By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Livingston County United Way is highlighting a new report that shows an alarming percentage of Michigan's children are living in families that can’t make ends meet.

The Michigan Association of United Ways released its first report of the new 2022 ALICE in Focus Series, which showed 44% of children live in households experiencing financial hardship. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

The series features three reports, each highlighting a different demographic group within Michigan’s ALICE population: Children, those with Disabilities, and Veterans. The first spotlights children growing up in financial hardship, in households that have an income, but still struggle to afford essentials such as housing, childcare, food, transportation, and healthcare, among other needs.

According to the 2022 ALICE In Focus: Children Report, nearly one million or 44% of Michigan children in 2019 lived in a household with an income below the ALICE Threshold. Officials said the report revealed that children below the ALICE Threshold are concentrated in families where adults work in occupations with low median hourly wages.

The 2021 ALICE Report found that 58% of jobs in Michigan paid less than $20, while a family of four needs to earn $32.06 an hour in order to make ends meet.

The latest report once again noted that many ALICE families earn too much to be eligible for public assistance, but still struggle to meet basic needs for their children. Further, the report found the resources that ALICE children lack include stable housing, education, health insurance and home internet.

The new series is designed to help the agencies further understand how they can best address today’s critical issues surrounding ALICE children.

The full report is available via the provided link. A press release is also attached.