INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — United Way researchers told WRTV child care investments and reinforcing the social safety net are the top ways state policymakers can reverse the growing number of households that can’t meet basic necessities.
A new report tracks the number of households in each state that are categorized by the acronym ALICE.
That’s United Way’s term for households that are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. Sam Snideman, United Way of Central Indiana’s vice president of government relations, said unlike the federal poverty line, which is a national standard based on a limited basket of goods, United Way’s ALICE calculations are based on cost-of-living data and thus vary by state, county, and year.
He said ALICE takes into account a given area’s costs for housing, child care, basic automotive maintenance or public transit, utilities, and other needs.
United Way researchers said they found 38% of Indiana households are not able to cover all of the basic cost of living in their communities.
On average, it takes $74,028 for a family of four in Indiana to meet its basic living costs. For comparison, the median household income in Indiana is $71,958.
David Schroeder, the senior director of strategic insights and business intelligence for United Way of Central Indiana, said two-thirds of households headed by a single woman are below the ALICE line, as are half of Black households and households where the head of the household is at least 65 years old.
Schroeder said the combination of stagnant wages and inflation is the biggest culprit. New data the Bureau of Labor Statistics released last week showed prices for all items were up 4.2% in May compared to the same time last year. Shelter, clothing and medical care costs rose 3.4, 4.8, and 3.6 percent, respectively.
“The percentage of households in ALICE in central Indiana has stayed about the same, but it’s the volume that’s increased,” he said. “So, proportionately, it looks similar, but the actual number has gone up.”
Data from the report shows the index for ALICE spending categories rose by 2.5% from 2007 to 2019, then by 5.1% between 2021 and 2024, when post-pandemic inflation set in. For comparison, the consumer price index, the federal government’s national standard for measuring inflation, rose by 1.8% and 5.0% during those respective periods.
Snideman said the best way the state can reverse those trends is to expand access to child care and reinforce social safety net programs. Gov. Mike Braun has already said child care will be a priority during the 2027 legislative session, which is a budget year. Snideman said child care is especially important because it allows parents to work full-time and earn a paycheck.
“There are people for whom child care disruptions mean the loss of a job and, ultimately, the descent into poverty. This is especially true for those families that are in ALICE now,” he said. “And so, we need to strengthen the child care system in order to ensure that families don’t fall into poverty and so that they’re able to climb out of ALICE and poverty.”
In addition to child care, Snideman said he’d like for state lawmakers to find a way to phase people off of public assistance once they no longer meet eligibility requirements rather than dropping them immediately. He said that sudden loss of benefits discourages people from accepting new jobs or promotions that might help them avoid needing assistance long-term.
