NJTPA Update Blog

Stephanie Hoopes, national director ALICE, at United Way of Northern New Jersey, stood before the NJTPA Board of Trustees at its November 12 meeting to introduce them to a person we all know -- a person that can be called ALICE because they are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. 

“ALICE works in jobs that we need to keep our economy running smoothly and yet struggles to afford household basics and support their family" because their wages don’t cover the basic costs in the place where they live. 

ALICE started as a pilot program in Morris County that United Way took nationally to more than 3,000 counties. Measures to collect data on ALICE populations “have been developed to better understand what’s actually happening in our communities,” Hoopes said. 

As part of the Board’s Long Range Transportation Plan speaker series, Hoopes explained how the program fits into transportation and planning. 

Ten percent of households in New Jersey are below the federal poverty level of $18,310 but the ALICE Household Survival Budget in New Jersey is $46,932 – a level that another 26 percent of households struggle to reach. “That means more than a third of households in New Jersey [1.3 million] are struggling paycheck to paycheck just trying to cover those basic costs,” Hoopes said. The survival budget takes into housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, technology, taxes, and more.

ALICE populations are in every county in New Jersey, varying from a low of 25 percent in Hunterdon County to a high of 56 percent in Cumberland County. Even within counties, ALICE levels vary widely. Essex County runs from a low of 8 percent of households in Glen Ridge and North Caldwell to a high of 63 percent in Newark. 

Hoopes encouraged the Board and its partners to embed ALICE and its perspectives early in the planning process. “You have the ability to make investments that can really change the outcome for a lot of families,” she said, considering how projects can make transportation, or any aspect of ALICE’s budget, more affordable and more accessible. 

“There’s a lot that can be done to decrease costs, connecting low-cost housing to jobs, as well as the basics of childcare, schools, grocery stores, and healthcare," Hoopes said. 

There was a big jump in ALICE after the Great Recession from 2007 to 2010. Since then, the poverty rate has been flat while the number of ALICE households has continued to grow, Hoopes said, noting "That's happening through different administrations, different economic conditions.”. 

The ultimate goal is the American Dream: “If you’re working hard, you should be able to support your family, "she said. 

A recording of the  the presentation is available here.  The United for Alice website is here https://www.unitedforalice.org/