Who is ALICE?
ALICE represents the 31% of West Virginians who work, but struggle to survive. ALICE stands for
Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed
ALICE earns above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), but makes less than what’s needed to afford basic essentials. ALICE often earns too much to qualify for government assistance, and there is no room in ALICE’s budget for emergency expenses. If you combine WV households earning below the ALICE threshold, with those living below the FPL, that’s 48% of West Virginia households who face financial hardship every day, in every county across the state.
ALICE Community Snapshot for United Way of Central WV Service Area
In 2022, financial hardship in West Virginia continued to be shaped by the conflicting economic forces of the pandemic, and remained substantially undercounted by official measures.
These powerful crosscurrents—COVID-19, inflation, wage growth, and the expansion and expiration of pandemic public assistance—impacted how many West Virginia households were below the ALICE Threshold of Financial Survival.
Between 2021 and 2022, the number of households in poverty in West Virginia increased by 2,023 (remaining at 17% of all households) and the number of ALICE households increased by 2,332 (remaining at 31% of all households). In 2022, of the 720,668 households in West Virginia, 344,245 — 48% — were below the ALICE Threshold.
