This is part of a series of blogs spotlighting the ALICE population and how our community can make a difference.
Until COVID-19 hit, Michigan employment numbers had been relatively low in recent years. Yet the numbers weren’t telling the whole story.
In Michigan, 61 percent of jobs pay less than $20 per hour, with almost two-thirds of those jobs paying less than $15 per hour. Another 29 percent of jobs pay from $20 to $40 per hour. Only 8 percent of jobs pay from $40 to $60 per hour.
Even working full time, $20 per hour is rarely enough to cover the basic needs for a typical household. Despite a low rate of inflation nationwide—12 percent from 2010 to 2017—the bare-minimum Household Survival Budget increased by 26 percent for a single adult and 27 percent for a family. Affording only a very modest living, this budget is still significantly more than the Federal Poverty Level of $12,060 for a single adult and $24,600 for a family of four.
According to the 2019 ALICE Report, a family of four in Jackson County—two adults, a preschooler and an infant—needs to earn $29.79 per hour full-time to make ends meet. To build assets, save for the future and rise above the ALICE threshold, that same family must earn $53.57 per hour.
Working households are still struggling due to the mismatch between the basic cost of living and the wages of many jobs across the state—and worsened by systemic inequalities in opportunity and wealth.
With projected demographic changes and persistent barriers to stability, many ALICE and poverty-level families will continue to face hardship. In particular:
- At least 49 percent of Michigan residents do not have money set aside to cover expenses for three months in case of an emergency such as illness or the loss of a job (FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 2016).
- The majority of residents under age 25 are unable to afford to live on their own, and for both economic and cultural reasons, they are delaying getting married, having children, or moving for new job opportunities.
- More seniors are aging without saving for retirement.
- There are fewer workers to meet the growing demand for senior caregiving.
- Income and wealth disparities persist by race/ethnicity, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.