April 18, 2022 – A large portion of children in Illinois — 41% — lived in households that couldn’t afford the basics in 2019, according to a new report from United Way of Decatur & Mid-Illinois (UWDMI) and its research partner United For ALICE.
ALICE in Focus: Children reveals the disproportionate impact of financial hardship on the state’s children, while also challenging the reliance on federal poverty guidelines for eligibility for assistance programs. The report finds traditional measures of poverty have severely undercounted the number of children of all races, ages 18 and younger in Illinois, who are growing up in financially insecure households.
While 15% of all children in the state were deemed in poverty in 2019, the report shows that 26% lived in families defined as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). ALICE households earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, but less than what it costs to live and work in the modern economy. Combined, 41% of Illinois children lived in households below the ALICE Threshold, with income that doesn’t meet the basic costs of housing, child care, health care, transportation and a smartphone plan. The average survival budget for a family of four in Illinois was just over $66,000 in 2019 and has almost certainly risen in the past few years.
“Undercounting the number of children who are at risk can have lifelong consequences,” said Debbie Bogle, President, UWDMI. “Thousands of children are locked out of receiving critical supports for stable housing, food, and quality education, all of which can inhibit healthy child development.”
Because ALICE households often earn too much to qualify for public assistance, the report finds that nearly 525,000 at-risk Illinois children didn’t access the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.
This data can be broken down to the local level, which helps guide UWDMI’s decisions and impact. In Macon County, 38% (over 8,700 children) were part of families that couldn’t afford their basic needs. 25% of those children are from ALICE families, while 13% are living in poverty.
“Having accurate, complete data is the foundation for designing equitable solutions,” said United For ALICE National Director Stephanie Hoopes, Ph.D. “COVID-19 hit ALICE families so much harder than others because they struggle to build savings yet often don’t qualify for financial assistance.”
A lot more data is available through the ALICE in Focus: Children interactive data dashboard – which provides filters for regional and local geographies, age, race, disability status, living arrangements and household work status. Visit www.UnitedForALICE.org/Focus-Children.
ALICE in Focus: Children is the first installment in the ALICE in Focus Research Series, which draws from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS). Each installment in the series will highlight a specific segment within the ALICE demographic. Upcoming topics include people with disabilities and veterans.
