.png){kind=logo}
WHAT IS ALICE?
ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) can be anybody. ALICE earns just above the Federal Poverty Level yet less than the average cost to make ends meet. With limited options, ALICE earners are forced daily to make tough decisions and sacrifices that often go unnoticed. Odds are even if you're not an ALICE earner, someone close to you is.
Founded by the United Way of Northern New Jersey, United for ALICE conducts expansive research to quantify and describe the number of U.S. households that face financial challenges every day. Their research, in turn, provides awareness to the quietly large portion of our country that faces these hardships on a daily basis.
42%
of Pitt County residents live below the North Carolina ALICE threshold as of 2023.
A key contributor to the number of ALICE households in North Carolina is the fundamental mismatch between the cost of living and what jobs pay. While wages have began to slowly rise in many sects of the labor force, the cost of basic necessities and marginal expenses have grown even quicker. That leaves many, especially those with young dependents, going down a road that has a visible ending point if no action is done.
ALICE HOUSEHOLD SURVIVAL BUDGET
With many dynamic factors that play into one's budgeting plans, it's important to have a baseline for financial stability. UnitedForALICE have designed an ALICE budget calculator to better visualize the cost range of specific necessities, dependent on your household size and location.
For those who aren't sure where they stand regarding ALICE and if they're eligible for assistance programs, the tool also allows users to compare costs to different counties or states while identifying if your budget is considered ALICE, above the threshold, or below the Federal Poverty Level.