The Connecticut United Ways are out with an update showing 25 percent of state households have earnings that exceed the federal poverty level but fall short of a basic cost of living threshold.
The United Way terms these households ALICE—an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. It said in a statement, together with the 10 percent of Connecticut households in poverty, more than one-third of Connecticut households (35 percent) struggle to get by. ALICE households represent a cross-section of the population that includes all races, ethnicities, ages, and people from every city and town.
The report said half of all renters and more than a third of all homeowners in Connecticut – many who are ALICE families – are burdened by their housing costs. They are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, which makes it difficult to pay for other necessities.
According to the United Way, the supply of affordable housing in Connecticut is growing, but the need is still great. Although Connecticut ALICE families benefit from the unprecedented creation of 7,500 affordable homes since 2011, spurred by the state government, there is still a significant need for affordable housing choices, the report said
According to the Connecticut ALICE Report, the state’s metro areas vary from moderately affordable to among the least affordable housing markets in the country. The Norwich-New London and New Haven-Milford metro areas rank as the 44th and 45th most affordable areas in the nation (out of 225) and the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro area ranks 66th in the nation. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro area is one of the least affordable metro areas in the nation, ranked 202 out of 225.
