New financial data on its way to North Dakota

GRAND FORKS — New research and correlating data used to measure financial hardship are coming to North Dakota this year.

“It’s very important data for our Grand Forks community, and for the families that we’re specifically working with,” said Heather Fuglem, executive director of the United Way of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks & Area, a division of the United Way organization, which assists community members facing financial insecurity throughout more than 1,000 locations worldwide.

Fuglem said her organization hasn’t been involved in the data collection, but recently reached out in hopes of being part of the effort moving forward. She feels localized data is greatly beneficial to her work, because having numbers to show the magnitude of a problem can help motivate community members to get involved in the solution.

“The more data we have, the better it is,” Fuglem said. “The more we can show what that need is.”

United For ALICE

— ALICE standing for “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed” — was established by the United Way of Northern New Jersey.

“It describes the households that have incomes above the federal poverty level, but below the cost of household basics,” said Laura Bruno, senior director of marketing and communications at the United Way of Northern New Jersey.

ALICE data collection started in New Jersey after United Way staff discovered Morris County’s 4% poverty level was not an accurate representation of how many people were struggling to get by. Over more than a decade, the project has expanded to include at least 40 states. During the National ALICE Summit, held from Jan. 5 to 7 in Miami Beach, Florida, United For ALICE leadership met with media partners, including the Grand Forks Herald, to explain their data and what they hope it can accomplish.

Leadership confirmed ALICE data for North Dakota and its counties is coming this year, hopefully by the fall, and their goal is to have partnerships and comprehensive data for all 50 states within the next couple years.

Data collection is a collaborative effort. Stephanie Hoopes, director of United For ALICE, said there’s a small research team within the organization, but there are also research advisory committees in every partner state whose members are identified on the United For ALICE website.

“These are external experts, and they bring local expertise, often reflecting the different elements of the budget,” Hoopes said.

Christine Aromando, United For ALICE’s director of brand engagement and strategic communications, said 55 million or 42% of households in the nation are below the ALICE threshold. This includes 17 million households that fall below the federal poverty line, and 38 million that are above the poverty line but meet the definition of ALICE.

The federal poverty line was created based solely on food costs and, though regularly updated, is the same for the entire nation — $15,650 for an individual, with approximately $5,500 added for each additional member of the family unit, according to Healthcare.gov. The income level doesn’t take into consideration varying costs of living or other expenses.

ALICE data considers the costs of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology, taxes and miscellaneous cost overruns for one-time, unexpected expenses. These expenses, calculated for states and counties based on their individual rates, are used to create a survival budget that shows the minimum wage necessary to meet all basic needs.

“Our mission is for the ALICE threshold to become the standard measure used by nonprofits, government, businesses and academic institutions alike to define financial insecurity, and to move away from the outdated federal poverty level,” Aromando said. “Our vision that drives our mission forward is that all households have enough income to afford safe housing, adequate food, reliable transportation, quality child care and health care and sufficient technology — and can also save and invest in their future.”

Hoopes noted that a majority of ALICE individuals are working, living paycheck to paycheck. She feels the issue is that the cost of basics and hourly wages do not align.

“This is a structural economic problem,” she said. “Wages don’t match costs.”