A report by United For ALICE, sponsored by United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, shows that almost half of all Bexar County households are living with financial hardship. Despite increases in wages for many of the most common jobs in Texas, residents in Bexar County are making sacrifices everyday to make ends meet.
ALICE stands for Asset-Limited, Income-Contrained and Employed. The United Way points out these are “households that earn above the federal poverty level but are unable to afford the basic costs of living in their county.” In other words, they are on the brink of survival.
In Bexar County 46% of households earn less than what is required to make ends meet in the current economy. This means that 344,827 households in Bexar County earn wages below the cost of living. The data in this new report was collected in 2022 as pandemic-era programs, tax credits and other support systems ended.
While wages across the state of Texas increased by as much as 26% in some of the most common jobs like retail sales clerk, stockers, fast food and counter workers, that was not enough to offset the rising costs of childcare, housing, food and other critical items for a households to get by. Despite growth in wages, the percentage of households living with financial hardship stayed flat in 2022, compared to 2021, at 46% of Bexar County, due to rising cost and loss of expanded tax credits many families had access to in 2021.
Launched alongside this report is the Survival Budget Calculator, a tool where you can input your household’s size to see an itemized list of costs and income needed just to make ends meet. You can view this tool at this link.
People experiencing ALICE have two or three jobs yet still do not earn wages that satisfy all basic needs in San Antonio, including housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care and more.
Compounding this issue is the fact that many ALICE households do not quality for most public benefits programs while still being unable to afford basic necessities. Furthermore, 31% of all households in Bexar County fall into the category of ALICE, meaning they earn less than the cost of living necessary to survive but above the Federal Poverty Level. And15% of all households earn less than the Federal Poverty Level, for a total of 46% of all Bexar County households earning less than what they need to survive.
The data shows that financial hardship is not evenly distributed. Households earning less than what is required to survive include in Bexar County:
- 80% of single female-headed households with children
- 50% of households of seniors 65+
- 56% of Black households
- 51% of Hispanic households
- 34% of Caucasian (Non-Latino) households
Anyone experiencing financial hardship in Bexar County is encouraged to call United Way’s 2-1-1 Helpline to discover resources that can provide relief or support, like services that can help people increase their earning potential or continue their education. 2-1-1 is free, open 24/7/365, anonymous and available in Spanish.
For a full report on ALICE data in Texas and San Antonio, please visit this link.
Guest:
Stephanie Smith is the Director of United Way of San Antonio’ and Bexar Countys Strong Individuals and Families
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*This interview will be recorded on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
