WHITE PLAINS, NY — June 23, 2023 - Inflation has reduced every households’ buying power, but more than a third of Hudson Valley households were already one emergency away from financial ruin. The latest state ALICE® Report released by United Way of New York State looks at how the pandemic and its recovery combined with other economic factors impacted Hudson Valley households. On Tuesday, July 11, at 10 a.m., four Hudson Valley United Ways (United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region, United Way of Rockland County, United Way of Ulster County, and United Way of Westchester and Putnam) will present a virtual workshop on ALICE® 2023 showing the results from Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, and Westchester counties as well as the new features to the ALICE report and its website. To sign up for the workshop, go to www.uwwp.org/alice2023.
ALICE® stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE households earn more than the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), but less than they need to afford a basic survival budget. There is no room in their household budgets for emergency expenses.
“The ALICE Report clearly shows that the numerous government interventions during the pandemic including the enhanced child tax credit, child dependent care, emergency rental assistance, and so much more, helped people survive during a truly devasting economic time-period. Now that all of those interventions are gone, and inflation has dramatically increased, 44% of New Yorkers are drowning in expenses they cannot meet through no fault of their own. This is no longer a case of making ends meet … this is about survival,” said Tom Gabriel, President and CEO of the United Way of Westchester and Putnam.
The 2023 ALICE® report shows the Hudson Valley’s low-income families systematically lost buying power and financial stability as the cost of essentials outpaced wages. The ALICE Essentials Index reflects how the cost of housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care and a smartphone plan rose at nearly twice the rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Meanwhile, the number of jobs that provide a living wage did not keep pace with the state’s population.
The report calls for stakeholders across all sectors to use its findings to remove obstacles to financial stability, identify gaps in community resources and build data-driven solutions to help ALICE families achieve economic stability, bolstering the state’s economy overall.
The most recent ALICE report shows that over the last few years, New York and the Hudson Valley’s economy rebounded and the state made investments to assist those living in poverty. However, there is still a large number of Hudson Valley residents who lack sufficient income and resources to pay for housing, food, child care, transportation, and health care. The report continues to show that ALICE lives in every part of our region, from our largest cities to our most rural areas.
SOURCE: https://patch.com/new-york/whiteplains/local-united-ways-host-free-virt…
