collected has helped not only define the population better, but help determine what additional resources are needed for those families,” said Monaco.
The United Way finds that while 55 percent of Chenango households are above the ALICE threshold, 30 percent fall into the ALICE range; another 15 percent are in poverty.
Altogether, one in two Chenango County families face severe financial burden.
“These aren’t people who are just sitting at home taking advantage of services. A lot of these people have important roles in the community,” said Chenango United Way intern Megan Mirabito, who’s playing an instrumental role in ALICE outreach. “These are people you find working in restaurants, or providing services, or they’re caretakers.”
Mirabito additionally noted statewide data that shows 44 percent of households across New York State struggle to afford basic household necessities, 29 percent of which fall into the ALICE category because they’re above the poverty threshold of $23,850 for a family of four. This makes it difficult for families to juggle a basic household budget that includes housing, child care, food, transportation, and health care.
One leading problem, according to the United Way research, is that more than 55 percent of all jobs in New York pay less than $20 per hour, with more than half of those paying between $10 and $15 per hour. Those types of jobs are expected to grow exponentially faster than higher-wage jobs over the next decade.
Nevertheless, the cost of basic household expenses in New York is more than most of the state’s jobs can support. The average annual household budget for a family of four (two adults with one infant and one preschooler) is $62,472 – more than double the U.S. family poverty level of $23,850.
The Chenango UW aims to use collected data to help promote services that are already available to ALICE families, fill gaps in services, or create new ones. The objective, said Monaco, is to educate. The organization intends to partner with other local agencies, such as the Department of Social Services, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors, as well as Commerce Chenango and other business entities in the area.
But Monaco said the focus right now is simply on getting information out there.
“This is not any one organization’s challenge,” she said. “It’s a community-wide issue. These are a lot of families that are struggling every day, so no one organization is going to be able to address the issue on its own.”
The United Way is slated to present research to the county’s Health and Human Services Committee and the Chenango County Rotary next week, and to Commerce Chenango the following week. The ultimate goal, said Monaco, is to work with like agencies to push families and individuals toward financial self-sufficiency.
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