While some people are doing the Cha-Cha Slide at the family barbeque, others are sliding into a not-so-fun financial situation. 🫠 All this sliding is making us hungry…for sliders. 🍔
We’ve uncovered some troublesome stats on the number of working PA families struggling to make ends meet. 👇
Here’s Five Fast Facts on PA’s working families:
- 💸 Go Ask ALICE - The number of PA households in poverty is on the rise. Between 2021 and 2022, the amount grew by 4%. Another category known as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) tracks households that are technically above the poverty line, but can’t afford the basic cost of living and don’t qualify for government assistance. That number jumped up 6%.
- 👁️ Bird’s Eye View - If we zoom out to look at the big picture, it’s the ALICE households we should be watching. Between 2010 and 2022, there was a 5% increase of PA households in poverty. However, there was a 20% increase in ALICE households.
- 🏡 Lost in Wonderland - In Allegheny County, a little under a third of all families are in the ALICE category. Between 2021 and 2022, the poverty rate there remained steady, but the number of ALICE households jumped up 12% (an additional 17,000 households).
- 🥴 Survivor Island - According to a report, the “survival budget” for a family of four with an infant and a preschooler increased from $65,000 to $83,000 between 2021 and 2022. That’s over three times the federal poverty level of $27,750.
- 🧑🍳 Workin’ for the Weekend - Out of the PA’s 20 most common occupations 65% paid less than $20 an hour in 2022. Additionally, 30% of those workers fell below the ALICE threshold that year. Gigs with the largest number of ALICE workers: cooks, cashiers, servers, personal care aides, and nursing assistants.
🔥Bottom line: The talking heads might say inflation is cooling, but our reality tells us otherwise. Have you ever wondered who gets hit the hardest by inflation? Check out this article and learn something new!
On a tight household budget?
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