More than a third of Dane County households are struggling to afford basic needs, and it is not for lack of effort. Although 69% of Wisconsinites in the labor force work full time, just 40% of employed state residents can say they have the security of a salaried, full-time job, according to a new report from United Way of Wisconsin.
Increasingly more working people are finding themselves living on or below the ALICE threshold, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, the new report from United Way of Wisconsin outlines.
That means any unanticipated incident can wallop 83,124 households in Dane County. So while those families’ earnings may place them above the federal poverty line, they do not make enough to afford basic expenses, nor do they qualify for financial assistance.
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We are all familiar with what those incidents can look like.
The baseball-sized hail from April blasted roofs, banged up siding and smashed windshields, amounting to about $158.5 million in damages across Wisconsin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In Dane County, that figure was $66.5 million.
A trip to the emergency room can cost upward of $3,000 without insurance, but even with insurance, there is significant sticker shock. Car repairs can cost anywhere between $120 and $1,500. If you are a single adult without children, basic weekly food costs $84, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator. If you are a single adult with two children, you are spending $185 weekly on basics.
To live above the ALICE threshold in Dane County, you must earn $22 per hour, and it must be salaried and with benefits, according to researchers. Yet for the last 17 years, the minimum wage in Wisconsin has not budged from $7.25.
