38 Percent Of MD Families Can't Afford Basic Necessities: Study

In Maryland, 38 percent of household could not afford basic necessities like housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare or a smart phone in 2016, a new study from Maryland United Way reported Wednesday. That's a total of 825,433 houses across the state.

The study, called ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Unemployed — takes a comprehensive look at the state population and identifies homes that live above the federal poverty level but struggle to afford basic necessities. According to Maryland United Way, a family of four needs a combined annual income of $69,672 to support a "survival budget."

“As the United Way of the National Capital Area continues to fight for the education, financial stability and health of every person in our community, we’re using the ALICE report, data and feedback from our community conversations to carefully analyze practices and programs,” said Timothy Johnson, Vice President, Community Impact, United Way of the National Capital Area. “The updated research underscores the work still to be done in both advocating and providing services to this vulnerable population.

Following is a Montgomery County and Prince George’s County breakdown of Household Survival Budgets and percentage of households living below the ALICE Threshold:

Low-wage jobs dominating the employment landscape, half of all jobs paying less than $20 per hour, and an increase in “gig” and contractual jobs all contribute to decreased financial stability for working households.

Since 2010, Maryland’s Survival Budgets have increased steadily, reaching $69,672 for a family of four (two adults with one infant and one preschooler) and $26,052 for a single adult in 2016. Significantly higher than the Federal Poverty Level, which does not accurately reflect current, local costs of living, Survival Budgets have increased 27 percent compared to nine percent inflation for the same time period, United Way reported.

This research is used to stimulate meaningful discussion, attract new partners and ultimately inform strategies for positive change.

“Through our five-year community commitment, we are tackling complex, interconnected issues to ALICE such as high school graduation rates, poverty and poor health,” Johnson said. “In the area of Financial Stability, we are on track to providing 100,000 residents with financial and tax prep services that will remove barriers to financial stability by 2020. With our partners, we currently operate four Financial Empowerment Centers in Prince George’s County, Alexandria section of Fairfax County, Prince William County and Washington DC to provide money management counseling, credit and housing counseling, asset-building resources and access to free or low-cost banking products.”

United Way NCA also launched its Community Schools Initiative, where to date it has served more than 8700 students in 13 middle schools throughout the region to positively impact attendance, course performance and behavior. Additionally, this year’s 4th annual Project Homeless Connect is expecting more than 800 individuals to participate who will be connected to the services they need to help them get back on their feet.

United Way of the National Capital Area joins more than 540 United Ways in 18 states that are working to better understand ALICE’s struggles. In 2017, United Ways in Maryland released an ALICE Report that looked at 2014 data and showed that 35% of Marylanders were either living in poverty or qualified as ALICE.

Funding for the Maryland ALICE report was made possible by OneMain Financial. "At OneMain Financial, we’re committed to helping people gain financial confidence, overcome financial crises and improve the health of our communities,” said Chief Marketing Officer Kim Wijkstrom. “Many of our customers fit into the ALICE profile. They’re hard-working, and yet still living on the edge where a financial challenge can quickly become a crisis. We’re proud to partner with United Way on this very important initiative that creates the awareness needed to improve the lives of people who struggle financially.”

For more information on the ALICE report, visit https://unitedwaynca.org/alice-reports/.

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