The 2023 ALICE Report highlights Indiana’s and Monroe County’s financial difficulties

Bloomington, Indiana – The 2023 ALICE report, which was published in April 2023, revealed that following the epidemic, living expenses rose in counties in Indiana.

According to the Indiana United Ways website, ALICE, which stands for asset-limited, income-constrained, employed, refers to households that make more than the federal poverty threshold but cannot afford the essential costs of life in their county.

According to the 2023 ALICE Report, out of the 2.7 million households in Indiana, 1,035,333, or 39%, had an income below the ALICE Threshold of Financial Survival in 2021. The number of households in Indiana increased overall by 3% between 2019 and 2021, but the proportion of homes below the ALICE Threshold increased by 6%.

24% of Monroe County households are ALICE – asset-limited, income-constrained, employed – households, while 23% of Monroe County households are in poverty, according to the 2023 Monroe County ALICE Report. According to the analysis, household expenses in Monroe County in 2021, including rent, utilities, food, and technology, exceeded the federal poverty level.

Government authorities now consider it a top responsibility to maintain affordable housing in Bloomington. Every candidate for mayor of Bloomington declared affordable housing a campaign objective in January. John Zody, the director of Housing and Neighborhood Development in Bloomington, also stated in an IDS article that the city’s strategy for affordable housing may be broken down into tackling housing instability, rental housing, and homeownership.

According to a press release, the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition United Electric Workers presented a COLA petition to the IU administration seeking for an 8% pay rise as worries about affordable living in Bloomington grew this spring. A cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is an increase in benefits or pay to compensate for inflation.

Rahul Shrivastav, provost of Indiana University, stated his opposition to the planned rise at a Bloomington City Council hearing in April due to the possible cost to administration. According to Shrivastav, the 8% hike would cost the university $200 million and result in a 12% increase in tuition.

According to the analysis, in Indiana in 2021, 58% of Black homes and 49% of Hispanic households will fall below the ALICE Threshold, compared to 36% of White and Asian households.

In 2021, there were over one million households that fell below the ALICE criterion for financial survival, up from 941,166 households in 2019—a rise that can be attributed to the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to the Indiana United Ways website, the annual household survival budget in Indiana ranges from $22,680 to $31,644 for a home with a single adult and from $53,028 to $76,608 for a family of four.

The amount of money a household makes is referred to as the federal poverty level. The Healthy Indiana Plan is Indiana’s consumer-driven health care program for non-disabled individuals between the ages of 19 and 64, and the state government of Indiana maintains a chart on their website for residents to verify their eligibility.

The ALICE Report was developed in collaboration with academics and subject matter experts from Purdue University, Purpose of Life Ministries, the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, the Public Policy Institute, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Black Onyx Management, and regional United Ways.