ALICE in Arkansas

Asset Limited

Asset Limited

Income Constrained

Income Constrained

Employed

Employed

The most essential workers in our community - early education workers, home health aides, store clerks, waiters,
office assistants, and fast food workers - are often the most financially vulnerable.

We call them ALICE and they comprise 31% of Arkansans. Added to the 16% of our population living below the
Federal Poverty Line, that means nearly half of our neighbors are stretched impossibly thin.

ALICE Households in Pulaski County

45%

Nearly half of residents in Pulaski County fall below the ALICE threshold. 

Using state-specific data based on household type, the ALICE survival budget calculates the bare-minimum cost of household basics
(housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and a smartphone plan, plus taxes and a small contingency).

This is in contrast to the Federal Poverty Line, an outdated measure of financial hardship that was established in 1965,
when a loaf of bread cost 20 cents.

In Pulaski County: 17% of households fall below the federal poverty line. 28% of households are ALICE.

What's the Household Survival Budget for our Community? Click through to learn more.

Income Required to meet basic Household Survival Budget

Family: Two Adults, Two Children in Childcare
Pulaski County

Monthly:

$6,718

Hourly Wage:

$40.31

total ($20.15 each adult.)

One Adult, 65+
Pulaski County

Monthly:

$2,946

Hourly Wage:

$17.68

How does that compare?

Federal Poverty Line
Family of 4, Monthly:

$2,600

Federal Poverty Line
1 person, Monthly:

$1,255

Arkansas's Minimum Wage
(2024):

$11

Previous Next

Together, we can support ALICE.

ALICE is critical to our lives and our economy - from staffing the stores where we purchase essentials to providing care to our children and families. Together with our partners and your support, we're acting as scaffolding for ALICE individuals and families, coming alongside them to build a stronger future.

 

United Way: Investing in ALICE

Education

  • After-school tutoring and mentoring programs not only empower children from ALICE households, but provide their parents a needed source of meaningful, high-quality childcare while they work.
     
  • United Way funded partners provide educational supports to ALICE families. Our investment in programs like Dolly Parton's Imagination Library make sure that a family's budget doesn't stand in the way of their children's early development. 

Financial Stability

  • United Way supports a variety of programs that empower ALICE for the future, from adult education to job-skills training.
     
  • In times of crisis, ALICE is supported by one-on-one case management to build toward stability in employment and housing.

Health

  • United Way has a long-term track record of partnering with agencies who respond to mental health challenges - including the impacts of stress and anxiety on ALICE families.
     
  • Our mental health investment are not only providing free or reduced cost care to ALICE, they're also destigmatizing mental health challenges and pursuing help.

Learn More from our Partners

Heart of Arkansas United Way is proud to be a sponsor of the 2024 ALICE report, alongside the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, Baptist Health, the Delta Dental Foundation, and Entergy. Learn more about our work together at the links below. 

United For ALICE - National Data Center
Stories from ALICE in Arkansas