Rural households struggle to cover family’s budget

Five towns in the Northwest Corner faced higher costs to cover basic survival needs — including food, housing, utilities, child healthcare and transportation — compared to what it cost in 2019, according to a new analysis from the United Way of Connecticut.

Salisbury, North Canaan, Falls Village, Cornwall and Norfolk all saw basic survival budgets climb from 4% to 11% higher, the study shows. Sharon and Kent each saw costs decline.

Across the state, a record 581,000 households (40% of total households) couldn’t afford a basic survival budget, the study found. Cities face the highest levels of financial hardship, but United Way noted that in its last analysis growth was accelerating in rural towns.

By comparison, in 2012 there were 502,000 households in this category struggling to meet basic costs of living.

The United Way released its 2023 ALICE report this month. It isan assessment that represents an alternative to the Federal Poverty Level designation, which some have viewed as outdated and misleading. The ALICE name is an acronym for “Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained and Employed.”

The United Way found that in 2023 in Connecticut a family of four, with two adults and two children, needed to earn $116,000 to cover a basic survival budget. Under the Federal Poverty Level, the same family would not beconsidered impoverished if it earned more than $30,000.

Here are changes in seven Northwest Corner towns since 2019:

Salisbury — 31% of households fell in the ALICE category, up from 21%.

North Caanaan — 48% were in the ALICE category, an increase of 11%.

Falls Village — 38% were ALICE qualifying, an increase of 10%.

Cornwall — 34% were ALICE category, up 4%.

Norfolk — 38% in ALICE category, up 8%.

Two towns showed declines:

Sharon — 27% were ALICE category, down 8%.

Kent — 26% were ALICE category, down 7% from 2019.

The ALICE survival budget counts, for example, a family of two adults and two children that needs to earn about $116,000 annually (or $58 per hour) to make ends meet. For one adult with no children, the annual need is $38,000 ($19 per hour), and for a single adult with one child, the annual income needed is $69,000 or $35 per hour.

“They’re working hard but still can’t afford essentials like housing, child care, food, transportation, and health care,” the report states.

A monthly survival budget for a family with two adults and two children, according to the ALICE report, would need enough monthly income to cover these typical expenses: housing ($1,850), food ($1,500), taxes ($974), transportation ($967), healthcare ($802), miscellaneous ($792), childcare ($2,683).

“As financial hardship rises across Connecticut and instability from Washington spreads, the storm is hitting these families first and hardest. They’re feeling the squeeze of rising costs, stagnant wages and a cooling economy, without the protection they need to weather it.”

Early in September, United Way joined with advocates, legislators and community members in the Capitol in Hartford to rally support for families, citing rising costs, stagnant wages and the loss of federal support for families.

“When 2 out of every 5 households in Connecticut can’t afford the basics, it’s not just a personal struggle, it’s a crack in the foundation of our economy and community,” the report states.The agency’s policy agenda calls for investing in Connecticut’s 211 human-services system and establishing a refundable CT Child Tax Credit.

“The number of ALICE households has really ticked up pretty meaningfully since 2019,”Lisa Tepper Bates, president of the United Way’s Connecticut chapter, told CTMirror.org. “That’s not the direction any of us want to see this going.”